The government's decision to invite applications for the post of director in three Indian Institutes of Management has drawn a strong reaction from IIM-Ahmedabad Director Bakul Dholakia, who described it as an infringement of the autonomy of these institutions.
"In the 1970s and 1980s, the government played the role of a facilitator in educational institutions, particularly in institutions of higher learning," he said on Tuesday.
"For the last one decade, you find more and more instances of (government) interference in the operations and autonomy of these institutions," Dholakia said in his inaugural address at a two-day workshop organised by the Press Institute of India at the IIM in Bangalore.
"More significant is the (interference in) appointment of chairmen and directors of these institutes," he said, hitting out at the government's decision to invite applications for the post of director in the IIMs in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata through an advertisement.
"Where is the freedom as far as educational institutions are concerned?" asked Dholakia, whose term ends in October. "Do they have freedom with regard to their administrative structures?" he said, adding about 60 to 70 per cent members on the board of institutions like the IIMs were government appointees.
Dholakia said institutions of higher learning did not have any say in fixing