The IIMs are rightly regarded as the pinnacle of management education in the country which justified their high demand among the MBA aspirants. However, most of them are running low on strength for quite a long time now. As many as 14 IIMs in the country, which include old IIMs such as Kozhikode and Bangalore was operating without any director.
Mahendra Nath Pandey, who is the minister of state for HRD, informed the Parliament when she said that the posts of Director were vacant in a number of IIMs which include Bangalore, Amritsar, Kozhikode, Sirmaur, Rohtak, Bodh Gaya, Ranchi, Sambalpur, Raipur, Nagpur, Udaipur, Visakhapatnam, Tiruchirappalli and the newly set up Jammu.
He said that the ministry has extended the tenure of the exiting director or the senior most professor of the IIM has been asked to take charge as the director of the respective IIMs. The minister also informed the House that the directors of the mentor IIMs have been looking after the 7 new IIMs of Nagpur, Sirmaur, Amritsar, Bodh Gaya, Jammu, Sambalpur and Visakhapatnam till the time a regular director is appointed for them.
Leaving aside IIM Jammu and Kozhikode, the committee responsible for search and selection has come up with a number of names to fill the post of director. The entire list is being considered by the Government.
He also added that, "For IIM Kozhikode and IIM Jammu, advertisement for the posts has been issued." He also informed the house about the proposal of the government to set up or upgrade as many as 20 world class teaching and research institutes. These institutes would be named as ‘Institutions of Eminence.’