Replying to the charges of financial irregularities made by the human resources development ministry, the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad said the accounts of the institute were audited and routinely presented for scrutiny to the institute's board of governors.

It said this in a paper -- Sustaining Academic Excellence -- which would be tabled at the IIM-Ahmedabad board meeting on April 3.

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Representatives as well as nominees of the government are on the board of the institute.

"A legitimate issue associated with autonomy is that of accountability. While asking for autonomy, IIMs should also agree to accountability towards all the stakeholders, in particular to those who provide the resources required," said the position paper, which was agreed and unanimously accepted by all the members of the Council.

The paper in the lines of the white paper published by the faculty council of the IIM-Calcutta.

Agreeing to the point that government had right to ask for accountability, the Council said that it would be pertinent to emphasise on two points.

"First, IIMs should be accountable not only to the government but also to the stakeholders, and second, accountability should be assessed on broad parameters of performance and not on operational issues," the paper says.

"In our view, the accountability of the institute involves several things, and the visibility of achievements is one major element of accountability. When an institution figures among the top institutions in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, and figures among the top sixty in the world, it has met this test," said the paper.

The council also mentioned that it was natural to require an audit of financial statements (as to the extent funds are provided by the government) so as to preclude allegations of misappropriation of funds.

"How come allegations like the one levelled by Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi regarding financial anomalies in the IIMs be made? The accounts of the IIMs are tabled before the ministry's representatives every year for their scrutiny. The accounts were audited by reputed chartered accountants and always kept open for review and scrutiny by the society and board members of the IIMs," said a source close to the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad Society.