The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have finally got what they have been demanding for years—greater autonomy.
The Union cabinet on Tuesday cleared the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) bill, 2017 that aims to grant “complete autonomy” to the elite B-schools and allow them to award degrees instead of diplomas, as is the case now.
The bill will allow IIMs “complete autonomy... combined with adequate accountability”, the cabinet said in a statement after meeting in New Delhi.
The IIM bill, under discussion for several years, will grant the premier management schools freedom in terms of administration, recruitment and daily functioning.
“The IIM Bill, which was approved by the Cabinet, has been prepared with the aim of furthering excellence in these premier institutions,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on the microblogging site Twitter.
Human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar termed the cabinet approval a “historic decision”.
“We trust excellence and quality,” Javadekar, who could not attend the cabinet meeting because of family engagements, said in a post on Twitter.
The bill will ensure IIMs are “board-driven, with the chairperson and director selected by the board”.
This means neither the human resource development (HRD) ministry nor the president of India will have a say in the selection of top executives at these B-schools.
“The IIM Bill, which was approved by the Cabinet, has been prepared with the aim of furthering excellence in these premier institutions,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on the microblogging site Twitter.
Human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar termed the cabinet approval a “historic decision”.
“We trust excellence and quality,” Javadekar, who could not attend the cabinet meeting because of family engagements, said in a post on Twitter.
The bill will ensure IIMs are “board-driven, with the chairperson and director selected by the board”.
This means neither the human resource development (HRD) ministry nor the president of India will have a say in the selection of top executives at these B-schools.
Likewise, the governing board of an IIM will have 15 members including three women members and five from the alumni community.
The bill will grant statutory status to IIMs, which will be termed institutions of national importance. “This will allow us to grant degrees instead of diplomas,” said Rishikesha Krishnan, IIM Indore director.
The move will give global recognition to courses offered by the IIMs, especially the newer institutions. All IIMs are separate autonomous bodies registered under the Societies Act.
Being societies, the IIMs were not authorized to award degrees until now so they have been awarding post-graduate diplomas in management instead. While these diplomas are treated as equivalent to MBAs, the equivalence is not universally recognized.
The bill provides for a periodic review of IIMs’ performance by independent agencies. The annual report on the IIMs will be placed in Parliament and the comptroller and auditor general will be auditing their accounts. The bill is expected to be tabled in the upcoming budget session of Parliament.
