Conditional autonomy

IIM-A controversy shows the limits to freedom of action

The government’s resolve to grant the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) autonomy is turning out to be skin-deep. Barely had the controversy faded over the decision by some IIMs to offer a one-year degree course for MBAs against the University Grants Commission regulations for a two-year course when another raises its head. This time, the pretext is a doctoral dissertation on electoral democracy at IIM Ahmedabad.

The controversy has arisen from a complaint by Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April last year, objecting to two references in the thesis. One was a description of the