Centre okays IIM campuses abroad

They should become global brands and have a global presence, says HRD minister

“The IIMs should become global brands and they should have global presence,” Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said in a meeting with institute directors here on Friday. Sibal also said appointment of directors and board members of the prestigious “B” Schools would be done through an independent collegium.

The HRD minister told reporters after a two-hour meeting that the institutions would submit a proposal to him by January on how the collegium should be formed and how the offshore campuses could be worked out.

13 members
Referring to the collegium Sibal said it would suggest names for appointment of the board members and directors. The composition of the collegium would be restricted to 13 members.

Asserting that there would not be any interference into the autonomy of the IIMs, Sibal said the directors of the seven IIMs have been asked to prepare a vision document for affirmative action with the objective of increasing the representation of women on  the campus.

“The IIM directors will submit their vision document on expansion plans keeping in mind quality and inclusiveness. They will submit their vision document by January next year,” he said. Now, the IIM board members are appointed by the government on the recommendation of the boards. The directors are also appointed in a similar fashion. 

The proposed collegium would comprise academics and members from industry.  Each IIM will have its own board.  The proposed collegium will be a single body to suggest a panel of names for directors and board members of all IIMs. The government will select one name from the panel, a procedure that will make it clear that government does not interfere in the selection, Sibal said. 

“It is a good idea. We will see how it can be implemented,” IIM Bangalore Director Pankaj Chandra said. IIM Kozhikode Director Debasis Chatterjee said the directors were happy with discussions at the meeting. “The minister said there will be no interference by the government into the functioning of the IIMs. We are happy,” he said. There was no discussion on salary issue. The minister said the IIM faculty was happy with the government pay structure. His Ministry would also offer a performance-based incentive scheme for the teachers.