Most IIMs vote for umbrella body

Move for council to be discussed with HRD ministry on April 1

The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) may finally go the way of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The IIMs (excluding IIM-Ahmedabad) are in favour of forming a council to oversee their functioning, albeit without any threat to their autonomy.

Next week, the IIMs are set to give their consent to forming an IIM Council.

"Today, the IIMs 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," said M J Xavier, director, IIM-Ranchi.

On April 1, the IIMs would discuss the proposal with officials of the Union ministry of human resource development. At a convocation in IIM-Kozhikode, Pallam Raju, Union HRD minister, had said his ministry planned to consolidate the IIMs.

IIM-Ahmedabad, however, has opposed the move, terming it a threat to its autonomy.

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have a council - the governing body responsible for all the IITs.

IIM directors said the idea behind an IIM council was to turn the institutes into statutory bodies to offer masters' degrees and doctorates, instead of diplomas and fellowships. Currently, the IIMs cannot award degrees, as they have been set up as societies, under the Societies Registration Act. Degrees can only be awarded by universities and institutes such as IITs, set up by Parliament or legislatures, and those declared deemed-to-be-universities under the UGC Act.

The IITs have an IIT Council, which is the governing body responsible for all of the IITs. The minister-in-charge of technical education is the council's chairman. Other members include three Members of Parliament, the chairmen and the directors of all the IITs, the chairman of the University Grants Commission, the director-general of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), the chairman and the director of IISc, the joint secretary in the HRD ministry, and three appointees each of the Union government and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

IIM directors said they saw pan-IIM acceptance for the IIM Bill draft. "There have been some misunderstandings, wherein some people are concerned about IIMs' autonomy being challenged in the draft Bill. But once they go through the draft recommendations and be part of the deliberations on April 1, most of those concerns would be clarified. The IIM council draft Bill's high points are the degree-granting status, as well as autonomy to IIMs," said Janat Shah, director of IIM-Udaipur and part of the committee drafting the Bill.

Shah added the recommendations would, in no way, threaten the autonomy of IIMs.

Two years ago, the Union ministry of human resource development had granted greater autonomy to IIMs.

These institutes, however, remain under the Right to Information Act, and have to get their accounts audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The changes were based on the recommendations of three committees (on governance, faculty and funding), constituted by then HRD minister Kapil Sibal.

"Having an IIM council is a good move on the government's part. The matter is still in a consultative mode, but we are fine with the way the council will shape up. At IIM-Raipur, we are pro-council," said B S Sahay, director of the institute.

The IIMs have said they want the council to have low representation of bureaucrats and greater representation of industry and IIM officials.

"I think having a council is a progressive move. A certain degree of coordination is required in what the IIMs are doing. And, as IIMs provide managers, I think periodically, some outside inputs are required for IIMs to ensure they are up-to-date with the environment changes in India, so that education in IIMs is consistent with what is required for our national goals," said R C Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Udyog and chairman, board of governors, IIM-Ranchi.

IIMs have said the HRD ministry has called for another meeting on April 15. At the meeting, it would discuss with the directors of IITs and IIMs the steps to improve collaboration between industry and academia and form a complete ecosystem.