IIM Lucknow director asks faculty not to speak to media

In a recent missive issued to the faculty members of the Indian Institute of Management - Lucknow, director Ajit Prasad has restricted professors from speaking to the media.

“May we stick to the protocol of letting CCMR (Corporate Communication and Media Relations) be the only body to issue press statements,” said Prasad, making it clear that if any faculty member wanted to speak to journalists, they had to do so in their individual capacity. “Make sure you tell the correspondent that you have nothing to do with IIM-L,” said Prasad.

Expressing his unhappiness with professors interacting with media persons, the director said in an e-mail: “Some of you are talking to the press on CAT (Common Admission Test) and other related issues.”

IIM-L conducted CAT 2017, the result of which was declared on January 8. This year, two women and three non-engineering aspirants figured among the top 20 candidates who scored 100 percentile.

After that, many journalists called up the institute’s professors to get an insight into the changes that were made in the question paper format to help women and non-engineering students crack the coveted top 20 list.

Reportedly, this did not go down well with the director. “Within a day or two after the results, the director sent an email to all faculty, telling them not to speak to media,” said an angry professor on condition of anonymity.

Another professor upset with Prasad’s email said, “Why should teachers be kept from speaking to free press? In search of answers to their questions, journalists will approach different professors to get their views and the director should not object to this.”

Some professors also said they would approach members of the board of governors in their individual capacity to express their anguish in the matter.

When contacted, Ajit Prasad said, “There is a danger of misrepresentation and conflicting views and interpretations. That is why I have requested all faculty to route all communication through the CCMR, so that a consolidated view can be presented.”

IIM-L, one of the top management institutes of the country, has been mired in controversy of late.

The 132nd meeting of the board of governors on September 29, 2017 recorded allegations of violation of norms for faculty promotion, appointment of extra deans, extension of retirement age, purchase of vehicle and reclining chairs, etc.

A committee, constituted by the union ministry of human resource development (MHRD) to probe the alleged financial irregularities in the institute, has begun procuring records from the accounts department