Over the last 50+ years, the IIMs have been working tirelessly, helping brand India gain respect in the global arena and being an invaluable part of nation building. Today, the IIMs are rubbing shoulders with the top global business schools and have gained a reputation for being among the best in the world in the field of management education and research.

Even before the phrase “Make In India” has started trending, the IIMs have been creating alumni who are proud to have been made in India. People from all strata of society have entered the IIMs purely on the basis of merit and have gotten moulded as leaders over a period of time. In turn, they are propelling India forward in its development path to becoming a global powerhouse.

This has been made possible largely due to the freedom & autonomy provided to the Board, Faculty & Staff of the IIMs, who have been working unflinchingly for the same.

A new IIM Bill 2015 is being sought to be introduced in the Parliament shortly. The Bill does have some good points (like the institutes conferring degrees rather than diplomas, the institutes coming under RTI Act, being subject to audit by CAG, etc.), which we gratefully acknowledge.

However, there are some sections of the Bill that have the potential to undo all the good efforts over the decades and dilute the brand substantially. The preamble to the Bill talks about “empowering the institutions to attain standards of global excellence in management”, but many parts of the Bill seek to achieve exactly the opposite. There are clauses in the Bill that give the Central government unfettered control over the Board, confer complete rights to the Central Government to pass any rule & take any decision relating to the institutes superseding everyone else, thereby undermining the role of the Board and the Academic Council. These have been highlighted in the letter to the HRD Minister, Ms. Smriti Irani, which has been attached.

The Bill, in its current format, completely undermines the credibility of the institutions and fundamentally takes them away from the very management tenets that they are supposed to teach. Some relevant modifications can make the Bill extremely effective and enable it to achieve the stated objective of empowering the institutions to attain international standards of excellence in management.

The purpose of this petition is to urge the Government to engage in a face to face dialogue with all the important stakeholders, including the faculty, alumni & industry leaders in bringing about the requisite changes to the IIM Bill to truly empower the IIMs.

Please sign the petition so that the IIMs can continue to make India proud on the global stage. It is not long before we see one of the IIMs as the best business school in the world and that would be a proud day for all Indians! Jai Hind!