Patna: Union Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi today (Feb 20, 2004) ruled out any reversal of Government's decision to lower fees of prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), saying it was in conformity with National Democratic Alliance's (NDA's) commitment to the principle that higher education should not be the monopoly of rich.

"There is no relation between fee structure and quality," Joshi, who rubbished the charge that lowering fees would adversely affect quality of education imparted by IIMs, said.

"There is no question of rolling back the fees. Most of IIM alumni who acquired their degrees five-six years back paid only Rs 10 to 15 thousand a year. The enormous rise in the fees has taken place only in the past few years. The decision to slash the fees is in conformity with NDA Government's principle that higher education should not be monopoly of the rich," he told a press meet.

To a question whether his Ministry proposed to raise the grants to IIMs to ensure the quality of education was not compromised due to reduction in fees, Joshi said, "Fees is not related to quality. Had it been so the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, which charges only Rs 25 as monthly fee, would not have produced doctors of eminence."

Moreover, he said these institutes received sufficient grants from the Government and also had a huge corpus fund of around Rs 93 crore to meet their expenses.

When told that controversy over the fee structure had refused to die down with the filing of a petition in the court challenging Government's decision, the Minister said, "Even the court has asked the IIMs to explain the rationale behind charging such a huge amount as fees."