HRD ministry plans R95-crore grant for five IIMs as global ranking trails
IIMs in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kozhikode, Indore and Lucknow will receive the grant across the next five years. Most of these IIMs produce an average of 15-20 fellows every year.
“We want a fivefold increase in the number of fellowships in the next five years and this funding will be used for that purpose. This is for the old IIMs, as the new ones already get a grant from us,” said an HRD ministry official.
The ministry had stopped such grants almost a decade back as the IIMs were able to sustain themselves. Doing a four-year PhD costs around R20 lakh, as per the ministry’s estimates.
“The money they were raising from their MBA programmes could not be used for research and hence, this grant is being given for students to do research. The IIMs are able to meet their regular expenses from the MBA fee but for fellowships, we have to step in,” the official added.
The IIMs who have always been sensitive regarding their autonomy, say that government funding their research is not a threat to independence. The government now incurs most of the capital costs incurred by the IIMs and the review committee setup under RC Bhargava had noted: “It must be noted
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