CHENNAI: At 75, Padma Shri Dr Bala V Balachandran looks young, agile and spirited. This multi-faceted personality was an emeritus professor of Accounting and Information Management at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He has submitted research papers at several universities and has written many books on management. He is a member of the Indian Planning Commission and works with Montek Singh Ahluwalia. A philanthropist and social entrepreneur, Dr Bala aka Balu hails from Pudukkottai district in Tamil Nadu. He has several academic awards to his credit. In 2001, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. He is the Founder and Dean of Great Lakes Institute of Management, Manamai near Mahabalipuram. He was recently in Chennai to attend the graduation day ceremony of his management institute. In a candid interview, he commented on the status of B-Schools in India. Q: You are a resident of the USA. What brought you to India ?A: Service. I started a business school in Manamai near Mahabalipuram. I came down to organise the system and introduce the energy executive programme.Q: What is the energy executive programme?A: Management courses that are designed to handle energy resources such as fossil fuels, atomic energy, wind and thermal power. We also intend to offer generic MBA courses.Q: What is a generic MBA course?A: It’s an MBA course designed to suit the demands of brand leaders in the market. In the near future, we plan to tie up with Kalpakkam Atomic Energy Plant. We’ve already signed an MoU with the University of Houston, Texas. Q: What do you want your MBAs to be ?A: I want them to be self-sufficient. I have a vision to generate petroleum from shale gas. It is an ambitious project but I want it to materialise. Q: How long do you think it will take for our nation to be self-reliant ?A: A spell of three years. My plan will ultimately lead to economic freedom.Q: Dr Bala, in juxtaposing IIMs with the B-schools of USA,what is the picture you see?A: Indian B-schools are copycats. We have to be distinct or we will become extinct. We need to design our own curriculum for the MBA programme instead of aping the West.Q: What do you suggest for the future ?A: We have create our own curriculum. We have an academic heritage that goes back 3000 years. Our tradition and heritage will guide us to our own style of education. Q: What are you plans for the near future ?A: Well, I am going to open up a new university, Great Lake University of Corporate Excellence , in Bhuvaneshwar, Odisha. It will offer courses in engineering, technical studies, law and management . We will design our own curriculum. The scheme has been approved and will be formally inaugurated in 2014.Q: Why Bhuvaneshwar?A: The old name of Bhuvaneshwar was Pushpagiri. In ancient times it was an important centre of learning. As a tribute to its rich heritage, we will inaugurate our new university there.
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