The lack of leadership in IIMs, IITs, NITs, and central universities can also affect the implementation of the National Education Policy. The institutions are being run on the basis of interim officials without permanent heads.

It is not necessary how grand the building of an institution is, the real strength lies in its leadership. But what happens when the most prestigious central educational institutions of the country do not have a permanent head? This is the condition of many renowned central universities, IITs, IIMs and NITs, where the boat of education is currently running on the basis of interim officials.

Renowned institutions, but temporary leadership

According to a report by 'The Indian Express', out of 130 higher education institutions under the Ministry of Education, 14% of the institutions are being run without permanent heads. These include Central Universities, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), the National Institutes of Technology (NIT) and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER).

Which institutions are affected?

According to the report, eight of the 48 central universities, two of the 23 IITs, four of the 21 IIMs, three of the 31 NITs, and one of the eight IISERs are currently functioning under interim leadership. Notably, institutions like IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Shillong, NIT Srinagar, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Sikkim University and Rajiv Gandhi University in Arunachal Pradesh have been running without permanent heads for more than a year.

Education Policy 2020 may be affected.

According to the report, this situation becomes more important when the central government is in the process of implementing reforms under the National Education Policy 2020. Usually, interim or acting heads avoid making major administrative decisions, which may hamper the development and policy implementation of the institution. According to normal procedure, the government should begin searching for a successor about six months before the term of the current head ends.