The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bill, 2017, which aims at permitting the IIMs to grant degrees rather than diplomas and be declared as Institutions of National Importance.
The Bill is now likely to be placed before Parliament in the budget session.
“Being societies, IIMs are not authorised to award degrees and, hence, they have been awarding Post Graduate Diploma and Fellow Programme in Management,” an official release explained.
“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 Bill will also aim at providing the IIMs complete autonomy, apart from accountability, said the release.
Under it, the Board of an IIM will drive the management of the institution. The Board will select the Chairperson and Director of the institution.