Oversight panel for foolproof OBC certification

NEW DELHI, JULY 7: The Oversight Committee’s sub-group for management schools has called for fixing a foolproof certification for OBCs even as it has proposed a Rs 450-crore roadmap for ‘‘staggered’’ expansion in the face of implementation of 27 per cent OBC quotas in IIMs from June 2007.

After The Sunday Express exposed, on June 18, how easy it was to obtain OBC certificates in the name of high and mighty, including former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and HRD Minister Arjun Singh, the high-profile panel of IIM directors took note of the problem.

The sub-group’s interim report, a copy is in possession of The Indian Express, says, ‘‘A foolproof system of certification of OBCs should be devised and there should be random checks by the institute or other authorities to be specified.’’

Describing the massive infrastructure upgradation in the next one year as ‘‘an unrealistic goal’’, it has said implementation of the OBC quota should be staggered over the next few years. The sub-group has put the expansion bill for IIMs at Rs 450 crore — Rs 400 crore as non-recurring and Rs 50 crore as recurring expenditure.

Referring to Oversight Committee chairman Veerappa Moily’s diktat that infrastructure should be in place by June 2007, it said,‘‘The group felt that this is an unrealistic goal since only less than a year is available to deal with the complex constraints.’’

Led by Prof Samuel Paul, former director of IIM-Ahmedabad, the panel of IIM directors has put the constraints of expansion for the first time on record ever since the quota controversy broke out. The committee met twice at Chennai and Bangalore before finalising the report.

The constraints

• Shortage of faculty; attrition rate is very high; retired faculty are also in great demand; these have led to dependence on visiting faculty, which is not a viable long-term strategy.

• Faculty recruitment cycle takes 15 to 18 months.

• Sharp decline in the number of PhDs joining the teaching profession, given the growing competition from private sector.

• Project construction takes several years depending on the project size; Government buildings norms are also a factor; renting for short-term will not be possible for 54 per cent expansion.

• Limited availability of land; acquiring land takes time.

• Many institutes have been expanding recently on their own, they will have difficulty in increasing student intake at short notice.

Summing up, the sub-group said: ‘‘All of them point to serious risks to excellence and quality that may follow any attempt to force the pace of expansion on the institutes, ignoring these constraints.’’Measures to facilitate speedy expansion

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