HRD Ministry and the IIMs...the stupidity never ends

March 29 : SC says that the OBC quotas are not justified and stops their implementation for the current year.

1st Week of April : All IIMs are expected to announce their final lists. This is to allow the selected candidates with around 2.5 months to choose which college they want to join, pay the fees, offer the seat to someone else if the selected candidates choose to take up admission with someone else. This 2.5 month period also allows candidates with work experience to quit their jobs in a reasonalble time frame, without being forced to walk out of jobs leaving their employers fuming. Also, there is the small matte of the prep courses for the very students the Govt wants to dole out free seats to : the reserved category students. The prep course is supposed to give them a head start into what to expect from the 2 yr MBA course, and try to "get them on par with merit students" (as if something like this really happens). The starting dates of the courses can't be delayed as there is a very tight schedule for the next two years(wih only 3 national holidays, with compensatory classes on the following weekends).

Now the Govt, in its ignorance, asks the IIMs to defer admissions till they can get this mess sorted out. IIMs decide to impose a April 21 deadline, just 2 months before classes are supposed to start. They will have to give a further 2-3 weeks notice to students to pay their first fees, come out with their extended lists and then have the students pay the 2nd installment of the fees. This process in itself takes some 5-6 weeks, leaving people with very little time to choose the right colleges. XLRI has already announced their results, ISB has already started classes, MDI,SPJain and the likes will not be far behind. So the students will be left with very few options. They will have to take admission and pay a hefty sum as fees to these other institutes, while still hoping they get admitted into one of the IIMs. If they do get admitted into one of the IIMS, they'll forego the fees paid to the other institues. Am sure our (dis)H'nble HRD Minister and his "very well qualified" advisors never thought about this.

Some stupid vote bank politics is much more important than the careers of some of the brightest in this country.

And what about the students admitted under the OBC category? Will they really have the time to join the prep course? And if not, then will they really be able to fit in without the prep course?
Most students at IIMs who end up taking 3 yrs(instead of the normal 2) to complete their course, or those who have to drop out are from the reserved categories.
Is the HRD Ministry being fair to these people by getting them admissions, and then practically throwing them to the lions without the prep course.(anybody who knows anything about life at the IIMs will vouch for the fact that "RG" rules on all campuses and fellow students are no better than a pack of lions ready to tear you to pieces).

Well what can I say, the Govt doesn't think about these students beyond the "We got you into the best colleges in the country wihout you having to work for it". These students don't really think beyond " I got admitted into one of the best colleges in the country", never thinking about "With relative grading, I would need to be at par with the other students just to pass and survive there".

Please Mr. HRD Minister, use your head for a change and think about all the careers you are playing with. Don't act like a stupid fool trying to salvage false pride by delaying admissions.
Please let better sense prevail ( well I know it won't, but no harm trying)