3 weeks ago
Academics Sign Petition Against Indian Statistical Institute Bill 2026
The Indian Statistical Institute, or ISI, is a famous school in India where people learn and do research in maths and statistics.
The Indian government has made a new law called the Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026.
This law would change the way the institute is managed.
Right now, the people who work at ISI help choose how the institute is run.
The new law would let the government pick most of the people in charge instead.
Many teachers, students and scholars are worried about this.
They think the government taking control will take away the school's freedom.
More than 6,500 people have signed a petition to say they do not want the new law.
Some of them are famous professors, historians and politicians.
They want the government to talk with them before changing the rules.
More than 6,500 academics, scholars, students and politicians have signed an online petition opposing the Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026.
The bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha, would convert the Indian Statistical Institute from a society into a body corporate 'to strengthen its governance'.
The petition was started by Partha P. Majumder, a former National Chair of Science, who called the bill a 'hostile bureaucratic takeover'.
Supriya Chaudhuri, a Jadavpur University emeritus professor, said the change would replace the institute's democratically structured council with a Union government-dominated board.
Dipankar Bhattacharya of CPI(ML) Liberation, an ISI alumnus, warned the bill could turn ISI into a 'fancy private university charging exorbitant fees'.
- Who
- Academics, scholars, students and politicians, including Supriya Chaudhuri, Ramachandra Guha, Partha P. Majumder and Dipankar Bhattacharya, opposing the Indian government's Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026.
- What
- An online petition opposing the Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026, which would convert the institute from a society into a body corporate, has gathered more than 6,500 signatures.
- Where
- India, concerning the Indian Statistical Institute, currently a society registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961.
- When
- The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on a Monday in 2026, the petition was launched the following Tuesday, and it passed 6,500 signatures by Thursday of that week.
- Why
- Critics say the bill replaces ISI's democratically structured council with a Union government-dominated board, undermining institutional autonomy and threatening affordable public education.
Academic Opponents
Bill's Stated Rationale
Change in ISI's Governance
Academic Opponents
Opponents say making ISI a body corporate with a Union government-dominated board replaces a democratically structured council that has the institution's representation, amounting to a 'hostile bureaucratic takeover' that undermines autonomy.
Bill's Stated Rationale
The bill's preface states ISI will be incorporated 'as a body corporate to strengthen its governance.'
Impact on ISI's Educational Mission
Academic Opponents
Dipankar Bhattacharya and others argue the change aims to turn ISI into a 'fancy private university charging exorbitant fees,' destroying public-funded institutions providing affordable quality public education and weakening ISI's legacy.
Bill's Stated Rationale
The reported bill language presents the reform as strengthening governance; the articles do not report detailed government arguments on fees or institutional autonomy.
Key facts
- Signatories
- More than 6,500 academics, scholars, students and politicians
- Bill
- Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026
- Petition started by
- Partha P. Majumder, former National Chair of Science
- Petition title
- WE OPPOSE THE REPEAL OF THE ISI ACT WITHOUT DISCUSSION WITH US
- Notable signatories
- Supriya Chaudhuri (Jadavpur University emeritus professor), historian Ramachandra Guha
- Current legal status of ISI
- Society registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961
- Proposed change
- Incorporation as a body corporate to strengthen its governance
- Academic freedom ranking
- India placed in the bottom 10% of the international academic freedom index, per Chaudhuri
Quotes
Partha P. Majumder
Former National Chair of Science, founder of the petition
“We will continue the campaign. Then the outcome of the campaign will be shared with the ministry. It has emerged that a large section of academics and intellectuals are vehemently opposing this hostile bureaucratic takeover of ISI.”
telegraphindia.com
Sources
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