Indian Institute of Planning and Management

The Indian Institute of Planning and Management

Motto	What we teach today, others adopt tomorrow
Type	Private Unaccredited
Established	1973
Dean	Arindam Chaudhuri (Honorary Dean)
Director	Dr. Malayendra Kisor Chaudhuri
Undergraduates	600
Postgraduates	4500
Location	New Delhi , Delhi , India
Campus	New Delhi
Website	IIPM.edu

The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) is a private college having its headquarters in New Delhi, India. Founded in 1973, the school offers two year and three year full time certificate programmes in National Economic Planning and Entrepreneurship, which makes its students eligible to apply for MBA/BBA degrees from IMI Belgium. IIPM also offers shorter term programmes for working executives. The institute has its main campus in New Delhi and has branches in nine other cities in India. The Founding Director of IIPM is Dr. M. K. Chaudhuri, and the Honorary Dean is Arindam Chaudhuri.

IIPM's programmes are not accredited by Indian regulatory bodies such as AICTE and UGC which also mention IIPM is not authorised to operate as a university in India. According to the institute, it has never claimed it is a university, nor sought recognition from regulatory bodies or accreditation agencies as its courses are non-technical and non-professional and do not come under the purview of bodies like AICTE and UGC. In 2009, the Union Minister of Education formally communicated his intentions of closing down AICTE and UGC - due to corruption and inefficiency charges against the bodies - in favour of a larger regulatory body with more sweeping powers.

Academics

IIPM does not award MBA or BBA degrees, nor does it award postgraduate diplomas recognized by AICTE or UGC, the government regulatory agencies. IIPM offers "certificate courses" aimed at making students eligible for degree courses like MBA and BBA. Its certificate courses are as follows -

• A 2-year full time Postgraduate Programme in Planning and Entrepreneurship
• A 3-year full-time Undergraduate Programme in Planning and Entrepreneurship
• A 1-year full time Postgraduate Programme in Planning and Entrepreneurship (open only for working executives with at least two years of past work experience)

Students who complete the IIPM certificate courses become eligible to apply for MBA/BBA degrees from IMI Belgium, which describes itself as an independent, privately held organization.. According to NVAO, the accreditation agency for Netherlands and Belgium, IMI is not recognized as a higher education institution in Belgium, and the degrees it awards are not recognized as being credible.

In the first year, core subjects such as Marketing, Accounting, Finance, Economics and Organizational Behavior are covered. In the second year, the Marketing and IT papers are compulsory, and students pick a major in Human Resource or Finance. IIPM also teaches courses like "Beyond the principles of management and economics" in which graduate and post-graduate students are taught concepts like survival of the weakest, the law of increasing marginal utility, apart from the age old concepts of survival of the fittest in the market economy and law of diminishing marginal utility. The postgraduate program has 1920 contact hours.

All students of IIPM are sent on a 21-day compulsory trip to developed countries of Europe/USA to study the Global Opportunities and Threat Analysis programme (GOTA). The GOTA programme attempts to arrange visits of IIPM students to multinational firms and political organisations.

According to IIPM, only 70 percent of its students opt for the placement process, and it claims that almost all of these 70 percent students get jobs through it. However, many IIPM students are hired by Planman, which is IIPM's own sister organization. As per the website, more than 600 companies have visited IIPM campuses across the country, and some students have gotten foreign offers too. However, several companies such as Standard Chartered, Barclays and Deutsche Bank, which are mentioned in IIPM advertisements, told the magazine Careers360 that they have never participated in IIPM's campus recruitment process.

It has also been reported that IIPM now has seven international placement offices. However, according to an investigation by Careers360, jobs that IIPM students get abroad in places like the gulf countries come with severe restrictions and moderate pay.

Accreditation

IIPM is not recognized by the University Grants Commission or AICTE, and according to the institute, it has not sought de jure recognition from any statutory body or accrediting authority. The degrees awarded by IIPM are issued by International Management Institute (IMI), Belgium which describes itself as a privately owned independent organisation, and which is not recognized in Belgium as an institution of higher learning. In October 2005, the University Grants Commission (and the AICTE later on) raised objections over IIPM offering technical degrees. IIPM clarified that it never offered the MBA, BBA degrees (these were, are, and continue to be offered by IMI, Belgium which is an unrecognized institution). As of January 2007, the online prospectus mentioned awarding of MBA and BBA degrees. According to the institute, IIPM is an academically independent and autonomous body, without affiliation to any university. IIPM claims its programmes do not fall under the purview of AIU, AICTE, UGC and similar government-established regulatory bodies.

