IIMs Begin Mutual Consultations After Bill Gets Presidential Assent

The IIMs have started the process of mutual consultations with the Indian Institutes of Management Bill 2017 receiving Presidential assent to become the law that is expected to give more powers by way of administrative, academic and financial autonomy.

The Bill that became an Act with the President’s signature on December 31 also allows the IIMs to award degrees to their graduates.

It had received Parliament approval with its unanimous passage in the Rajya Sabha on December 19 after the Lok Sabha cleared it in the previous session.

Until now, the Government had a major say in the appointment of IIM Directors and the Board Chairman. Three names would be referred by the Board of Governors and the Government would select one of them. Likewise, the Chairman was also appointed with Government approval.

Consultations among the IIMs are important to arrive at a consensus on guidelines to be adopted to ensure uniformity in regulations. BusinessLine quoted a senior official at one of the IIMs confirming that the consultation process has already started and the Institutes wanted to have in place regulations that are not too much at variance.

Earlier, introducing the Bill in the Upper House, Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar had stated that it gave ‘Institute of National Importance status’ to the IIMs.

At present, the IIMs award postgraduate diplomas and not degrees. Though these institutes have earned a lot of prestige for the quality of academics all over the world, the diploma holders face many difficulties while registering for PwohDs for further studies, post-doctoral and other research facilities.

Until now, the Government had a major say in the appointment of IIM Directors and the Board Chairman. Three names would be referred by the Board of Governors and the Government would select one of them. Likewise, the Chairman was also appointed with Government approval.

Since the Government was helping the institutes in the initial seven years for their infrastructure needs as well as in meeting their recurring expenditure, the files had to be referred and every decision gets endorsed by the Ministry.

The Minister stated that since the IIMs have earned a reputation for their hard work and excellence, they must get autonomy.

Under the new law, the present Board of Governors will appoint the next Board which will appoint the Chairman and also the Directors. Javadekar said the four representatives of the Government would be withdrawn and representatives of the alumni would be included.

However, there has to be the Parliamentary scrutiny since the government is providing finance and there will be CAG (Comptroller & Auditor General) audit. The Institutes will abide by the national laws but the rules also will be placed before the Parliament.

So, there are two points where the Parliamentary scrutiny will be done but barring that, there is no interference of bureaucracy and there is no interference of Government, the Minister said.

Even in the Council of All Indian Institutes of Management, the Minister will step down as Chairman and the Council will elect its own Chairman to conduct the coordination activities, he added.

Saibal Chattopadhyay, Director, IIM-Calcutta, stated that under the new law, the Board will have greater responsibility. Institutes would be free to decide the type of programs they want to offer as well, in the selection of the faculty, students and the placements or career options. He also expressed the hope that IIMC would be able to start awarding Post-Graduate degrees and doctorates from April 2018.