Description
Context:
- The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), for decades the brightest jewel in the country’s higher education set-up, are going through a phase of turmoil.
- The Board of Governors of one of the older IIMs (Calcutta) stripped its Director of important powers, and reported that the Director of another old IIM (Ahmedabad) had pushed back against the government last year.
- Although very different from each other, at the heart of both incidents is the question of the powers of the Director of the IIM, and the degree of autonomy that they, and the institutes themselves, enjoy.
What is the controversy at IIM-Ahmedabad?
- At the heart of the controversy at IIM-Ahmedabad is a PhD dissertation with three essays on electoral democracy.
- About a year ago, the Ministry of Education asked the Institute for a copy of the thesis after Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy had sent a letter to the Prime Minister alleging that the dissertation describes the BJP and BSP as “ethnically constituted” parties.
- When asked to share a copy of the thesis, however, IIM-A Director Prof Erol D’Souza pushed back. In his reply to the Ministry, he wrote that the government was not an arbiter of complaints regarding a PhD thesis, and that there were appropriate academic forums within the Institute to flag complaints.
And what is the case at IIM-Calcutta?
- The Institute’s Board and the Director, Anju Seth, are locked in a turf war, with Seth accusing the Chairman of the Board of infringing on her executive powers and the Board, in turn, accusing her of improper conduct.
- The confrontation snowballed into a full-blown crisis last week after the Board passed a resolution against Seth and stripped her of the key powers of making appointments and taking disciplinary action.
Historically, how autonomous have the IIMs been?
- Before the enactment of the IIM Act in 2017, when the IIMs functioned as Societies, they had a fair amount of autonomy in academic matters and other issues such as the fixing of fees.
- Because of the latter power, the older IIMs (Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kozhikode, Indore) were not dependent on the government for funds, and were in a better position to assert their autonomy.
- However, the appointment of Directors and Chairman remained in the government’s hands, and it often used this leverage to influence the IIMs.
- However, this autonomy was only a product of convention, and functioned as long as both sides respected it. When this respect was compromised, friction occurred.
- The IIM Act cast autonomy in stone. The government cannot reduce it or pass orders which are not in consonance with the Act. The only way to undo anything is through an Amendment passed by the legislature.
What limits do questions of funding and administration place on the principle of autonomy of higher education institutions?
- Globally as well as in India, higher education is supported by the government in one form or the other. Normally this should not impact the autonomy of universities
- However, if the government of the day thinks otherwise, there is no stopping it — irrespective of whether the institutions are funded or not, as has been shown in the recent case of IIM-A, which is financially totally independent.
- Funding gives the extra handle to the government as Parliament and the CAG have by default the right to know the fate of the funds approved by it.
- But this interference comes at a price, as universities that lack autonomy are less creative and therefore suffer in terms of quality and reputation.
What are the implications of the ongoing turmoil in the IIMs?
- Many in the IIM community see the ongoing situations at IIM-Calcutta and IIM-Ahmedabad as stemming from the dramatic shift in power dynamics ushered in with the new IIM Act.
- The government has relinquished control on paper, but the implementation of the Act will face hiccups as the Board assumes greater power in the functioning of the IIMs.
Indian Institutes of Management Act, 2017:
- The Act declares Indian Institutes of Management as institutions of national importance and grants them the power to give degrees.
- Board of governors: The Act provides for the creation of a board of governors, which would act as the principal executive body for each IIM, and would appoint one director for each IIM.
- Academic council: The Act provides for the creation of an academic council for each IIM, which is principle academic body under the act and which would decide the: (a) academic content; (b) criteria and processes for admissions to course; and (c) guidelines for conduct of examinations.[
- Coordination forum: The Act provides for the creation of a coordination forum, which would discuss matters pertaining to all IIMs.
- The bill also proposes to incorporate many other changes like audit of institutes by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/in-recent-controversies-iims-and-the-questio
n-of-autonomy-7220044/
