ISI protests 'autonomy grab' as students rally against proposed bill
Telegraph | 13 November 2025
Students and research scholars of ISI Calcutta organised an assembly at the campus gate on Wednesday evening to protest the draft ISI Bill, 2025, which they alleged was the Union government’s attempt to rob the institute of its autonomy.
The students alleged that the bill will alter the composition of the institute’s council and academic council, concentrating authority in the hands of the Centre and its nominees.
The students argued the bill was a “legislative takeover of ISI”, converting it from an autonomous society registered under the government of West Bengal to a statutory body under complete Union government control.
The Union government, which has sought public opinion on the draft bill till November 3, is likely to place it in Parliament for passage.
Retired ISI professor Abhirup Sarkar said there were “strong grounds for protest”.
“What is concerning is that the bill seeks to curb the role of the academic council, of which the teachers are members. The academic council typically decides course-related issues. If the role of the council is curbed, it is bound to trigger concerns about intervention,” Sarkar told Metro.
“We know what this Union government has done to the IITs in the name of intervention and pseudo-science,” Sarkar added.
The proposed Draft Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Bill, 2025, aims to transform the ISI into a statutory body and restructure its governance to enhance the authority of the board of governors. The draft bill also states that it seeks to modernise the institute.
The salient features of the proposed bill are that it aims to create a more streamlined and empowered board of governors responsible for policy, administration, and finance.
The academic council will shift from having the final say to only making recommendations to the board of governors, the protesters alleged.
A student said: “The Union government is proposing to repeal the 1959 ISI Act and replace it with a new legislation that seeks to transform the very nature of the institute.”
Under the leadership of Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, ISI Calcutta played a pioneering role in shaping India’s planning and policy through the Second Five-Year Plan (1956-61).
Abhirup Sarkar said the draft bill was contradictory to the extent it seeks to go beyond the ambit of Mahalanobis and move beyond the days of the Planning Commission, yet leaves the scope for government intervention.
“It’s eroding autonomy,” he said
Calls and text messages to the ISI Calcutta officiating director, Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, went unanswered.