The Centre on Friday introduced the Indian Institutes of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the Lok Sabha. The bill, if passed, will give power to the President to appoint a chairperson of the board of governors (BoG) of IIMs.
Under the Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the President will be the Visitor to the IIMs with powers to audit their functioning, order probes, and appoint as well as remove Directors.
“The Visitor may appoint one or more persons to review the work and progress of any institute, to hold enquiries into affairs thereof and to report in such manner as the Visitor may direct. The board may also recommend to the Visitor an enquiry as deemed proper against the institute which has not been functioning in accordance with provisions and objectives of the Act,” the Bill said.
“Upon receipt of any such report referred to in sub-section (2), the Visitor takes such action and issues such directions as he considers necessary in respect of any of the matters dealt with in the report and the Institute shall be bound to comply with such directions,” it added.
Under the IIM Act, which came into force in January 2018 and granted IIMs greater autonomy, the board of governors of each institute has 19 members which includes just one representative each from the central and state governments. The board nominates its remaining 17 members from among eminent personalities, faculty and alumni. The board also appoints the search panels for the appointment of new directors and chairpersons, and later makes the appointments if it agrees with the search panels’ recommendations.
However, as per the amendment bill, the search-cum-selection panel for the Director’s appointment will have a Visitor’s nominee. The IIM chairperson will be nominated by the Visitor while the Director will be appointed by the board of governors based on the recommendations of a search panel headed by the chairperson of the board. The search panel will have three more members, including a nominee of the Visitor.
