New Delhi : Leading private Business Schools are upset over the recent draft regulations issued by the UGC on December 23, 2013 for technical institutions that proposes to withdraw the autonomy of PGDM institutions.

Deans, directors, chairman of over 100 business schools met under the auspices of the Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI), the national body of over 500 higher education institutions, and resolved that PGDM institutions will not succumb to the pressure of the UGC and will steadfastly protect the autonomy that they have enjoyed for more than 50 years.

AIMS and IAABS, the two other national bodies representing management institutions, are also supporting this resolution.

An interactive meeting of PGDM institutions was addressed by leading management academicians including Fr. E Abraham (Director, XLRI, Jamshedpur), Dr Pritam Singh (Director General, IMI), Prof Shesha Iyer (Director, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research), Prof Apoorva Palkar (President, AIMS), Prof Bibek Banerjee (Director, IMT), Dr Sunil Rai (Director, Goa Institute of Management), Dr J K Das (Director, FORE School of Management), Mr Sharad Jaipuria (Chairman, Jaipuria Group of Business Schools), Fr. Alex Ekka (Director, XISS) and Dr S Chatterjee (Dean, MDI). The meeting was also addressed by Mr Amit Agnihotri, Founder Chairman, MBAUniverse.com.

All participants unanimously said that PGDM institutions are today the leading management education providers, because they have been granted autonomy by the Union Government since 1950s. By preparing and contributing lakhs of managers, entrepreneurs and business leaders to the Indian economy, PGDM institutions today occupy the top spots among the Indian Business Schools.

The UGC proposal is regressive and similar to AICTE’s December 2010 Notification, which was stayed by the Supreme Court.

EPSI, AIMS and Jaipuria Group of Institutions had filed three petitions in February 2011 against the AICTE’s move. The matter is pending before the Supreme Court for its final verdict.

Over 100 deans, directors and chairmen of PGDM institutions resolved to represent their case to the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the University Grants Commission by requesting them not to halt the current momentum in the Indian management education, which will be the inevitable result of rigid controls similar to those imposed on state universities and state governments.

State Universities, known to suffer from red-tape, lethargy and corruption, are in dire straits. They have shown apathy for innovation and professionalism which is a sine-qua-non for business education.

A delegation of deans and directors will meet Hon’ble Union Minister for Human Resource Development M M Pallam Raju and the UGC Chairman Prof Ved Prakash in coming days and appraise them about the collective stand taken by 300 PGDM institutions to continue to remain autonomous and not affiliate with state universities.

Source : Sanjiv Kataria