IIMs will be free to choose its directors

BANGALORE: Kapil Sibal, the Union minister for communication and information technology, said on Thursday that the IIMs will be given the freedom to choose their directors and chairperson and plumped for a smaller board that will govern their affairs.

“Instead of a large 25-member board, IIMs can have more cohesive boards where all the members are active,” the minister, who also holds the education portfolio, said at the 36th annual convocation of IIM Bangalore. He ruled out privatisation and said that the government will have a role to play in their governance.

“Privatisation is a dirty word and the UPA does not believe in privatizing the education sector,” the minister added. With the 2010 census findings declared on Thursday, the minister added that encouraging results in the rise of overall literacy from 67.8% -74.04% has made him believe that complete literacy can be achieved in the next decade as well.