Freeing the IIMs

By approving the redrafted Indian Institute of Management Bill, 2017, the Cabinet has laid to rest fears, raked up in 2015, that the administration, recruitment and day to day operations of the IIMs will be subject to overt control by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Under the new Bill, the IIMs will be run by their respective boards, which will also select the director and chairperson. An autonomous board, with the freedom to select their faculty as well as curriculum, is a pre-requisite to ensuring that India’s 20 IIMs, or at any rate the top few among them, retain their global reputation. Greater participation by experts and alumni, as envisaged in the Bill, will help incorporate global best practices in both curriculum and pedagogy. It is hoped that the Centre’s move to free one of its premier education brands from its apron strings extends to other reputed institutes of higher education as well. Taking a cue from the US, where public-funded universities do not function under the shadow of the government, the Centre should break out of an entrenched mindset of trying to control institutions simply because it funds them. Autonomy and accountability are two sides of the same coin; the latter cannot be established when there are too many actors working at cross-purposes.

However, autonomy from the government does not necessarily ensure excellence. It is important that the boards enforce standards on the faculty, rather than allow the latter to call the shots and protect its privileges, as is often the case in India. The fact that only three of India’s business schools (of which two were IIMs) figure in the top 100 MBA institutions worldwide, according to a ranking by the Financial Times last year, tells a story – that the IIMs have a long way to go. Their curricula do not adequately capture Indian conditions. The absence of inter-disciplinary exposure, a feature of technical education in India, is another concern, although the IITs have sought to address that of late. Corporate India, while taking more interest in these institutions and financing them, must understand the need for creating managers with a rounded, open-ended view of the world.

It is a moot question whether all the 20 IIMs can get top quality faculty. It is, therefore, important that the best minds all over the world feel attracted to teach here. Besides, by throwing open FDI in higher education, India will be able to raise its standards. The issue on inclusion is tackled by adopting a nuanced model that goes beyond caste to accord weightage to income, gender and rural-urban gap, as is the norm in certain institutions. Excellence is finally a long haul.

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