Sanskrit motto stays in IIM-A logo after faculty protests its dropping

The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-Ahmedabad) on Friday said that the Sanskrit motto has not been dropped from its proposed new logo.

Some faculty members of the premier management institute, in a letter to its board of governors including chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, had taken exception to a proposed change in the logo.

“The institute, in the process of revamping its website, found the need to refresh the logo. Evaluation, exploration, development of wordmark, development of brandmark were all kept in mind while coming up with the final design recommendations," the IIM-Ahmedabad statement said.

The proposed logo retains the Sanskrit words (Vidya Viniyogat Vikasa), it said.

In the revamped logo, colour rendition has been improved, fonts modernized, the jaali-inspired brand mark has been made "more amenable to communication" in digital media and the brand name made more distinct, the statement said.

The proposed logo would be released in June, it added.

The existing logo features a pattern inspired by the jaali (latticework) at the Sidi Sayied Mosque in Ahmedabad, the Sanskrit catch phrase and "IIM-Ahmedabad" written at the bottom. 

"Vidya Viniyogat Vikasa" means development through the distribution or application of knowledge.

A section of faculty members had complained in the letter to the board that the decision to change the logo was taken without any consultation.

”The faculty members of IIM-A were informed in the Academic Council Meeting on March 04, 2022, of the proposed change of IIM-A logo. It seems that the IIMA Board has approved this change and two new logos have already been registered. This comes as a total surprise to us as the new sets of logos have been approved by IIMA board without the faculty being informed or involved in the entire process,” the letter said.

”Two logos are being proposed -- one which carries the Sanskrit motto...and the other which does not. We have been told that one is for international consumption and the other for domestic purpose. The purpose of this decision defies logic,” the letter said.

The change of logo will have "far-reaching implications and long-term consequences on the institute's brand and its stakeholders,” it further said.

The present logo was adopted at the time of the formation of the institute in the 1960s. It is said that founder of IIM-A Vikram Sarabhai played a role in devising it.

IIM-A director Errol D'Souza had earlier courted controversy when he announced the decision to demolish some heritage buildings on the institute's campus. Later the plan was scrapped.