Sunday 4 September 2011

Q&A: Jamshed J Irani, ex-Chairman, Everonn

Days after the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Everonn Education co-founder and managing director, P Kishore, in an alleged bribery and tax evasion case, Jamshed J Irani, stepped down as chairman of the company. He told Kalpana Pathak he was shocked at what had happened in a company that was otherwise extremely well run. Edited excerpts:
Why did you resign from the Everonn board?
I resigned because the company has been involved in an issue like this. I am not passing judgment on whether the person was guilty or not. But if he has confessed, something was wrong with the corporate governance.You joined the board last December. In these eight months what was your assessment?
Before I joined the company, I did my due diligence. I thought it was a perfectly run company and, at the same time, profitable. Thus, I went ahead and associated my name with it. I am shocked. I was very keen to work with Everonn but that has come to an end now.

What made you accept the chairmanship?
I am getting interested in distance education, as I believe that is a solution to one of India’s problems. We lack good teachers and we cannot create a large number of good teachers. By distance education, one teacher can increase his reach to thousands of students. Everonn Education’s business model appealed to me. It was excellent. They were extremely well run. Thousands of schools were impacted by their methodologies. So, I got interested and decided to be on the board.
Do you believe the company’s fundamentals are strong?
Yes. The company has been built by Kishore and it is entirely because of his effort that it has reached where it is today. I really don’t know what went wrong on that particular day.
Industry players are questioning the fast growth of companies like Everonn and Educomp.
I think Everonn has a very good business model. I cannot comment on whether the other company did anything wrong. But as far as the board of Everonn Education is concerned, it was clean and the company’s accounts are in place. But I was in complete shock. I would have never thought that he (Kishore) could be capable of doing anything improper.
As you are interested in the distance education model, are you looking at anything else?
I am the chairman, board of governors, at the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. I am also associated with various other educational committees of the government. I will see where any one else is interested in getting me involved in their (distance) education ventures.

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