Indian Institute of Planning and Management Advertising and Blogging Controversy - Sequence of Events

Sequence of Events

In its June 2005 issue, JAM (a fun and satire magazine) carried an article by Arjun Ravi (namedIIPM: Tall Claims) where he claimed that IIPM's advertisements were misleading. Arjun Ravi also stated that IIPM uses rankings from 2003. The article was removed subsequently by a court judgment against JAM.

Rashmi Bansal, the editor of the JAM magazine, published similar content in her blog, and this story was picked by other bloggers such as Gaurav Sabnis. IIPM sent a legal notice to Sabnis, eventually resulting in Sabnis being forced to resign from his job. Business World India magazine, of which Rashmi Bansal is a contributing 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, "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 Arjun Ravi at JAM and Businessworld stated that the institute did not 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.