N R Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies and the chairman of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad governing council, has said the decision to cut fees will weaken the IIMs and the controversy could be solved by holding a debate.

He said the IIM fee-cut would not make quality management education more accessible to the poor. "This is an absolute 'lose-lose' proposition," said Murthy.

Calling for a wider debate on the issue, he said that IIM-Ahmedabad would focus on advertising its scholarships and loans available for students.

• The IIM Controversy: Complete Coverage

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Wednesday, Murthy said, "The first thing we must decide on is how to begin the debate. We can do that by putting all the facts in front of all the stakeholders (concerned parties). I am sure the honourable minister will understand our viewpoint."

When asked how would such a debate be possible when the HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi had unilaterally decided to slash the fees and was not even willing to listen to the protests, Murthy said: "I have lot of respect for Dr Joshi and I am sure that raising the level of the debate will make him rethink his decision."

"Let us make it clear, the cutting down of the fees to Rs 30,000 won't help the poor, as much as providing them with scholarships and cheap loans will," he said.

Murthy was speaking to the press along with Hindustan Lever Chairman M S 'Vindi' Banga. The two corporate stalwarts, along with marketing consultant Rama Bijapurkar, said that IIMs are not elitist.

Banga said: "Nearly 18 per cent of the IIM students are from the families whose annual income is below Rs 150,000. Another 60 per cent have a household income of below Rs 500,000. Only 22 per cent of the students come from families whose annual income is above Rs 500,000. So to say that IIM is catering to only the elite is wrong."

"There are 45 million children in India who don't go to school. There are 350 million illiterate people and in every rural school of our country there is just one teacher for two classes. So instead of reducing IIM fees, we should pay more attention to those things in our country. I mean we should not rob the poor and pay the rich," Murthy added.

"There is tremendous demand for more IIM seats as many students want to join this institution. So rather than reducing IIM fees why not have more IIMs in the country? And if there are poor students, then we can always give them scholarships and loans," Banga said.

"The government should not spend more on students who would be earning much more," he said, adding that the average salary of an IIM-Ahmedabad graduate was about Rs 825,000 and the loan for fees could be repaid by the student easily in a couple of years.

Describing the Union HRD ministry's decision as unilateral, Banga said there were a number of stakeholders who should be involved in the process. He noted that IIM-A was promoted by the central government, Gujarat government and corporates.

The decision would impact the country 25 years later, he said, adding that the need of the hour was to strengthen the primary education.

He said that corporates were not trying to be in confrontation with the government but were voicing their views.

Murthy said the country needed an additional 15,000-20,000 management seats. Subsidising management education would mean a huge burden on the exchequer, if those additional seats were to be taken into account.

When asked if the IIM board of directors could overrule the ministry's notification, Banga said: "I am sure when the board of governors meets, it will look into all these issues."

Murthy, however, quickly added: "At this point, let us not jump the gun. He (Joshi) is a parliamentarian and is accountable to people. He knows much better than I do. He is a great guy and smart person. I am sure we will find some way out."

Queried what would happen if the HRD minister were to ask the current IIM board members to go, Murthy said: "He is the minister for HRD. If he says we should quit, we will leave. If he wants me to leave, I will leave without any regrets. But he will continue to be my good friend."