IIM Calcutta has decided not to hike fees for its two-year MBA programme because of the Covid-induced economic distress faced by some students and their families.

The MBA committee of the Joka institute had proposed to the academic council, which comprises teachers, officials and the director, that the fee be raised to Rs 23.05 lakh from the existing Rs 23 lakh.

The academic council rejected that proposal, said an IIM official.

Subir Bhattacharya, the interim director of the IIM, told The Telegraph: “We are not going to hike the fees this year.”

“There have been cases of loss of jobs, curtailment in salary and shutting down of businesses all over the country. In keeping with the inflationary rates, it was proposed that the fees be raised by Rs 50,000 this year. But the proposal was struck down as the incoming batch of students must have been facing the same hardship as those now in class,” said a member of the council.

There was a proposal to raise the fee for foreign students from $ 60,000 to 65,000 as well. “But that too has been struck down because of the same reason.”

Another member said last year, too, the fee was not raised since the council could not meet because of the sudden imposition of the lockdown. Moreover, the institute was preoccupied with changing the mode of the programme from in-person to online as a precaution against Covid-19, the member said.

Students of the 2019-21 batch had in June last year sought a fee waiver citing an economy that “looks very grim” and said they were uncertain about job prospects.

In a letter to then director Anju Seth, the then president of the institute’s students council, Hunar Gandhi, had written: “The situation of the economy looks very grim and the current and the graduating batches may be adversely affected in terms of future prospects…. We hereby request you to provide relief in the tuition fee and other charges.”

A teacher said the situation had worsened with the second wave of Covid triggering further distress across the country and it would be inhuman to raise the fee. “Considering that the batch that had just graduated sought a waiver of fees, it would be inhuman to raise the fees for the incoming batch. Although we sustain ourselves from whatever we earn through fees, we still decided against raising the fees,” he said.

Last year, the students of the two-year programme forced the institute to waive the hostel fees as they were not using the hostels and attending online classes from home, till they were called back to the campus in October.

They were called back so they could use the internet connectivity on the campus to attend online classes.

A teacher said that considering that the programme would be held online this year, they were expecting the students would again seek a waiver on the hostel component.

Although any proposal to raise the fees for the one-year MBA executive programme did not reach the council, it has been decided that the amount (Rs 27 lakh) would remain unchanged.

In July last year, the institute had decided to refund deposits and offer deferred admission to its executive MBA course this year after six candidates sought a refund saying they didn’t want to pursue the course in such “uncertain financial times”.