Lok Sabha Debate: ISI Professors Push Back Against New Governance Bill

ISI professors oppose governance Bill

IIE DIGITAL: The Centre's proposed overhaul of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) has run into resistance from both Parliament and the academic community after the Indian Statistical Institute Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Seven Members of Parliament, including Trinamool Congress leaders Sougata Roy and Pratima Mondal, objected to the legislation during its introduction. The Bill is expected to be debated in the Lower House on Wednesday. Meanwhile, CPI(ML) MP Raja Ram Singh has urged the government to send the legislation to a Parliamentary Standing Committee, reportedly writing to Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation Rao Inderjit Singh seeking a wider consultation.

At the heart of the controversy is a proposed restructuring of ISI's administrative framework. While the government says the Bill aims to strengthen the institute by granting it the status of a Centre of Excellence, critics argue that it would substantially reduce the institution's autonomy.

The draft legislation proposes the creation of a powerful Board of Governors, which would become the apex decision-making authority under the Visitor—the President of India. The Board would oversee governance, finances and institutional administration, while the Visitor would have the authority to appoint inspectors, order inquiries into the institute's functioning and direct the implementation of recommendations arising from such reviews.

The proposed law also allows the Board to relocate or merge ISI centres, establish Management Councils for different campuses and encourage the institute to generate its own financial resources to achieve greater self-sufficiency.

Faculty members have expressed concern that the new governance model could shift key administrative and financial powers away from the Academic Council to a Board that may include government nominees. They also fear that the Director's accountability would primarily shift towards the Board, altering the institute's longstanding academic structure.

Adding to the opposition, four Kolkata-based ISI professors and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award recipients: Prof. Prabal Chaudhuri, Prof. Debashis Goswami, Prof. Palash Sarkar and Prof. Rajat S. Hazra have formally written to the Union government, voicing concerns over the Bill and urging a reconsideration of its provisions.