Narendra Modi government in final lap to approve IIM Bill

NEW DELHI: Almost a year after it came to power, the Modi government is in the final lap of approving its first substantial education legislation. ET has learnt that the HRD ministry dispatched the Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2015, to the Union Cabinet on March 11.
“The proposed law is expected to come up for Cabinet approval before the budget session of Parliament resumes on April 20,” said a senior ministry official.

The IIM Bill, 2015, aims to empower the 13 premier B-Schools to award degrees instead of diplomas to its students at the end of the two-year MBA programme.

The ministry is keen to introduce this bill in the Lok Sabha in the second half of the budget session.

HRD Minister Smriti Irani has had better luck with getting education bills to pass muster in Parliament than her UPA-II predecessors . In the last 10 months her ministry has managed to get three bills passed, but each of them wasn’t radically new as they only sought to add new SPAs, IITs and central varsities to the list of existing statutory educational institutions.

The IIM Bill, in this context, could be considered Modi sarkar’s first substantial education law. The bill, when passed, will mainly benefit graduates applying abroad for research opportunities.

Currently, an IIM alumnus has to request his or her respective institute to provide a certificate saying that the diploma is equivalent to an MBA degree in India. This step will also help IIMs gain global recognition and attract more foreign students.

As of now, their global appeal is limited to students of Indian origin. The bill proposes to create an overarching body headed by HRD minister and chairpersons and directors of all IIMs as members. But unlike the IIT Council, which is the highest decision-making body for IITs, this overarching forum will have limited powers and will serve the purpose of coordination, said sources.

The bill will make the President of India the visitor of all IIMs and also introduce a uniform term of four years for chairpersons of each IIMs. Currently, the chairpersons of the six old IIMs have a three-year term, while those of the seven new ones get five years.