IIM-Calcutta faculty opposes proposed regulations, tells Centre it will hurt institute’s autonomy
The faculty association urged the Centre to ensure that flaws in the proposed regulations were addressed before being tabled and notified in the Parliament.
The faculty association of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, on Thursday wrote to the Centre, expressing concern that the proposed regulations for the institute overlook its academic legacy and will hurt its autonomy. The faculty members brought to the Centre’s attention the “proposed misappropriation” of the IIM Act by the institute’s Board of Governors.
The faculty members, in a letter to education ministry Secretary Amit Khare, said that the autonomy provided to the institute under the IIM Act has been held back in the “First Regulations” by the Board of Governors keen to “delegitimize the collective and collegial governance model that has served this institution well for decades”. They also spoke about about the failures in delegation of powers.
“In failing to align continuity with change in the formulation of the regulations, in failing to devolve reasonable and commensurate powers to collegial bodies of governance, and in failing to resolve contradictions between the intent of the proposed regulations and the prescribed objectives of the institute as per the Act, the BoG [Board of Governors] at IIM Calcutta has made a poor start to their task of ‘general superintendence’ of the institute under the framework of the IIM Act.”
— IIM Calcutta Faculty Association in letter to Centre
The IIM faculty members also flagged how the proposed regulations would allow the institute’s director to evade internal bodies and directly appoint academic staff members after consulting the chairperson and “external experts”.
They added :
“This will, over time, corrode the institute’s capacity to ‘educate and support leaders…’ (IIM Act, Sec. 6.a), to ‘provide global leadership in management theory and practice…and enhance inclusive, equitable, and sustainable national development goals…’ (IIM Act, Sec. 6.b), to ‘provide management education of high quality…’ (IIM Act, Sec. 6.c), and to collaborate with appropriate management and other education institutions in India and abroad (IIM Act, Sec. 6.h & 6.i).”
— IIM Calcutta Faculty Association in letter to Centre
The faculty association urged the Centre to ensure that flaws in the proposed regulations were addressed before being tabled and notified in the Parliament, to avoid more damage to the institute’s functioning.
