Rajesh Pandathil: NDA's attack on IIM autonomy reveals Modi govt is adept at empty sloganeering
After Indian Institutes of Technology, it is the Indian
Institutes of Management. With the heightening opposition to the draft IIM
Bill, which is perceived to be a threat to their autonomy, you can't help but
wonder what is it that the NDA has against these premier education
institutions.
Remember, under NDA-1 too the IIMs had to grin and bear
government interference in their functions when Murli Manohar Joshi, as human
resource minister, sought to cut their fees drastically. The move was done
under the pretext of reducing commercialisation of education. It was the
UPA government that came to power in 2004, which undid these damages.
The NDA-2's draft IIM Bill, now available on www.mygov.in,
seems to be bringing back the ghost of the NDA past for these institutions.
Many have already expressed reservations that the proposed bill will reduce
institutes to just "operational centres".
Let us look the contentious provisions in the draft that
are attracting criticism:
a) Section 7 (i) says every institute shall have
power "to determine, specify and receive payment of, fees with prior intimation
to the Central Government and other charges as the Institute may deem fit,
from students and any other person, institution or body corporate for
instruction and other services, including training, consultancy and advisory
services, provided by the Institute;
This means the institutes will have to go to the government
to get permission to take any decision on fees. This is dangerous because fee
in such premier institutions should not be a political decision.
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