In Milind Kamble, IIM Jammu gets first SC chairperson of board of governors

NEW DELHI: Industrialist Milind Pralhad Kamble has been appointed chairperson of the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management, Jammu, becoming the first person from the Scheduled Caste community to occupy the position. A unanimous decision to appoint Kamble was taken at the IIM Board meeting in Delhi on Monday.
In October 2018, the law ministry said fresh board of governors (BoGs) should be constituted in each IIM in keeping with the IIM Act, 2017, and attempts to fit existing boards to new categorisation are not legally tenable.
The IIM Act was passed in December 2017 and notified in February 2018. The Act requires each IIM to set up a 15-member BoG with representation from specific categories. BoG is the principal executive body for the institute and is its most powerful organ as the new law has done away with governmental role.
Speaking to TOI on his appointment, Kamble, founder of the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), said: "The government had made it mandatory to appoint from SC/ ST in the Board of Governors, which is why now one can see eminent people from these communities in the newly constituted boards. This is a new opportunity created by the government for us to contribute."
Kamble served as a member of the previous BoG of IIM-Kashipur for three years and sees infrastructure and finding good faculty for new IIMs as the biggest challenges. "My priority would be to see academic excellence, improved infrastructure and bridge the industry-academic gap as well as ensure 100% placement in IIM-Jammu. Also the government has given a lot of autonomy to the IIMs. We will try to leverage it," said Kamble.
Kamble is working with a number bodies under the government, including as governing board member of Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India.