02, Feb 2012

A recent meet coordinated by IIM Raipur with Ministry of HRD marked the first step towards raising funds for IIMs. Presently the IIMs depend on the Government of India for much of their funds. Over the past few years, however, the Management Development Program has been contributing a significant amount of funds to the IIMs.

Prof B.S. Sahay (Director, IIM Raipur) along with Shri H.S. Bhartia (Chairman, Board of Governors of IIM Raipur) proposed to the Ministry a plan for the creation of a network of IIM directors who shall meet once every 6 months to promote all institutional efforts being made to raise funds. The Ministry acknowledged the efforts of IIM Raipur in this regard and discussed the matter at length with the directors.

Others at the meet included experts from the London School of Economics and Oxford University. They discussed the various aspects of fund raising and proposed ideas for including it in the present framework. The meeting was originally meant to be between the directors of IIMs only; it was later expanded to include the directors of IITs and NITs. The participants unanimously endorsed the need for fundraising activities.

In the west many of the top Ivy League institutes are privately run and managed; thus fund raising is an integral part of an institute’s operations, so much so that a dedicated team is designated with the task of seeking financial support. As part of their expansion plans, IIMs are opening campuses outside the country; such an endeavor makes fundraising activities even more pressing.

Prof. Sahay said that for funding processes to become sustainable it is important that all IIMs give significant importance to activities such as entrepreneurship. This is particularly true of the new IIMs that would require both time and effort to establish its alumni base to support such activities; the older IIMs already have a well-established alumni network.

He said that to make the fundraising activity more attractive IIMs will have to work closely with corporates to make changes in curriculum more frequently so that it matches the requirements of the industry. Focus would also be placed on producing quality research through a quality fellow program in Management. This activity would also help attract the best faculty from across the globe.

Keeping these objectives in mind IIM Raipur has proposed to open 4 Centers of Excellence that will come up in due course of time. He said this was in line with the mission of IIM Raipur to be a true world-class management institution.