Union Cabinet approved Indian Institute of Management Bill, 2017

The Union Cabinet gave its approval to the Indian Institute of Management(IIM) Bill, 2017.

A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 January 2017 in New Delhi.

Salient features of Indian Institute of Management Bill, 2017

• The IIM Bill, 2017 declares Indian Institutes of Management as Institutions of National Importance. This status will enable them to grant degrees to their students.

• The bill provides for complete autonomy to the institutions without compromising their accountability to the government.

• Management of these institutions would be Board-driven, with the Chairperson and Director of an institution will be selected by the Board of IIM.

• A greater participation of experts and alumni in the Board is amongst other important features of the bill.

• Provision has also been made for inclusion of women and members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the Board.

• The bill also provides for periodic review of the performance of institutions by independent agencies. The findings of these agencies will be placed in the public domain.

• The annual report of the institutions will be placed in the Parliament. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) will be auditing their accounts.

• The bill also provides for the Coordination Forum of IIMs. It will have the status of an advisory body.

Background

• Indian Institutes of Management are the country's premier institutions.

• They impart best quality education in management on globally benchmarked processes of education and training.

• IIMs are recognized as world-class management institutions and centers of excellence.

• All IIMs are separate autonomous bodies registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

• Being societies, IIMs are not authorized to award degrees. Hence, they have been awarding Post Graduate Diploma and Fellow Programme in Management.

• While these awards are treated as equivalent to MBAs and Ph.D. respectively, the equivalence is not universally acceptable, especially for the Fellow Programme.

• The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bill, 2017 will address this issue.