IIM Bill in Lok Sabha; premier B-schools await clarity

Bill will provide IIMs power to grant degrees by terming them as institutes of national importance

Even as the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) Bill was introduced on Thursday in the Lok Sabha, premier B-schools still do not know details of what it says.

It was approved recently by the Union Cabinet and was supposed to give the IIMs more autonomy. The ministry of human resource development (MHRD) has given some features but the IIMs say they still await clarity over certain key issues.

Among these is on the provision for a Coordination Forum, likely to see representation from the government and play the role of an advisory body.

"We have not received a copy of the Bill. Only after having gone through it can we understand what role this Forum will play and what will be the extent of government involvement through this," said the director of one of the older IIMs, on condition of anonymity.

The Bill was supposed to give the IIMs the legal authority to grant degrees, by terming them institutes of national importance. The Bill also allows the board of governors of an IIM to select the chairperson or director by appointing a selection committee. And, to empowers IIM boards to make rules on remuneration and fees.

However, calling for 'adequate accountability', as declared by the MHRD recently while announcing Cabinet approval for the Bill, the document mandates IIMs to conduct periodic reviews of performance, and to get themselves inspected by the Union comptroller and auditor general.

The Bill also calls for greater presence of alumni, members of scheduled castes and tribes, faculty members and women on the board of governors.