Kolkata, Nov 15 (IANS) Management schools in India should improvise their syllabi to respond to the managerial challenges faced by the Indian companies, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari said here Sunday.

"It is believed that management schools in India teach theories and practices that are relevant in the developed economies of the West and may not be applicable in India. The syllabi of management institutions needs to respond to the managerial challenges faced by Indian Companies," Purandeswari said while inaugurating the golden jubilee celebrations of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C).

The minister said critics of the management education format in the country feel that it only spawned profit seekers who had little eye for uplift of the larger sections of the society.

"The recent corporate scams have raised serious question on the usefulness of management education. Critics maintain that management education in leading business schools create profit seekers who have scant respect for social development," she said.

Meanwhile, in tune with its vision of an "International Centre of Excellence in Management education," the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) would introduce a two-year dual degree programme with the École Superieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP) - a premier B-School in Europe from the coming academic session.

IIM-C director Shekhar Chaudhuri said it would be a first of its kind management programme where both the institutes would give degree to the students.

The matter has already got the nod from the IIM-C faculty council and the board of governors and the memorandum of understanding will be signed in the next three or four months, he said.