'IIMs shouldn't take autonomy for granted'

AHMEDABAD: Chairman of prime minister's economic advisory council C Rangarajan has warned Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) against taking their autonomy for granted. He said that the IIMs were lucky that the government had decided not to interfere into their functioning since they were set up.
"Do not take this for granted. It is not often that the government takes such a decision," said Rangarajan while releasing IIM, Ahmedabad, faculty T T Ram Mohan's book, 'Brick by Red Brick' on Monday.
Rangarajan stressed upon the significance of the book as it brings out 'Ravi Matthai as he actually was' and reflects various aspects that have gone into setting up such an institute.
Suggesting that IIMs have a lot of autonomy to achieve success, he talked about the point of 'academic freedom' which is signified in the book. Rangarajan said that academic freedom is important, but it is also necessary to 'strike a balance.'
On the sidelines of the book launch, Rangarajan said that the overall inflation will continue to be high for some more time. However, he also said that the food inflation will come down with the monsoon arrival. "The inflation will remain at a high level for some more time, but as the monsoon progresses, the food inflation will come down. I expect the overall inflation to come down to 6.5% by March 2012," he said.
Rangarajan said that if the inflation continues to persist at high level, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will continue with the policy of tightening the interest rates.
When inquired about a statement that the RBI made earlier stating that it is not solely responsible for controlling the inflation and that other stakeholders should pitch in to curb it, Rangarajan said that the role of the government is twofold.
He said that the first role is to keep the fiscal deficit low so that it does not add to demand pressures. "The union finance minister has made it very clear during the current year that the fiscal deficit will be maintained at the budgeted levels of 4.6% of the GDP," he said.
Rangarajan said that the second role is regarding intervention in the food grains market which has performed effectively. "Because of this, the year-on-year increase in cereal prices is very low. It is not more than an increase of 2-3%," he said.