Bangalore: Contrary to a reported statement of Union Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) today (Apr 12, 2004) decided to maintain status quo on fee cut.

IIM-B chairman S M Datta held the view that the issue should be decided by "IIM-B society" after hearing all sides of argument, according to the institute director Prakash G Apte.

The Board of governors of IIM-B had last month authorised Datta, who is the chairman of Castrol India, to come up with a solution to the controversial fee cut issue.

Apte said the institute had decided to maintain the status quo and the chairman had asked the "society" to take a decision by early May.

Joshi was quoted as having said in Vadodara yesterday that IIM-B had agreed to the fee cut, making it the fifth of the six IIMs to have consented to the reduction.