Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2017 Passed in Parliament

Parliament passed Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Bill, 2017 extending greater autonomy to IIMs by restricting government՚s interference and granting them power to award degrees.

Indian Institutes of Management Bill

Key Features of Bill

  • Declares 20 existing Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) as institutions of national importance and confers on them the power to grant degrees.
  • Declares Board of Governors as 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.
  • 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.
    • The Academic Council of each IIM will determine the following:
    • Academic content
    • Criteria and process for admission to courses
    • Guidelines for conduct of examinations.
  • A coordination forum including representation from the 20 IIMs to discuss matters of common interest to all IIMs will be set up

Key Issues and Analysis

  • Currently, central government affects appointment of the Chairperson of their Boards, their Directors and pay to the Director. The bill extends greater autonomy to the Board in the performance of these functions.
  • Under the Bill, the autonomy for IIMs exceeds the autonomy granted to other institutions of higher education such as IITs and AIIMS. For example, Directors of IITs and AIIMS are appointed by the central government. Similarly, introduction of new courses of study at AIIMS requires approval of the Medical Council of India.
  • It is unclear if there is a plan to extend the enhanced autonomy proposed for IIMs to other higher educational institutions of national importance as well.
  • Recommendations of expert committees not addressed in the Bill include:
    • Board having the autonomy to determine faculty pay
    • Creation of an autonomous Standing Committee for management education under an apex regulatory body for higher education.
    • All IIMs were treated as separate autonomous bodies registered under Societies Act. As autonomous bodies and not educational bodies, they were not authorized to award degrees. These awards were treated as equivalent to MBAs and Ph. D, respectively, but their equivalence was not universally acceptable, especially for the Fellow Programme. The bill paves way for the IIMs to formally award universally acceptable degrees.

Examrace Team at Aug 21, 2021