Top IIM directors welcome passing of IIM bill by the Lok Sabha

MUMBAI: Directors of top Indian Institutes of Management have all welcomed the passing of the IIM Bill by the Lok Sabha on Friday that seeks to give the 20 IIMs more autonomy and reduce the scope for government interference.

IIM Bangalore director G Raghuram said he was very happy. “We hope that it will also get through the Rajya Sabha and become an Act of Parliament. Apart from enabling us to give formal degrees, it will give us greater autonomy primarily because the appointment of the chairperson and the director can be at the board level rather than having to be processed by the Ministry and the ACC."

Raghuram added that while this would increase functional autonomy, there has already been a lot of autonomy in terms of design and delivery of curriculum, faculty recruitment, sourcing funds and generating revenues. "It is this which has made IIMs what they are. The Bill would now enable us to move into a higher orbit of excellence. This move also speaks very highly of the government which has been open to empowering the IIMs.”


Once the Bill passes Rajya Sabha and gets Presidential assent, the IIMs would become institutes of national importance and given the authority to grant degrees.

"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. IIM leaders must respond to the trust reposed in them by the public and the government and strive to excel even harder than before,” said professor Ashish Nanda, director, IIM Ahmedabad.

Saibal Chattopadhyay , director, IIM Calcutta welcomed the move, saying they had been waiting for the bill to be passed. "The major beneficiaries will be our PGDM (post graduate diploma in management) and FPM (fellow programme in management) students who will be getting MBA degrees and PhDs which are globally recognised," he said.

IIM Indore director Rishikesha Krishnan called it a momentous step in the evolution of IIMs. "I hope this can become an enabling framework for other institutions as well," he added.