IIM-A to take management education to SAARC countries

In reply to a query on the possibility of offering management courses in Pakistan, Barua said "There were some visa related issues." He also informed that the papers published by the IIM-A faculty have started getting global attention. He said the faculty publishes anywhere between 50-60 papers annually mainly focused on emerging markets and India.Now what is happening is that papers having contextual reference to India are being read internationally as the country has drawn global attention, which was not the case earlier, Baura said. Meanwhile, IIMs which is seeking more autonomy in its functioning have sent modified a Memorandum of Association (MoA) to the Union Ministry of HRD, which empowers the B-school governing board to select a director of choice. "We have proposed a new MOA and rules for the approval which provides for selection of chairman and director should be the responsibility of the governing board in the sense that board will recommend the names and then government would choose from it," Barua said. This is very different from the current practice. The Gujarat government has already approved the MOA, and approval of Union HRD Ministry is awaited, he said. The governing boards of IIM-A is also proposed to be downsized from the existing 25 to 14, Barua informed adding the downsized board would have altleast two representatives each from the state and union government.