The IIMs need full freedom from govt

First, the good news. The government has taken some administrative decisions that are bound to benefit the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).

For instance, they will be allowed to open branches abroad, hike the salaries of their faculty members, and reduce the number of governors on their boards to make them more manageable.

These are welcome steps and long overdue. In return for this move towards autonomy, greater accountability has been sought from the IIMs, which will prepare key action plans and performance indicators to monitor their progress.

But positive as these moves are, the bigger need is, clearly, to provide the IIMs, and other similar institutes, complete autonomy. This could mean the right to expand or shrink, to raise fees and/or invite foreign faculty and students, and so on.

There is no doubt that the IIMs, at least the older ones, are among India’s top education brands, but unfortunately, they don’t rank very high globally, not even the premier IIM, Ahmedabad.

Reason: they are forced to remain mere factories churning out management graduates. With the focus being on the job at the end of the course, there is little top-class research coming out of the institutes. The IIMs are not to blame for this; rather it is the nature of social and political expectations from these institutions, where high-paying jobs are given precedence over the creation of intellectual capital.

There are also concerns about the dilution of the IIM brand. The government is right in seeking to spread management education deeper into India’s hinterland and across the country (at present there are seven IIMs and six more are planned), but there is a huge risk that the newer institutes might lack the quality that made IIM a brand to reckon with in the first place.

The tragic reality of India is that any institution or enterprise run by the government tends to lose its way. Air India was one of the finest airlines under the Tatas; today is known for its sloppiness. It would be a pity if that were to happen to the IIMs — India’s only potential competitor to the Harvards of the world.