NEW DELHI, APRIL 25: Bakul Dholakia, former director of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, who had confronted former HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi on the issue of hiking fees, on Friday opposed IIM-A’s fee hike to Rs 11.5 lakh during his interaction with the IIM review committee, even as stage is set for a possible stand-off between the government and IIM-A at the emergency Governing Council meeting on Saturday.

It is learnt that Dholakia voiced his opinion at the sidelines of the review committee meeting, since the panel didn’t want to discuss the issue of fee hike. The former IIM-A director had taken on the NDA Government’s HRD minister on the fee hike issue in 2003.

The panel, headed by Maruti Udyog chairman R C Bhargava and comprised of Rediff CEO and IIM-Calcutta director Ajit Balakrishnan, former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General Anusuya Basu and ITC’s non-executive director Ram S Tarneja, on Friday made it clear that they have given their “considered view” to the government, and there was no need for further deliberations on this account.

However, sources said Dholakia was forthright in his views, and told the review panel that the institute was “revenue-surplus even at the present fee level.” He supported the institute’s fee hike from Rs 2.2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh as decided in the December 2007 IIM-A Board meeting, but not the steep Rs 5.5 lakh as decided on March 29 this year, which he felt was “unwarranted”, sources said.

He also voiced his concerns on the issue of chairman’s role in IIMs’ governance structure, where a chairman should not have “executive powers”. During his interaction, he explained that only directors ¿ who are appointed through the PM-headed Appointments Committee of the Cabinet — should have the executive powers.

During the review committee’s meetings with the faculty members, the faculty — which had differences of opinion on the fee hike — did not voice its opinion on the fee hike, but asked for its involvement in the selection of the IIM director and chairman.

On the fee hike issue, while the review committee has made its stand clear by opposing it, IIM-Ahmedabad has stuck to its position that they will not rollback the hike. IIM-A director Sameer Barua had a meeting with the faculty council on Thursday, where he asked for unanimous support on the fee hike issue. IIM-A chairman Vijaypat Singhania has already sent a missive that IIM-A Board’s decision stands, and the Board has to take a final call while reconsidering the hike.