The Lok Sabha on Friday passed the much-awaited Indian Institute of Management Bill, 2017, thereby declaring the top management institutions, that is the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), as Institutions of National Importance.
Following the passage of the Bill, these institutes will be able to grant degrees to students, as against the post graduate diplomas that they are currently awarding.
Provisions
As per the provisions of the Bill, the Board of Governors will be the executive body of each IIM, comprising 19 members, 17 of whom will be nominated members from a pool of eminent persons, faculty members and alumni. The remaining two will be nominees from the Central and State governments.
The Board will have the powers to appoint its own chairperson and the director of the institution. A search committee will recommend the names for the post of Director, who will be eligible for variable pay (to be determined by the Board).
Till now, the appointments took place through Appointments Cabinet Committee (ACC), chaired by the Prime Minister. IIMs were accorded separate autonomous status, being registered under the Societies Act, but were not authorised to award degrees. The PG Diplomas given by these institutions were considered equivalent to MBAs awarded by universities. There is also a provision of a ‘Coordination Forum’ of IIMs as an advisory body.
‘Work harder’
“I am delighted that Lok Sabha has passed the IIM Bill. I hope Rajya Sabha also passes it expeditiously and the President gives his assent soon. Once it becomes an Act, the IIM Bill will provide an opportunity to the premier national management schools to compete effectively with the world’s best. Once the Act comes into force, IIM leaders must respond to the trust reposed in them by the public and the government, and strive to excel harder than before,” said Prof Ashish Nanda, Director of IIM-A.
Earlier, the autonomy to these institutions had been widely debated during the tenure of the former union HRD minister, Smriti Irani. The B-schools had raised concerns over certain clauses in the draft Bill. After serious objections were raised by the experts, the draft underwent multiple revisions, with inputs from Directors and Chairpersons of the institutes.
After Lok Sabha, the Bill will now move to Rajya Sabha for a vote before being promulgated as an Act by the President of India.