Kolkata: IIM Calcutta’s prestigious lecture series will not take place this year due to the poor condition of the road leading up to the institute.

The ‘Institute Lecture Series’ is one of the most popular series at IIM Calcutta, hosting personalities like the Dalai Lama, Kiran Bedi and Sam Pitroda.

This year, students and faculty will miss out on listening to high profile guest lecturers as the half km of the Diamond Harbour road leading to the institute is in a bad shape.

While every year the condition of the road worsens during the monsoon, this year the situation has been exacerbated by the ongoing construction of the Metro.

An IIM Calcutta professor on condition of anonymity said that it is in poor taste to force an eminent guest lecturer to travel to the institute on such a bad road. The image of the institute as a centre of learning and excellence has to be maintained so the lecture series has been put on hold, the professor said.

IIM-Calcutta authorities will be writing to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Public Works Department to fix the road at the earliest. But till that happens, the lecture series stands suspended.

One professor said, “If we invite eminent personalities…it will not be good for the image of the institute if they have a bad time travelling on the roads.”

The last eminent personality to visit IIM Calcutta was President Pranab Mukherjee in April while Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl was called as part of the lecture series in November 2016.