ISB students ‘relieved’ at exit of head

HYDERABAD: Students of the Indian School of Business (ISB) on Monday heaved a sigh of relief at the exit of Rajat K Gupta, the tainted founder-chairman of the premier institute. With Gupta being the third senior management figure to get embroiled in a controversy, the students aired apprehensions about their placement prospects.

“We are relieved. The management could have acted swiftly in this matter. Agreed, these are only allegations and nothing’s been proved yet. But this alleged complicity comes with certain amount of risk,” a student told Express on condition of anonymity.

Some of them also expressed concern over the eroding brand value of the management school. “The institute has been getting negative publicity over the past two years. It may have an impact in the lon-grun,” said another student.

Allaying students’ fears of a possible adverse impact of the controversy on campus placements, Deepak Chandra, deputy dean, ISB had earlier said, “This year has been better than last year. We don’t foresee that SEC charges on Gupta will have any affect on us.” The class of 2011 comprises 570 students who will pass out from the institute this April.

For the ISB, the Rajat Gupta affair has come as a double blow to its image. Earlier, another IndianAmerican and former McKinsey consultant and cofounder of ISB, Anil Kumar pleaded guilty in January 2010 to leaking inside information about a possible merger to Rajaratnam, in return for $1.75 million. In 2009, Prof Mendu Ramamohan Rao, then dean, ISB had to step down from the board for failing to perform fiduciary duties as a board member of the scamhit Satyam Computer Services Ltd.

Source :Indian Express