Better Performance Will Earn Greater Autonomy: HRD Ministry Tells Educational Institutions 

If universities and other educational institutions perform well, they are likely to be given greater autonomy as per the Ministry of Human Resource Development. HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar stated more institutions could be empowered along the lines of the IIM bill, which has provided them complete autonomy to function.

The ministry is hopeful that the planned legislation will be taken up in the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament and would be passed soon.

On Wednesday, the Cabinet gave its nod to IIM Bill, 2017 which authorises IIMs to confer degrees instead of the diplomas they have offered so far. Along with that the institutes would get statutory powers and a board-driven management.

The board will now have the authority to decide if IIMs will convert their two year post-graduate programmes into an MBA or launch new ones. The minister said on the bill:

It gives autonomy while also establishing a system of accountability in terms of CAG audits and presenting reports to the Parliament. It is a milestone. Government will continue to provide funds for development of these institutes especially the new IIMs but sans government controls..

The minister indicated that a system was being contemplated where the best performing institutes would be given maximum autonomy while those not performing well would be highly regulated by the ministry.