IIM-C to offer financial support to students opting out of placements

Under fire for producing students only interested in fat pay cheques that come with being part of an Indian Institute of Management (IIM), the country’s premier management institutions are looking for innovative ways to encourage students in varied opportunities.

IIM-Calcutta (IIM-C), the oldest among IIMs that now have 11 institutes, is in the process of considering a proposal to financially support students opting for its deferred placement programme started in 2011.

According to the programme, students who opt out of the placements before they begin their own venture to join a non-governmental organisation (NGO) or to do research or to prepare for civil services, can come back after two to three years if they wish to partake in the placement process again.

In the first year, four students opted for deferred placements, two of whom went back to their own businesses. This year only one student has opted for the deferred placement programme.

“We are in the middle of a thinking process now that the ones opting for avenues which do not pay as well as the corporates that come for placements should get some funding support from the institute,” said Shekhar Chaudhuri, director, IIM-C.

The proposal comes at a time when the IIM placement process has come under criticism from corporates. In November last year, Satish Pradhan, the human resources chief of Tata Sons had likened the process to a ‘cattle fair’.

Narayana Murthy, chairman emeritus of Infosys, the country’s second largest information technology service provider also criticised the IIM system for not being able to produce enough researchers and scholars and match world-class education system.

Experts believe the reasons for the move are to do with the fact that the IIM system in general has been facing criticism for producing students who have prior engineering experience and then have no interest in research or higher studies.

“I think it is an interesting idea because it will at least encourage students to look at alternative avenues and consider alternatives to the run of the mill placements that they all seem to opt for,” said M J Xavier, director IIM Ranchi.

IIM-C, has recently placed a record size batch of 463 students with average salaries of Rs 7.5 lakhs. The highest salaries were offered to the students by finance companies for international locations stood at an average of Rs 30-40 lakhs, while the average salaries offered by the marketing companies were in the range of Rs 10-20 lakhs.