Santosh Desai does to the PanIIM folks what President Kalam did to those of PanIIT: prick their balloons. Except that Desai didn't do it live! His analysis is less blunt, but it also extends to a broader set of concerns (read: two Indias).
The interesting thing about the IIM discussion was that the enthusiasm of the alumni for the subject was not shared by the directors and senior professors of the IIMs. Their consensus was that the IIMs had a very long way to go before being considered world-class. They pointed out the abysmal salaries that faculty draws in India, spoke frankly about the absence of any research emanating out of these elite institutions and the inability to attract meaningful number of foreign students, given the absence of infrastructure. Add to this the distortions caused by constant governmental interference and the picture looked anything but promising.
Thanks to Madhukar Shukla for the pointer.
1 Comments:
The author is right that IIM graduates (and graduates of other elite institutions) are in demand because they're scarce and not because they're incredibly good.
But I find it laughable that he classifies IIM faculty among the "lesser India". In fact they tend to be richer than a lot of other academic people (not to mention most other Indians of any profession) because they make plenty of money consulting. And the ones who rely on their salaries aren't starving either. Yes, their students will make more than them, but that's true in a lot of fields in most countries around the world.
The IIMs are hardly "dilapidated docks". They have everything they need to do world-class research. Why don't they?
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