Jul. 29, 2017: Indian Institute of Management, IIMs are likely to start awarding MBA Degrees from this year on as Lok Sabha has cleared the bill. The bill has proposed and cleared the way for declaring IIM as Institutes of National Importance. Once the bill is cleared by Rajya Sabha, the 20 IIMs in the country would have the autonomy to grant degrees. Apart from that, bill also makes provisions for appointing members in each of the IIM’s board of governors through a transparent process. Steps are aimed at limiting HRD influence and role in the day to day running of the institutes.
As per the proposal, The Government would have a lone representative on the board. At present, the IIMs are registered under the Societies Act, limiting their power to grant of Diplomas and Fellowships. Once the bill gets through, the premier management institutes of the country would be recognizes as Institutes of National Imporatance, in effect getting the power to set their curriculum and grant MBAs and PhDs to the students. The move would also usher in better reforms with more power vesting within their institutes’ governing bodies.
Union HRD Minister, Prakash Javadekar, in his speech asked that Institutes be given the power to reform. He also commented that we need to trust our institutes instead of under-secretaries running the institutes from Delhi. The bill has also proposed and accepted abolishing of the post of IIM visitor — which is held by the President of the country at present. The move was supported by the opposition and even hailed as a great step. However, the former HRD Minister, Shashi Tharoor has cautioned the government regarding gradinting full autonomy to the institutes in regards of setting the fee structure, suggesting that it could lead to marginalization of poor students. The bill would now be presented in Rajya Sabha.
