It began with a lecture series. In March 2019, about five months into his tenure as vice-chancellor of Visva-Bharati, Bidyut Chakravarty introduced a lecture series and set up a committee to organise it. For its first meeting, he invited senior academics from within the institution's economics, physics, music and other departments but soon, both the committee and the nature of the series morphed.
The academics were allegedly replaced by ideologues of the Hindu right the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its political arm, the Bharatiya Janata Party. This alleged push for "saffronisation" in the months leading up to the 2019 general election was opposed by teachers and students and set off a conflict at the university that has lasted years. It has led to multiple court cases and seen teachers and students suspended for offences as minor as speaking to the press and rusticated or dismissed altogether for protesting.
In December 2022, Sudipta Bhattacharya, economics professor and president of Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association, was handed a "proposed termination" letter; earlier, he'd been suspended for 21 months, starting from January 2021. Protests against the suspension and termination. led to still more punitive action leading to outrage in academic communities even outside West Bengal. Plus, teachers complained of routine harassment on a variety of fronts, including the process for securing duty and station leave.
The new VC
Visva-Bharati was founded by Rabindranath Tagore in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, in 1921. It was turned into a central university and then, institute of national importance, during the tenure of Jawaharlal Nehru.
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100 Best Business Schools In The Country
For Careers360's 2025 B-school ranking, we ranked 100 public and private management institutions and rated over 500, dividing them into zones and city clusters
'We have a completion rate of 80-90%'
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New roles and spaces
Online MBA has helped many working professionals climb up the office hierarchy or even pivot to an entirely new career. But there are challenges.
'Committed to industry-relevant learning'
International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi, is India's first corporate-sponsored B-school. It offers three PG diplomas in management - the flagship PGDM with 300 seats, as well as human resource management and business and financial studies with 60 each. Himadri Das, director general, IMI, discussed the challenges posed by competition among private business schools, the importance of diversity, and IMI's NIRF rankings with Sanjay. Edited excerpts from the interview.
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The National Insurance Academy (NIA), now situated in Pune, was established jointly by the ministry of finance and all the major public sector undertakings (PSUs) in insurance. Originally a training institute for insurance industry professionals, it has been offering a postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM) since 2004 and has placed 100% of its students all through.
The era of MBA in sustainability
As companies are increasingly pushed to meet environmental compliances, management institutes are revamping their curricula with specialised MBA programmes in sustainability or launching new programmes
Despite good record, SRCC's PGDM faces degree hurdle
Delhi University's Shri Ram College of Commerce started its postgraduate diploma in Global Business Operations (GBO) 25 years ago. Principal Simrit Kaur spoke to Shradha Chettri on their effort to convert the diploma into a degree programme, changes required in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) and more. Edited excerpts
Managing produce, from farm to plate
Agribusiness managers are in great demand, both on the 'input' side of agriculture - seeds, fertilizer, machinery businesses - as well as in the processing of the 'output'
Creating 'innovators with conscience'
The SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai, has been the top Indian institution in the Financial Times' (FT) Masters in Management rankings for two years in a row. Varun Nagaraj, dean of SPJIMR, spoke to Atul Krishna about what the institute does differently, its plans, the future of business education, and the FT and National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) lists. Edited excerpts below
'Quality management education that is equitable': FMS Dean
The Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) at the University of Delhi (DU) is one of India's premier business schools offering MBA courses at a relatively low cost, compared to most leading business schools in India. Celebrating its 70th year, it is also one of the first university-based business schools. In an interview with Sanjay, head and dean of FMS A Venkat Raman spoke about the functioning of a business school under a central university, challenges, courses and future plans. He also spoke on the Common Admission Test (CAT) and its impact on diversity in student cohorts. Edited excerpts
