Public Response Against Helplessness and Action for Redressal (Prahar)'s second phase of opinion poll among students in Kolkata, on the issue of IIM fee-cut, indicated that the students who participated in the study, were in favour of a fee cut.

The survey revealed that 56 per cent of respondents felt that fees for MBA courses should range between Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 per annum, while five per cent said that MBA education could be higher than Rs 100,000.

Around 68 per cent said that the current IIM fee cut was good on an overall basis and 74 per cent felt that the move would help the middle class and serious students immensely.

• The IIM Controversy

This was the second phase of the poll. The poll was conducted with over 1,500 students across Delhi, Lucknow, Chandigarh. The total sample size including Kolkata was 1,547.

Abhay Raj Mishra, member of the executive committee Prahar said that the survey across the cities showed that 71 per cent considered accessibility to institutions of higher education was a major problem adversely affecting career options for students.

Around 58 per cent said that higher fees was a major deterrent for the middle-class students, while 70 per cent said that the IIM fee cut was a government move in the right direction.