New Delhi: More than 1,100 academics, faculty members, students, alums and concerned citizens from across the country and abroad have signed an online petition expressing concern over the Draft Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Bill, 2025, released in September for public consultation. The draft Bill, they contended, will erode academic autonomy, democratic governance, and independent spirit of the pre-Independence institution.
The ISI was founded in 1931 by Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, a pioneering Indian statistician known for his contributions to the design of large-scale surveys. The institute has played a key role in shaping India’s data-driven economic policies, including designing the national sample surveys. Some of its renowned alumni include C.R. Rao, the legendary Indian statistician, and mathematicians and statisticians S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan and Raj Chandra Bose, among others.
The draft Bill was released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in September with the aim to bring in sweeping changes to the 94-year-old iconic institute by repealing the ISI Act, 1959.
Demanding immediate withdrawal of the draft Bill, the signatories said that structured consultations and discussions may immediately be initiated to draft a document demonstrating compelling necessity to replace the existing Act by a Bill. “Serious attempts should be made to rectify any identified defects in the functioning of the Institute only by way of amendments to the Indian Statistical Institute Act, 1959, and the Bye-Laws of the Indian Statistical Institute Society—and not by abolishing the present structure and replacing it with a Bill,” read the petition.
Member of Parliament from Tamil Nadu’s Viluppuram, D. Ravikumar, Tuesday urged the Centre to withdraw the Draft ISI Bill, 2025, raising concerns that its emphasis on the alleged commercialisation “threatens ISI’s long-standing mission of research for the public good”.
ThePrint reached MoSPI Secretary Dr Saurabh Garg for comment via email but had not received a response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
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What draft Bill proposes
The institute is presently governed under the ISI Act, 1959, which provides the framework for its functioning, governance, and academic operations, and gives it the status of the “Institutions of National Importance (INI)”.
In a statement issued on 27 September, MoSPI stated that over the years, four review committees have examined ISI’s functioning, with the most recent, chaired by Dr R.A. Mashelkar in 2020, recommending major reforms to strengthen governance, expand academic programmes, and make ISI globally competitive.
“The committee recommended that the ISI must reimagine, reinvent, and reposition itself to regain its leadership position and remain relevant as it approaches its centenary in 2031. To address this, new legislation is being proposed to upscale the existing Act to the level of other INI, revamp the governance structure, and make the Board of Governance a leaner and more empowered body for policy, administrative, and financial matters,” the ministry stated.
The draft Bill proposes to transform ISI from a registered society-based institute into a “statutory body corporate” governed by an 11-member Board of Governors (BoG) largely composed of government nominees.
At present, the 33-member Governing Council serves as the highest decision-making body of the institute, with a majority of its members being elected.
If the draft Bill is enacted, the BoG will replace the council and it would include a chairperson, representatives from MoSPI, departments of Science & Technology, and Finance, four eminent persons nominated by the central government, and three institute representatives. The registrar will be the non-member secretary.
The Board will be responsible for general superintendence, direction, and control of the institute’s affairs and shall exercise all powers not otherwise provided for by the proposed legislation, regulations, or standing orders. It will also have the power to form a panel to appoint the director of the institute. Presently, the Governing Council exercises the final call in the appointment of the director.
Under the proposed legislation, the Governing Council will also have the authority to review decisions of the Academic Council.
The draft Bill proposes to restructure the Academic Council, currently composed of all faculty members of the institute, to include the Director (chairperson), Dean of Studies (Convenor), Heads of Divisions and Centres, and other Deans, with the Registrar as non-member Secretary. While the Academic Council currently has the final say in all academic matters, under the draft Bill it will only make recommendations to the BoG.
The draft Bill also emphasises the review of revenue generation through student fees and commercialization of research, among others.
‘Will undermine autonomy’
In their petition to the Minister of State (Independent Charge), MoSPI, the signatories alleged that the proposed Bill “severely undermines the academic autonomy of the Institute” by placing excessive control in the hands of a government-dominated BoG and limiting the Academic Council to a small nominated body with only a recommendatory role.
“The proposed BoG will be fully government controlled as opposed to the earlier Council. Similarly, all Professors have been dropped from the Academic Council. If the BoG and Academic Council suffers from less autonomy, then excellence is bound to suffer,” one of the signatories and a faculty at the institute told ThePrint, requesting anonymity.
The signatories also questioned the timing of the draft Bill’s release, which came just as the term of the current Director was nearing completion and a lengthy but inconclusive search-cum-selection process was already underway. “With no stable Director at the helm, it seemed to be the worst time to drastically alter the fundamental character of the Institute,” the petition stated.
The draft Bill requires the Director to undergo periodical reviews. “All of this will essentially make the Director an appointee of the Central Government, completely undermining the Institute’s autonomy,” the signatories said.
According to the signatories, the draft was introduced without transparent consultation. “The faculty should have been consulted before implementing reforms. We weren’t given enough time to submit suggestions, and the comment period overlapped major festivals. Even with a brief extension, there’s still no opportunity for structured discussion with key stakeholders,” another signatory told ThePrint, requesting anonymity.
The signatories also raised concerns over the draft Bill’s emphasis on revenue generation, stating, “ISI’s traditional courses are not only free, but students are also supported by stipends. This has enabled students from all socio-economic backgrounds to pursue long-term, rigorous academic work without financial burden. The Bill threatens to end this inclusive model.”
Adding, “We, the signatories, value the preservation of ISI’s autonomy, academic freedom and constitutional character as an ‘institution of national importance’ and oppose any move that creates instability and thwarts ISI from improving its ability to perform better in science and society.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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