IIM Bill paves way for awarding of PG degrees, introduction of undergraduate courses at top B-schools

Sources in the IIMs, said that the new bill however will allow these institutes to start undergraduate courses with the approval of the All India Institute of Technical Education.
At present only IIM Indore offers a five-year course in management.
At present only IIM Indore offers a five-year course in management.

NEW DELHI: The passing of the Indian Institute of Management Bill, 2017 by the Parliament on Tuesday has paved the way for the commencement of undergraduate courses in management and liberate arts, apart from post graduate degree courses, at all premier B-schools in the country.

At present only IIM Indore offers a five-year course in management while all other IIMs offer post graduate diploma courses in business management and other short-duration courses in leadership, strategy and business planning.

Sources in the IIMs, said that the new bill however will allow these institutes to start undergraduate courses with the approval of the All India Institute of Technical Education.

“Though IIMs are the top B-schools in the country, we have only been awarding diplomas and not degrees so far as IIMs were neither government by the University Grants Commission nor were they guided by any Act of the parliament,” said a senior executive with IIM-Calcutta.

The IIM Bill, first planned during the UPA government, was cleared by the Union cabinet in January this year and was passed by the Lok Sabha following long debates.

“The passage of the bill will mean that students can now be given degrees and avenues will open to introduce many new courses at the UG level,” he added.

An official at IIM-Bangalore said that introducing undergraduate courses will be a good idea as “India desperately needs its institutions to teach basic, real-life skills - as early as possible in the life of a student.”

“If all 20 IIMs offer such undergraduate courses in subjects like communication, psychology, economics apart from business management, we will have 20 world class institutions,” he added.

Deepak Bhatt, public relations officer with IIM-Ahmadabad, however said that the institute can comment on the types of courses likely to be introduced only after the Bill is notified.

The bill declares 20 existing IIMs as institutions of national importance and is aimed at granting more autonomy in their functioning with little interference from the Union human resources development ministry.  Under the new provisions, the board of governors will be the executive body of each IIM, comprising up to 19 members.

It will nominate 17 board members including eminent persons, faculty members and alumni. The remaining two members will be nominees from the central and state governments, respectively.

The board appoints its own chairperson. They will appoint the Director of each IIM. A search committee will recommend names for the post of the director. The director is eligible for variable pay, to be determined by the board. Also, the institutes will be free to fix the tuition fee.

A coordination forum will also be set up, which will include representation from the 20 IIMs, and will discuss and decide on issues of common interest to all IIMs.

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