Nevertheless, UGC and AICTE declared IIPM to be a fake university and not permitted to give MBA and BBA degrees, against which IIPM filed a lawsuit. In June 2008, UGC and IIPM reached an agreement in the Delhi High Court, with UGC agreeing to remove IIPM's name from the fake universities list, and IIPM agreeing to clarify that it only offers "certificate courses" aimed.

In July 2008, India's cabinet minister for Human Resources Arjun Singh issued an appeal asking students entering the portals of higher education to satisfy themselves that their institutions are recognised under the relevant laws and are of quality and repute. "In particular, you should not merely go by the advertisements issued in the media by higher educational institutions, but satisfy yourselves by all counts in respect of quality and statutory recognition," Singh said in the appeal.

Facilities and Faculty

IIPM Campus, New Delhi

IIPM has two campuses in New Delhi, and branches in Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Pune, Gurgaon and Hyderabad. The campus' infrastructure includes classrooms, teaching aids, libraries, electronic libraries, IT equipment like Wi-Fi and laptops, and leisure equipment like gymnasiums and swimming pools. The available facilities vary for each branch of IIPM. It has over 10,000 books in the Delhi libraries, with access to several other libraries such as the British Council and American Library through sharing agreements. Its electronic libraries have access to leading databases like ProQuest and India Business Information Database (IBID). IIPM provides laptops to all newly admitted students.

About 20% of its faculty have a doctoral degree . Unlike most other business schools, the school has been able to build up its teaching faculty in India by recruiting its graduating MBA students..

Arindam Chaudhuri is Honorary Dean. The regular faculty of the institute comprises alumni of IIPM, as well as visiting professors. IIPM faculty conduct Executive Education programs. Some faculty members are also editors of Business & Economy, a fortnightly business and policy analysis magazine published by Planman Media , a sister organisation belonging to the Planman group headed by Arindam Chaudhuri.

IIPM is a member of CEEMAN (Central and East European Management Development Association), which is a global network of business schools in formerly communist countries and developing nations. CEEMAN organises courses, seminars and conferences for educators.

IIPM claims in its advertisements to have partnerships or tie-ups with many reputed business schools and universities, but most of them have denied these claims. The University of Texas, Austin, University of Cambridge and University of Virginia, in communications with the Indian magazine Careers360, denied having any tie-ups or partnerships with IIPM.

Ranking

IIPM does not feature in most business school rankings published in the Indian media. The institute states that "Rankings don't matter" and it has "strong reservations on the methodology applied by most of the magazines to rank b-schools". Its advertisements make frequent reference to the one ranking in which it has featured. The 2008 Zee Business Best B-School Survey ranked IIPM 7^th overall, 15^th in Infrastructural Facilities, 9^th in Course Content, and 9^th in Placements.

Controversies

IIPM has been involved in several controversies over the years.

Claims in IIPM's Advertisements

Main article: IIPM Advertising Controversy

JAM magazine

In its June 2005 issue, JAM (a youth magazine) carried an article (named IIPM: Tall Claims) that claimed that IIPM's advertisements were misleading. The specific article in JAM also stated that IIPM uses ranking that have now been withdrawn by Outlook C-Fore B-School survey.

Rashmi Bansal, the editor of the JAM magazine, published similar content in her blog, and this story was picked by many other bloggers as well. On 4 October 2005, IIPM sent legal notices to Rashmi and Gaurav Sabnis (another blogger who posted similar content) threatening to sue them for libel. IIPM also threatened to burn laptops purchased from IBM, where Sabnis was working at that time. Businessworld magazine, of which Rashmi Bansal is a consulting editor, in its October 2005 issue, covered the issue. The magazine reported that facilities including the swimming pool, 300-seater auditorium, seven amphitheatre classrooms, and mini golf course were restricted to IIPM's Delhi campus only. IIPM, in response to these findings, stated that "We have only one campus. The rest are branches." The magazine also reported that the average age of IIPM faculty is 27 years, and the international faculty mentioned in IIPM's advertisements only gave one-time lecture to the students. Both JAM and Businessworld magazine stated that the institute refused to provide them with detailed statistics on student placement.

