IIMs admissions on hold

New Delhi: The six Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have deferred admission of fresh batches and will wait for the central government’s direction on the 27% reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) by the Supreme Court verdict on Thursday. They were supposed to announce the list of fresh batches within the next two days but after the reservation development the decision to defer the admission process for the new batches is unanimous," said Prof. Devi Singh Director of IIM Lucknow. However, Mr. Singh said that they are "yet to receive any direction" from the human resource development (HRD) ministry.

”The IIMs will wait and will rework a fresh list after the government order which will respect the Supreme Court judgment and include students from the OBC segment of our society." Mr. Singh added. He said the matter had been discussed with the (M. Veerappa) Moily committee that was set up by the HRD ministry to study the feasibility of 27% quotas. "As per the discussion, IIMS will implement the quota in a phased manner. The implementation of the 27% quota will be completed by all the IIMs over three years beginning this year," he said. Over 1,600 students get admitted into the six IIMs every year with the seventh IIM in Shillong starting from this academic session.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the law, passed unanimously by parliament in December 2006 to provide 27% quota for OBCs in government institutes of higher learning. But the apex court has clarified that the 'creamy layer', or the elite, would be kept out. Referring specifically to IIM-Lucknow, the Mr. Singh said that the institute had developed the infrastructure over the last few years and would "not have any problem in taking some more students".

"With reservation coming into effect, IIM Lucknow will take at least 45 more students during the upcoming session," said Mr. Singh, on a visit to the institute’s Noida campus. IIM Lucknow had decided to take 330 students for its flagship MBA programme from the new academic session. With additional quotas a reality, the number of students will certainly go up. J.J Irani, chairperson of the board of management, IIM Lucknow, said: "The Supreme Court has given the decision to implement 27% quota for OBC and we have to accept it. But the court also must define the creamy layer in the underprivileged section." he said.

Source: www.msn.com