Nothing wrong with govt appointing directors: IIMs

Critics say govt could have waited for some more time

The timing of the Union government appointing directors of the 10 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have raised eyebrows, as a Bill to provide autonomy to these premier institutes is pending in the Lok Sabha.
 
The Bill, once passed by both houses, would empower the institutes to appoint their respective directors without the government’s permission.
 
Critics say the government could have waited for some more time and allowed the IIMs’ board of governors to make appointments. Now 10 directors, which were appointed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi headed Appointments Cabinet Committee (ACC) on Friday, would serve at their post for five years or will be superannuated. The position at these premier B-schools were vacant for more than a year. 

 

The IIMs, however, have no qualms over the sudden move and welcomed the appointments. These appointments were notified just a day after the IIM Bill, 2017, was tabled in the Lok Sabha.
 
On the one hand, the Bill empowers the board at IIMs on several fronts, including appointment of chairpersons and directors unlike now when the appointments happen through ACC. However, it also provides the central government an overarching authority to make rules, from time to time, under the Act.
 
For instance, the Bill not only provides for state and central government representatives on the board but also for setting up a ‘coordination forum’. 

 
According to the Bill, the Coordination Forum “shall facilitate the sharing of experiences, ideas and concerns with a view to enhancing the performance of all Institutes”. But, among its other functions, including recommending scholarships and reviewing achievement of policy objectives, the coordination forum is also empowered to perform “such other functions as may be referred to it by the central government,” the Bill provides. However, according to the IIMs which Business Standard spoke to, the B-schools have no qualms with the government being vested with such powers through the coordination forum. “Why should the government give up all control? The government is the ultimate owner of the IIM brand under the Bill. However, there is sufficient autonomy being given to us,” states director of one of the older IIMs.

 
Rather the IIMs say the final form of the Bill will only facilitate faster decision making. “It is an excellent initiative to streamline management education. IIMs have always had a great degree of autonomy but with this, decision making will be much faster and will help us to react faster to the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment,” said Ajit Prasad, director of IIM Lucknow.
 
What’s more, the IIMs also find the recent appointments by the government timely since the process was long pending. “Till the Bill is notified as an Act, the government has the authority to appoint directors. There is nothing wrong in that. Moreover, this exercise of recruiting directors for 10 IIMs was going on for a year. The process took time and was complete only recently. I don’t read anything here,” said a director of another older IIM, on condition of anonymity.

 
The Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) stands by the appointment while maintaining transparency in the whole process.
 
“The process to fill the posts of directors was underway for the past few months. The select committee had suggested some names, which the government has now approved. The entire process was transparent,” a senior MHRD official told Business Standard. 
 
“The criticism to appointment of directors when the IIM Bill is pending in Parliament is unjust. It will take some time before the Bill is passed in both houses and is notified by the government,” said the official.

 
New IIMs in Amritsar, Sirmaur, Bodh Gaya, Sambalpur, Nagpur and Visakhapatnam started operations without a full-time director in 2016. Some of the older ones such as IIM Bangalore, too, were headless for more than a year. Meanwhile,  IIMs are unsure if the Act would be notified before the monsoon session. “Maybe, the next batch will get an MBA degree in 2018,” Prasad added.