Degrees or diplomas? IIMs are confused, HRD refuses help
Four months after passage of the IIM Bill that granted statutory powers to the prestigious institutes, they are still undecided on what they should offer- degrees or diplomas. The HRD Ministry has refused to intervene. "They have created a strong reputation for themselves," an official said, and are free to decide. But due to lack of consensus, the institutes went separate ways this time.
What is the IIM Bill?
In December, the Rajya Sabha passed a bill that allowed IIMs to award degrees, set up campuses abroad and make appointments themselves, with less interference from the government. Earlier, IIMs were registered under the Societies Act and thus couldn't award degrees. Masters students got a PGDM. Doctoral researchers got the title of a 'Fellow.' Though they are recognized in India, they weren't universally accepted.
In 2018, a transition year, some got degrees, others diplomas
But the 20 IIMs haven't been able to decide. For the previous session, for which convocation was held recently, IIM-Lucknow and IIM-Ranchi gave students postgraduate diplomas. IIM-Bangalore became the first to hand out degrees, and IIM-Udaipur and IIM-Indore followed. Apart from these three, all others wanted to maintain status quo this year. It is likely that all IIMs would start awarding degrees from 2019.
Why was the IIM Bill necessary?
HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the bill was important as it was "difficult to run 20 IIMs from Delhi." Now, IIMs don't need to await government directions in certain tasks. To ensure uniformity, the bill provided a "Coordination Forum of IIMs," an advisory-body with limited-powers.
