Despite revisions, ISI Kolkata community protests draft Bill's provisions

ISI Kolkata community protests a draft Bill, alleging it enables government control and pushes unwanted commercialisation

The Centre has issued a revised version of the draft Bill to amend the legislation governing the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata, incorporating a few changes, but still the controversy it has triggered shows no signs of cooling.

 

Faculty members and teachers allege the revisions amount to little more than “cosmetic” changes, and do not address their concerns.

 

“In the revised Bill, professors have been included in the academic council and the board of governors will have two people from the academic council, but both will be nominated by the board. Six of the board members -- four external and two internal faculty -- will be chosen by the remaining minority five members at the time of constitution, which leaves the whole board under the control of a minority group,” Arijit Bishnu, professor at ISI Kolkata, told Business Standard. “Therefore, we are sticking to our earlier stand of requesting the ministry to withdraw the Bill and initiate discussions with stakeholders.”

 

Last week, several current and former teachers, students, research scholars and staff members of ISI Kolkata formed a human chain outside the campus demanding scrapping of the draft. They carried portraits of Prashanta Chandra Mahalanobis, the institute’s founder who is also known as the father of Indian statistics and chief architect of India’s second five-year plan (1956–61), popularly called the Mahalanobis Plan.

 

Resource allocation to broad sectors such as agriculture and industry in the second five-year plan was based on models developed by Mahalanobis. ISI, according to experts, is a society with its own memorandum of association, by-laws and regulations, registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961. It was designated an Institute of National Importance (INI) through the ISI Act, 1959.

 

The key question is what in the new Bill has agitated India’s statistical community and driven ISI’s staff and students into open protest.

 

In September, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (Mospi) floated the draft Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2025 to elevate ISI’s status by converting it from a registered society into a statutory body-corporate and aligning its governance structure with other INIs.

 

According to an official statement, the Bill, once enacted, would replace the Indian Statistical Institute Act of 1959. The draft, according to its statement of objectives, was framed around principles of academic excellence, global competitiveness, innovation and effective governance through clear institutional structures. It also proposed greater autonomy in day-to-day decision-making and planning. Public comments were invited until October 24, later extended to November 3.

 

Critics argue that instead of modernising ISI, the draft would dismantle its autonomy, replacing its governance with a government-dominated corporate structure and altering the Institute’s foundational objectives. They say the current governance structure under the 1959 Act vests authority in a Council with substantial academic representation and safeguards against government overreach. By contrast, the 2025 draft introduces a Visitor (the President of India) and a board of governors dominated by government nominees, side-lining faculty and academic stakeholders.

 

They also say the draft Bill promotes a corporate, not academic, approach, with financial provisions encouraging revenue generation, commercialisation of research and consultancy, replacing ISI’s long-standing emphasis on public-good research and national statistical capacity. “ISI’s mission was never profit-making -- it was nation-building. The corporate model risks eroding long-term fundamental research in favour of short-term, revenue-driven projects,” a critic said.

 

Under the current system, ISI’s academic council (AC) consists of all professors, with the director as chair and the dean of studies as convener. The proposed AC excludes professors and includes only select office-holders. Degree-granting powers and academic programme approvals would fall under Board and government oversight.

 

There is also opposition to the proposed board of governors’ structure, which would comprise fully nominated members with no elected representatives, a structure critics say would effectively bring ISI under direct central government control.

 

In a public appeal, students and research scholars linked ISI’s evolution with the Bengal Renaissance and India’s national awakening, noting the influence of figures such as Rabindranath Tagore, Brajendranath Seal, Satyendranath Bose and Mahalanobis in shaping ISI’s ethos. Much of ISI’s land and property was personally donated by Mahalanobis. The institute also played a pivotal role in the development of statistical systems in several other countries, including China.

 

It noted that India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru shared Mahalanobis’s vision of ISI as an ideal blend of scientific inquiry, social purpose and democratic intellect. The students also emphasised ISI’s unique financial model: It charges no tuition or admission fees and only nominal hostel charges. Every student, from undergraduate to doctoral level, receives a stipend to pursue research without financial burden.

 

“To dismantle this structure and introduce high fees or commercialisation would make ISI inaccessible to the larger student community and discourage bright young minds from pursuing theoretical research within India,” the appeal said.

 

Bishnu said ISI functions efficiently, undergoes periodic review by the government of India, and has not violated any rules proposed by the Centre, questioning the need for vast changes. If required, he said, the 1959 Act could simply be amended.

 

However, former Chief Statistician of India and ex-chairman of ISI, Pronab Sen, said the institute is “extremely status quoist” and resistant to change. “When I, as chairman, wanted to introduce reservation as it was a fully funded government body, they hated it. For years, the institution didn’t have any reservation criteria. Later, when a parliamentary committee raised the issue, the institution said it wasn’t possible as they didn’t have fixed positions. I said let me fix the positions and introduce reservations as in other government institutions, but they didn’t want it,” Sen told Business Standard. He added that during his three-year tenure, he could not persuade faculty to prepare a vision document.

 

ISI once dominated statistics education, he said, but now several IITs have equally strong departments. “ISI needs to change -- that’s a reality.”

 

Bishnu countered that the institute now complies fully with reservation criteria for students, faculty and staff.

 

P C Mohanan, former acting chairman of the National Statistical Commission and ex-ISI member, said he too cannot understand the sudden need to change ISI’s governance structure. “My problem is: What was the need for bringing out the Bill? ISI has been functional since the early 1950s. Because of the work they do, the government of India declared it a national institute. So it’s not very clear why the government suddenly wants to change the governing structure,” Mohanan said.

 

He noted that ISI’s history differs sharply from that of other INIs. “While most INIs were established by the government, except a few like the Tata institutes, ISI was a personal initiative of Mahalanobis. So one cannot compare ISI Kolkata with other institutes in India,” Mohanan said.

 

He said reports suggest the draft seeks to restructure the board of governors and increase government control, potentially curtailing academic freedom. Since ISI is fully funded and charges no fees, shifting to a corporate model could push commercialisation. Yet Mohanan acknowledged that ISI faces administrative challenges and that granting autonomy to its centres might not be unwelcome.

 

“But the government should be very clear about its objectives, because mutual trust has diluted now. The independence and autonomy of the institute should be maintained, and comparing it to IITs and IIMs is not appropriate because of the kind of fundamental research that ISI does, nobody else does in its field,” Mohanan added.