Questions of autonomy

The effectiveness of the IIM Bill will lie in the fine print

The 20 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) enjoyed a victory of sorts in the shape of the Bill that the Cabinet approved earlier this week granting them greater autonomy than the contentious 2015 Bill drafted during Smriti Irani’s tumultuous stint as human resource development (HRD) minister. The 2017 version of the Bill makes a great leap forward, following some constructive intervention by the Prime Minister’s Office, in reducing the scope for government interference in the functioning of these premier institutes of management education. The Bill, under Prakash Javadekar’s ministership, provides IIMs, registered under the Societies Act, powers to grant degrees