One more rap on the knuckles.....

These are not the most auspicious times for the IIMs. The latest rap on the knuckles from the HRD ministry relates to processing fee for admissions. Remember, when the OBC issue was before the SC, the HRD ministry got the AICTE and UGC to send directives to private schools asking them to limit the fee to Rs 1000? This was to save students huge costs arising from uncertainty as to which offer they would finally accept.

The IIMs, however, kept their fees higher. IIMA raised its fee from Rs 500 to Rs 5000. At IIMB and IIMC, the fee is as high as Rs 50,000. Now the HRD ministry has issued a directive saying the fee cannot exceed Rs 1000. For the leading IIMs, the dropout rate is pretty low- at IIMA, it is around 10. No point in insisting on high processing fee when it does not entail a huge cost.