IIMs urge govt to permit awarding degree for one-year management programme

As first reported by The Indian Express on March 13, the HRD Ministry, preempting a conflict with UGC Act, had issued an order to all 20 institutes on March 8 stating that the IIMs will have to seek government’s permission for awarding a degree that is “not in accordance with the UGC notification”.

This, effectively, ruled out the possibility of IIMs awarding degrees to those enrolled in the one-year postgraduate programme for professionals since the UGC Act clearly states a master’s degree in management has to be of two years duration. HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar reiterated this position in a meeting with IIM chairpersons a week later.

“It’s not an ‘us versus them’ situation. We have sensitised the ministry about what the IIMs want and we’re hoping they will reconsider their stand,” said an IIM director, who did not wish to be identified.

In the said meeting, held on sidelines of the Pan IIM World Management Conference, the IIMs also urged the ministry to reconsider the entry criteria laid down by the government for the doctoral programme offered by them.

The business schools have requested the government to revisit the requirement of a Cumulative Grade Points Average (CGPA) of 8 for direct entry candidates with four-year degree or B.Tech. The IIMs want this to be revised to 6 CGPA. That apart, institutes also want that they should be allowed to admit candidates even with a one-year postgraduate diploma as opposed to the two-year diploma prescribed by the government.

The HRD Ministry had written to all 20 business schools in October clarifying that they are permitted to admit students with a four-year bachelor’s degree directly into the PhD programme. The duration of the doctoral course for such candidates is fixed at four years and only those with a minimum of eight CGPA or equivalent are eligible to apply.

In case of the three-year doctoral programme, the ministry has clarified that applicants should either have a master’s degree or a two-year PG diploma or a professional qualification such as CA/ICWA/CS with B.Com.