Ranchi: Union Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi today (Apr 7, 2004) said the Government was yet to receive any communication from Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) on the issue of fee reduction.

"How can we start a dialogue (with IIM-A) unless we receive a letter from them? Let them send a letter and then we will see," Joshi said when he was asked whether IIM-Ahmedabad would follow IIM-Calcutta in slashing fees from Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 30,000 per annum.

Dismissing the possibility of having generated a controversy among the IIMs on the fee reduction issue, Joshi said the Government intended to provide affordable and accessible all-round education to the poor.

"Our aim is to increase the number of students in important institutes. We don't want commercialisation of education and a particular section of the society having access to education in some fields," Joshi told a press conference in Ranchi.

He said All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), with a fees of Rs 6,000 per year, and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) with fees of Rs 30,000 were the cheapest institutions in the world imparting quality education.

After much debate, IIM-Calcutta yesterday accepted the Government's directive on fee cut, but said that it would review its decision if the institute's autonomy was affected or there was any adverse impact on its development plans.