 "IIM Indore joins hand with ICFL to offer programmes for working executives")
The age-old tussle between the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) may have begun to ease with their Tuesday meeting at IIM Shillong. Union minister for HRD Prakash Javadekar had called for a meeting with directors of all 13 IIMs to discuss issues and “take decisions that could help further quality education in the country”.
While the former saw the meeting as reaching out to the premier B-schools with assured support and clarification on its intention for greater autonomy to IIMs, the latter too have expressed their willingness over calls for scaling up student intake and efforts to improve research quality.
The HRD Minister has been maintaining that the government does, indeed, want greater autonomy for IIMs. On his recent visit to IIM Ahmedabad, the Javadekar had categorically stated that his ministry was in favour of granting greater autonomy to IIMs, especially through the pending draft IIM Bill.
On their part, directors of IIMs, both old and new, have also exhibited a relaxed stance and willingness to co-operate with the ministry in areas like doubling student intake, enhancing research and expanding campuses, among others.
Terming the Tuesday meeting with Javadekar as "productive", a director of one of the older IIMs said that the institutes did welcome the ministry's softened stance on granting more autonomy even as it looks to ensure more students are trained and quality research is produced out of these campuses.
"Keeping in mind the national need, MHRD has asked us to find out how student intake could be increased in a larger proportion while keeping in mind the faculty, infrastructure and other constraints. The expansion, as agreed by us, cannot be to the extent of mere 5 per cent or 10 per cent. Rather it has to be, if possible, doubled. I think it is a laudable idea and we would definitely want to see more trained managers coming out of IIMs. We will deliberate internally within the academic council and board and come up with an appropriate action plan," the director told Business Standard.
The thawing of relationship between the ministry and the IIMs are also expected to result in some of the pending issues at some of the institutes being resolved.
For instance, it is this tussle that had led to the post of chairman of Board of Governors at IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) still being vacant for 8-10 months after former L&T Chairman A M Naik resigned. In the meantime, the institute's BoG is being led by Cadila Healthcare CMD Pankaj Patel as the interim chairman.
Irrespective of the government at the Centre, the MHRD has been trying to gain greater control over the IIMs, a move that escalated under Smriti Irani, who was later moved to the textiles ministry. In the past, too, the then IIM-A director Bakul Dholakia had opposed the government's move to seek an 80% cut in school fees.
However, IIMs now seem to be taking the ministry at its word. Another director of one of the IIMs when asked about the draft IIM Bill, said” "The minister and his officials told us that all our concerns about autonomy have been addressed in the draft. But we have not seen the copy. We had requested for a draft but they said that it would now be going to the Parliament and, hence, cannot be shared. But they assured us that we could trust them.”
On one hand, Javadekar has expressed willingness for more such meetings, while on other, the IIMs have assured that they would come back in near future with an appropriate action plan for suggestions made by MHRD. Apart from almost doubling student intake and scaling up campus infrastructure, some of the other suggestions were made in the areas of more quality PhD programmes to address shortage of faculty as well as content creation by IIMs for the government's SWAYAM programme, as per MHRD officials.
