Lok Sabha takes up IIM Bill

The Lok Sabha on Friday took up discussion on the Indian Institute of Management Bill, 2017 that aims at giving the premier institutes more autonomy and will enable them grant degrees.

Moving the bill, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said: "We should trust our institutions. It is difficult to run IIMs from here."

Participating in the debate on the bill, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor welcomed the measure and congratulated the government for deciding to relinquish power, adding that he was concerned that the government was giving up control on the fee structure.

He also said that the bill did not mention reservations.

"The Minister said the law of the land will prevail on it, but earlier it was specifically mentioned," Tharoor said.

The Congress leader also pointed out that at present, out of the total teachers in the IIMs, only two were from the Scheduled Castes and none from the Scheduled Tribes.

Tharoor also accused the government of stooping low by removing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's name from IIM Shillong via the bill.

"It is petty of the government to stoop so low," Tharoor said.

The IIM Bill declares 20 existing Indian Institutes of Management as institutions of national importance and confers on them the power to grant degrees.

The Board of Governors will be the executive body of each IIM, comprising upto 19 members.

It will nominate 17 board members, including eminent persons, faculty members and alumni. The remaining two members will be nominees from the central and state governments, respectively.

The Board appoints its own Chairperson.

The Board of Governors will appoint the Director of each IIM. A search committee will recommend names for the post of the Director. The Director is eligible for variable pay, to be determined by the Board.

--IANS

ao/in/vm