Stop meddling in IIM functioning

Reports that the government is planning to arm itself with powers to interfere in the working of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are disconcerting, as these are among the best institutions of higher education in the country and the government’s move can only harm them. The 20 premier business schools of the country enjoy a fair level of autonomy ensured by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Act, 2017, in which the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had itself taken much interest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had praised it as a ‘’landmark experiment’’, and it had given the Institutes ample powers to appoint directors, chairpersons and board members, to frame the curriculum and to award degrees. The law also granted autonomy in other important areas, but the government's present move goes against this, and that may turn out to the thin end of a wedge.

The government is planning to issue an executive order which will empower it to institute an enquiry against an IIM board if it thinks that the board is violating the provisions of the IIM Act. What provoked the ministry of education is the decision of the IIMs to introduce a one-year course leading to a degree for working professionals. The government, following the UGC’s norms, wants to call it only a diploma, because the UGC thinks a minimum two-year course is needed for the award of a degree. The fact remains that the IIMs are following an international practice. Business schools the world over award degrees to professionals who have working experience after conducting a one-year course. It is ridiculous that the government considers the terminology of an award given by the IIMs a matter serious enough to be taken up with them. It is worse that it becomes the ground for a standoff and triggers a move to conduct an enquiry against the IIM board.

Such an interventionist attitude from the government is unfortunate and unhelpful, and cannot aid the growth and development of academic institutions. The government has claimed in its New Education Policy (NEP) that it wants to nurture world class institutions. The IIMs are among our best institutions. Some of them find a place, though not very high, in the list of global business schools. What does autonomy mean when the government can question them even on academic matters? No institution can thrive if it is prone to political and bureaucratic meddling in its affairs even on the silliest matters. The heads of the IIMs are unhappy with the government’s move. The government should drop it as it had once stepped back from a plan to control them. The Prime Minister’s promise of freedom should be honoured in practice.