The All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS)— the very symbol of the highest standards of medical education in the country — was ironically in a very poor state of health thanks primarily to the intrusive role the government played in its affairs. Something as basic as the appointments of professorial staff required the prior clearance of the Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet. It needed Prime Minister Vajpayee’s personal intervention to strike down this stipulation and restore a modicum of autonomy to AIIMS, as the Sunday Express has just reported. The fact that shortly after being granted the power to make appointments, AIIMS went ahead and hired 50 professors — staff that it had evidently badly needed — testifies to the virtues of autonomous decision making. There is a simple lesson in this story. Institutions are grievously shackled by the extraneous influences that are brought to bear upon them the moment the government evinces an interest in running their affairs. Before long, they are reduced from being centres of excellence to centres of control. Control, by its very nature, is the enemy of initiative, and without initiative there is no way excellence can flourish. Every institution must therefore have the freedom to decide what is in its best interests. This is something that the government, given its distinct agenda, cannot do — however noble its intentions may be. This is something that bureaucrats, given their distinct orientation, cannot do — however talented they may be as individuals. Incidentally, that was the precise point iterated by former RBI governor, Bimal Jalan, in his convocation address at IIM A. He observed that the damage inflicted by unwarranted political or bureaucratic interference can cause permanent damage to an institution. Therefore, while we thank Prime Minister Vajpayee for stepping in and helping to salvage the autonomy of AIIMS, we would urge him to now turn his attention to the other business that has been plaguing the academic world for a while now. And that is the propensity of his colleague, Union HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi, to go on a virtual stampede by seriously undermining the autonomy of IIMs and enforcing the most irrational fee cuts. So far Joshi has remained impervious to the logic of arguments, the evidence on the ground, widespread public disquiet, the appeal of respected pilots of industry, the stance of academics, the filing of cases against his move, even the lack of support from his ministerial colleagues. It would appear then that the only way out is for the prime minister to step in and sort out this unholy mess.
