Finance
The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha passed a IIM Amendment Bill today demanding that the management accountability of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) be with the President, who would now be a Visitor. This means that the President of India will now have the authority to audit the operations of IIMs, order investigations, and appoint and remove directors. The President has already visited several IITs and NITs.
This Bill will now be presented to India’s President, Droupadi Murmu, before becoming an Act.
In the Lower House, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated that the goal of this IIM Amendment Bill (which aims to change the IIM Act of 2017) is not to remove academic accountability from the institute, but is instead to ensure its management accountability as the Centre has spent over Rs 6,000 crore in setting up the IIMs.
The President is also a guest at IITs and NITs under the current regime, but no doubts have been raised about their academic autonomy, according to Pradhan.
“The Visitor may appoint one or more persons to review the work and progress of any institute, to hold enquiries into affairs thereof and to report in such manner as the Visitor may direct. The board may also recommend to the Visitor an enquiry as deemed proper against the institute which has not been functioning in accordance with provisions and objectives of the Act,” it stated.
This is the second time the union government has attempted to implement this change in the top 20 business schools. It was previously reported that in December 2020, the Education Ministry had a draft executive order with the Law Ministry with a proposal to empower the Government to initiate an inquiry against an institute’s Board of Governors if it was ostensibly found to be acting in violation of the Act. The plan was subsequently rejected by the Law Ministry because it contradicted the IIM Act.
Source:IE
