In a much-awaited move, the Centre on Friday appointed Directors to 10 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the country’s premier business schools, nine of which are new and are operating from temporary campuses. Most of the posts have been vacant for over two years now even as similar vacancies at four more IIMs still remain to be filled.
While Professor G Raghuram will be the Director of IIM-Bangalore, Bharat Bhasker will take over as the IIM-Raipur chief. Raghuram has been a faculty member at IIM-Ahmedabad since 1985. He was also Dean (Faculty) there from September 2013 to December 2015. Raghuram is, at present, chairperson of the Public Systems Group (PSG) at IIM-Ahmedabad.
The appointments were approved by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for a period of five years, or until the incumbents attain the age of 65 years. There are 20 IIMs across the country. A Bill aimed at providing degree granting power to the IIMs is pending in Parliament.
Raghuram has been appointed in place of Professor Sushil Vachani, whose resignation as IIM-Bangalore Director has been accepted ex-post facto by the ACC with effect from April 1, 2016. Vachani had resigned in April 2016, three months before his tenure was due to end after the then HRD Minister Smriti Irani had pulled him up for his opposition to the IIM Bill.
Besides him, Shailendra Singh and Dheeraj Sharma will be the heads of IIM in Ranchi and Rohtak, respectively.
The prestigious chain of MBA institutes was functioning without directors, some of them for over two years. The files related to most of the short-listed names by the search-cum-selection committees were languishing in the HRD Ministry for more than a year now.
Mahadeo Prasad Jaiswal and lS Murty will be heading the premier business schools in Sambalpur and Nagpur. Professor Ganesan Kannabiran and Professor Neelu Rohmetra will be Directors of IIMs in Bodhgaya and Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur, respectively, whereas Chandrasekhar Mylavarapu will head the institute in Vishakapatnam and Bhimaraya Metri IIM-Tiruchirappalli, said a Department of Personnel and Training order.
Almost a year ago the Delhi High Court sought the Centre’s response to a petition seeking setting aside advertisements issued for appointing Directors at various IIMs across the country and asked whether there was a change in the appointment policy.