IIPM issued a statement countering the allegations raised by the magazines. IIPM said that these allegations were a result of inferiority complex that IIM alumni (like Rashmi Bansal and Gaurav Sabnis) suffered due to IIPM (referring to IIPM's 'Dare to think beyond the IIMs' positioning statement), and that the articles were shallow lies, and an attempt to spread baseless rumours. The Outlook magazine as well as CNBC-TV18 covered the legal tussle between the IIPM and other bloggers.

In August 2007, India's Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta announced that IIPM is under investigation for misleading advertisements.

In June 2008, The Wall Street Journal's Mint carried an article about misleading advertising by educational institutes in which it mentioned IIPM's claims about foreign faculty.

Careers 360 Investigation

In June 2009, Careers 360, an Indian magazine focusing on education, published an investigative article about the claims in IIPM's advertising. The article claimed that,

• IMI Belgium, the institution that awards MBA and BBA degrees to IIPM graduates, is not recognized as an institution of higher learning in Belgium
• The campus placement facts and figures mentioned in IIPM advertisements are misleading. Several companies such as Standard Chartered and Deutsche bank mentioned in the ads denied having ever taken part in IIPM's campus recruitment process. It was also found that the "foreign jobs" mentioned in the ads were primarily short term contracts in the Persian Gulf, with several visa restrictions, and relatively low pay packages of approximately 6-700 USD a month.
• IIPM's ads mention collaborations and associations with several international business schools. However schools such as University of Texas, Austin, University of Cambridge and University of Virginia denied any tie-ups. Haas School of Business admitted a limited relationship.
• The story also carried first person testimonials from past students of IIPM who said the advertisements built up their expectations which were not met, and the jobs they got after studying at IIPM are barely enough for them to repay loans taken for paying the tuition fees at IIPM

Unfair trade practices investigations

In May 2007, The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC), an arm of the Indian government in charge of overseeing fair trade practices, launched investigations into the tall claims made by IIPM in its advertisements. As a result of recurrent complaints, an arm of the MRTPC will be investigating the ads and if they are found misleading, a case for unfair trade practices could be filed against the institute.

In August 2007, India's Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta announced that IIPM is under investigation for misleading advertisements.

UGC and AICTE objections

In October 2005, both UGC and AICTE raised objection over IIPM using the term 'Indian Institute' as part of its name. The UGC also said that the IIPM cannot give MBA and BBA degrees as these can only be given by universities recognised by the UGC.. IIPM confirmed that they never offered the MBA, BBA degrees (and that those were offered by IMI Belgium), and that IIPM advertisements had, and continue to promote their certifications as being "superior to MBA and BBA" courses. The words "superior to" were in a much smaller font than "MBA" and "BBA". In December 2005, AICTE raised objections over IIPM awarding degrees in foreign collaboration, and sent notice to IIPM detailing the objections. According to AICTE, as per its guidelines on foreign collaboration that came into force since 15 May 2005, IIPM is not approved to give such degrees. In March 2007, AICTE issued another notice to unaccredited institutions including IIPM. IIPM stated it has not, and will not apply for AICTE recognition as its programmes fall out of the purview of AICTE..

Tax evasion

The Indian Government's Ministry of Finance issued a press release saying that proceedings have been initiated against IIPM for its evasion of income tax and service tax for the assessment years 2005–06 and 2006–07, while it spent 49 crores on Ads. The Ministry further stated that service tax paid by IIPM in the preceding two years had been nil. Information about IIPM's tax evasion was discussed in the Indian parliament too.. In April 2009, a series of replies by the Indian Finance Ministry to petitions under the Right to Information Act revealed that IIPM was being investigated by the Director General of the Income Tax department for evading taxes by wrongly claiming exemptions.

Plagiarism

In August 2006, a USA Today article about plagiarism on the internet mentioned that a column by Jack and Suzy Welch was posted on the IIPM website below Arindam Chaudhuri's photo without attributions to either BusinessWeek or Jack and Suzy Welch. IIPM subsequently informed USA Today that it had rights to the Welch column through the New York Times News Service/Syndicate, and that a Welch byline was added after the USA Today inquiry because, "others could be confused."

Gallery

• IIPM Tower, Hyderabad
  IIPM Tower, Hyderabad
• 
  IIPM Tower, Ahmedabad
• IIPM Tower, Mumbai
  IIPM Tower, Mumbai

External links

• Official IIPM Website
• IMI Belgium