New Rules For IIMs: President Can Now Appoint Directors, Dissolve Board Of Governors

New Delhi: As per the Indian Institutes of Management (Amendment) Rules, 2023, the President of India will now be a “Visitor” at all Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). The President will have the power to appoint the chairperson of the board of governors, appoint or remove directors, and dissolve the board for its inability to perform its duties, reported Hindustan Times.

The visitor will also have the final say in the appointment of the Director of any IIM. “The Visitor shall nominate one of the names recommended by the Board and send the same to the Board for appointment of the person as Director: Provided that where the Visitor is not satisfied with the names recommended by the Board, he or she may ask the Board to make fresh recommendations,” the education ministry notified.

• The President will now have complete autonomy to appoint search panels for appointments of new directors.
• The visitor can also make policy decisions, approve annual budgets, and determine fees. Previously, a search-cum-selection committee used to be formed which comprised five eminent persons chosen from among administrators, industrialists, educationists, scientists, technocrats, and management specialists to be constituted by the Board for the same.
• The President will also be able to dissolve the board of governors under three circumstances, which include if the visitor believes that the board is unable to discharge its functions properly, persistently defaulted in complying with any direction given by the Visitor under this Act, and in the public interest.
• The Visitor can also terminate the services of the director of any IIM. “Notwithstanding anything contained in any of the clauses of this sub-rule, if the Visitor decides that the services of the Director may be terminated or the Director may be relieved from the services of the Institute, the Board shall be bound to follow the decision of the Visitor,” the notification stated.

The educational qualifications of an IIM Director have also been revised. He/she must be a “distinguished academic with a first-class degree in both Bachelor’s and Master’s level and with PhD or equivalent from a reputed institute.”