Management Center for Human Values

What Does it Symbolize?

MCHV enshrines more than two decades of aspiration and effort to hold up to the members of human organizations and institutions - in India and elsewhere - contemporary adaptations from the perennial corpus of Indian Psycho - Philosophical wisdom. It is completely nondenominational. It also embodies the striving towards evolving the `Vedantic Ethic' from the Indian deep structure, bridging a vital gap between the `Protestant Ethic' from the Far West and the `Confucian Ethic' from the Far East. A large segment of managers and professionals in India has for long been awaiting filling up of this end.

Whence is it Empowered?

For one, a sort of negative impulse worked behind its genesis - growing disenchantment with the bulk of the common stuff which passed for management education and education in general. For another, there was a strong positive impulse too - the lives and writings of many great modern Indians. Especially the splendid quartet of Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo. The appeal was irresistible, for they had lived Indian thought - outstandingly in both purity and practicality. So, the MCHV, consecrated as it is to them, represents a commitment to discharge our rishi rin - debts to these sages.

Who Have Inspired its Concretization?

IIM-Calcutta, while blessing its birth in April 1992, had also mandated a very special responsibility upon MCHV - it must find its financial support from sources outside the government and IIMC budget. This was an unprecedented challenge during the 30 year life of IIM-C. E qually unexpected has been the scale of reponse from Indian industry and financial circles. A little more than Rs. 40 million has poured in within three years or so.

The House of Tatas has been the single largest source of help. Others who have come forward with handsome donations include leading financial institutions and corporate entities like Unit Trust of India, Housing Development and Finance Corporation Ltd., State Bank of India, ACC Ltd., Coal India, Bhilwara Group, Orissa Cement, Steel Authority of India, Canara Bank, Industrial Development Bank of India, Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India, National Mineral Development Corporation, Indian Overseas Bank, Greaves Ltd., Godrej and Boyce, Indian Oil Corporation, Indian Petrochemical Corporation, Salora International, Vardhman Spinning, Airfreight Ltd., Excel Industries Ltd., Exide Industries, Gujarat Ambuja, ONGC and BPCL. A few individuals and other corporations have also helped.

ACC Ltd., UTI, Orissa Cement Ltd., ONGC and BPCL have earmarked their donations for Faculty and Research Scholars at MCHV.

With such generous support from the donors MCHV became a reality and was consecrated on November 23, 1995, through a dignified inaugural ceremony. MCHV is now financially self-sufficient both in respect of capital cost and recurring expenditures out of corpus interest.