New Delhi: Expressing "relief" at the defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government at the Centre, Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), which were locked in a tussle with Union HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi over the fee-cut issue, now hope that the new Government would "give back" their autonomy.

"We are naturally feeling relieved," Dean of IIM-Calcutta Faculty Council Ashish Bhattacharya said in Kolkata when asked to comment on the change in Government at the Centre.

He said the IIM-C faculty hopes that the new Government would not follow the earlier policy.

"I hope new Government will give back autonomy the IIMs enjoyed till fee issue cropped up and the institute's status as a top business management school is retained," IIM-Ahmedabad Director Bakul Dholakia said in Ahmedabad.

He said that the "poor communication" with Joshi was the reason behind the ongoing controversy over the fee-cut issue.

"There was hardly any interaction directly with the Minister. All six IIM directors got a chance to meet the Minister only once during the entire episode," Dholakia said.

"Hopefully, things will be different now," he said.

Dholakia said the Ministry did not analyse the hard data it had about the Institute's past performance and "that is what created the confusion".

However, the IIM-A director, who opposed the Ministry's decision to slash IIM fees from Rs 1.5 lakh per annum to Rs 30,000 p.a., backed Joshi's "objective" of providing good education to the poorest of the poor.

"But the methodology of implementing it was wrong," he said.

On quality education to poor, Dholakia said, "Between 1961 and 1991 the IIMs enjoyed absolute autonomy and still ensured that the needy students always got admission. It is only in the last two years that it's functioning was questioned and we hope these doubts about its working are cleared."

Asked if the Institute's problems would be solved if Congress President Sonia Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister, Dholakia said, "The initiatives of opening up the market in all sectors in India and liberalisation of trade was made by Congress and specially by late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"I feel that despite who the Prime Minister will be, it is Congress as a party that will follow what its leaders started years ago."

Bhattacharya said that the faculty council, which had opposed the decision of the Chairman of the Board of Governors (BoG) to accept the Centre's fee-cut proposal, would wait till the new Government takes over before arriving at a decision to withdraw cases from the Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court.

Serious differences had cropped up at the BoG at its March 26 meeting where the Faculty members had strongly opposed the Centre's proposal to slash IIM fees.

Later chairman of IIM-C board of governors Y C Deveshwar announced the acceptance of the fee-cut prompting the faculty to move the Supreme Court. It had also challenged the legality of the March 26 BoG meeting in the High Court.