Decision on IIM Council deferred by two weeks

MHRD minister Pallam Raju seeks further comments from all IIMs on the issue following IIM-A's opposition on grounds of losing autonomy

In an informal meeting on Monday with the governing board chairpersons and directors of all the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has asked the institutes to come back again with their comments on the pending IIM Council draft in two weeks.

MHRD minister Pallam Raju has sought further comments from all the IIMs on the issue following IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A)'s opposition on grounds of losing autonomy.  

According to institute sources, the ministry would either finalise a draft Bill on the IIM Council or seek further time.

"The draft is still work-in-progress and the next milestone is in two weeks by when we are supposed to come back with our comments on the IIM Council Bill. However, every chairman and director put across their views today," said director of one of the IIMs on condition of anonymity.

It has been learnt that the IIM Ahmedabad Board of Governors (BoG) chairman AM Naik did express his concerns over autonomy which was heard by the minister, ministry officials and other IIMs.

Recently, at IIM-A's convocation, Naik stated, "As per the amendment in MoA we are autonomous. There has been talks about Parliament bill which will have an overall government umbrella type of facilitation which we have as a society opposed; as also the faculty and BoG have opposed. We have given our representation in writing. I think it will meet with some considerations. The institutes which are doing exceedingly well must be left alone."

"IIM Ahmedabad was vocal about its concerns today. Since there were still such concerns, the MHRD has deferred the decision by another two weeks. It is likely that after the comments arrive, a draft would be finally formulated," said director of another IIM, adding that the idea behind having an IIM Council is to turn the institutes into statutory bodies that can offer MBA and PhD degrees instead of diplomas and fellowships. Currently IIMs cannot award degrees as they have been set up as societies under the Societies Registration Act.

Universities and institutes, like the IITs, which have been set up by Parliament or legislatures or have been declared deemed-to-be-universities under the UGC Act, have the power to grant degrees.

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have an IIT Council which is the governing body responsible for all of the IITs.

The council’s Chairman is minister-in-charge of technical education, three Members of Parliament, the Chairmen of all IITs, the Directors of all IITs, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission, the Director General of CSIR, the Chairman of IISc, the Director of IISc, the Joint Council Secretary of Ministry of Human Resource and Development, and three appointees each of the Union Government, AICTE.

Apart from the IIM Council, the ministry and institutes also discussed other things such as concerns over faculty recruitments, induction of foreign students, internationalisation as well as infrastructure development, among other things.

MHRD, IIMs seek better co-ordination among old, new peers

At a time when the newer Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are feeling left out and alone, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the B-schools agreed upon better co-ordination between old and new IIMs.

"Among other things, MHRD also raised the issue of better co-ordination needed among both the old and new IIMs including sharing of best practices," said director of one of the IIMs who was part of the meeting on Monday.

"The IIMs today are functioning like islands. A council could help us network, connect , learn and achieve much more. To compete globally, we have to share resources and form industry linkages. An IIM council could facilitate that," MJ Xavier, director, IIM Ranchi told Business Standard earlier.

Till 1996 there were six IIMs including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Indore, Kozhikode and Lucknow. Since 2007, seven new IIMs have been set up, taking the total number of IIMs to 13.