The ministry of human resource development's order to slash fees across all the Indian Institutes of Management has resulted in the coming together of its alumni.
The alumni of all IIMs have joined hands to be unanimous in their opinion and would be known as the Pan IIM Trust. The funds for the trust would come from members themselves.
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According to Ramesh Venkateswaran, president of the IIM-Bangalore alumni and a visiting professor at IIM-Bangalore, "The trigger point for the formation of this trust is definitely the ministry of human resources and development. We are learning from the Indian Institutes of Technology as our trust is on the lines of the IIT Trust. We realise that it is always a merit to have a group of people under one banner."
The trust will be based in Mumbai and will have a handful of representations.
Though Venkateswaran did not wish to name the individuals who currently represent this trust, it is learnt that it comprises four people.
They include Jerry Rao from MphasiS, Ajit Balakrishnana from Rediff, Prem Kamath from the IIM-Ahmedabad alumni and Navroz Havewala, founder of Handsoff Alumni. Handsoff Alumni is an e-group of alumni members and was started by IIM-Bangalore.
While it is clear that the formation of this trust is meant for the welfare of all IIMs, it is obvious that their first job would be to oppose and tackle the fee-cut issue.
According to Venkateswaran, a move to form this trust would not only result in helping the alumni to voice their opinions together, but would also help in the smooth functioning of IIMs.
"It is important to note that this trust has not been formed to only oppose the fee cut. It is in the long-term interest of all IIMs."
When asked about the common goals of Handsoff Alumni and Pan IIM Trust and the fact that both these units will be redundant in nature, Venkateswaran said, "We are working together to sort out these issues. Since both these bodies are in their formative stages, it is just a matter of time when it will be represented as a single unit."