Micro-management of IIMs by government won't help: IIM-A director

IIM Bill, 2015 has been put up in public domain for consultation

If the establishment of a coordination forum as envisaged under the proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bill, 2015 is used for centralisation of power and curtailment of autonomy of these institutes, it will be bad news for IIMs, said, Professor Ashish Nanda, director, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA).

“A coordination forum is envisaged to be set up for at all institutes under the proposed IIM Bill, 2015. If this body is utilised for centralising power or curtailing the autonomy of IIMs, it is bad news. Instead, if this forum is used for sharing best practices across the institutes, it will be good for the overall development of all institutes,” said, Nanda. He was addressing mediapersons while  sharing details about alumni contribution to infrastructure development of the institute.

Stressing that autonomy is central to independent functioning and overall development of the institutes, Nanda stated, “Micro-management of IIMs by government is not going to help. Government can be a good overseer from distance. They can reward those institutes which have performed well and seek answers from non-performers.”

He, though, added that the consultative process, so far, has been good.

“The bill has been put up in public domain and the last date for submitting suggestions and recommendations is June 24, 2015. IIMA will send its views shortly,” he said, adding that independent of the specifics of the bill, the crux lies in its implementation.

 

The Union human resource development (HRD) ministry has sought vast powers over IIMs on their functioning.

“Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this Act, the Institute (IIMs) shall, for efficient administration of this Act, be bound by such directions on questions of policy, as the Central Government may give in writing to it from time to time,” a provision of the draft bill says.

“The decision of the Central Government whether a question is one of policy or not, shall be final,” it adds.

Currently, the bill proposes to grant statutory status to 13 existing IIMs and declare them as Institutions of National Importance, to enable them to grant degrees.

Meanwhile, in a first of its kind initiative, IIMA awarded three of its alumni the Young Achiever Award, recognising contributions in their respective fields. The awardees include Professor Aparna Labroo of Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; Rajesh Gopinath, CFO, TCS and Raghunandan G and Aprameya Radhakrishnan, co-founders of TaxiforSure.

The institute also received Rs 8 crore in contribution towards infrastructure upgrade and setting up of new facilities.