Explaining the reasons for a need to revamp management education Kalra says, ''The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has approved over 500 management institutes. Barring 25-50 top business schools in the country, the rest lack even the minimal required infrastructure. A place like Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of Delhi, alone has 42 management institutes, most of them operating literally out of garages. Efforts would be made towards devising a joint mechanism with the AICTE to continuously monitor the performance of these business schools. The objective is to weed out teaching shops from the serious managementinstitutes.`` As parts of its efforts to upgrade management education Aima is trying to bring in the best management techniques available in the world. In the past, the Aima management courses have benefitted from an exposure to the American Management Institution, Singapore Institute of Management and the Management Association of Japan. Aima reorients these course to suit Indian conditions.

Kalra also points out that management education inputs will be effectively utilised to improve standards in managing tasks outside the corporate world. Says he, ''We intend to bring in a culture of Scientific Management in those areas which are not profit oriented and yet important for socio-economic development of the country, particularly areas which effect the less privileged. These include the public distribution system, ecology and environment, armed forces, NGO`s and the local bodies.``

In the area of primary health, Aima will work with NGO`s and the ministry of health to boost their efforts in providing safedrinking water. Says Kalra, ''Almost 30 per cent of the population has no access to safe drinking water. There are also issues of basic hygiene and immunization which need tremendous effort at the national level.

A recent Unicef study has revealed that nearly 70 lakh children in India die every year of diarrhoeal diseases. This is because either they do not drink safe water or they live in unhygienic conditions. It is a management problem at a gigantic scale and we will try to do our bit. Even if we eliminate 5 per cent of the problem we would have achieved something.``

Aima`s objectives of better management standards and improved healthcare are indeed commendable. But with a shoestring annual outlay of Rs 11 crore, it remains to be seen how successful Aima is in meeting its goals.