Kolkata: Faculty members, scholars and students of Indian Statistical Institute on Saturday requested the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) to initiate discussions over the bill with the “stakeholders of ISI”. They alleged that there are “serious anomalies” in the bill and its risks of taking away the creative input of the faculty members.
Present at a news conference at the Press Club, ISI faculty members said that the bill has been drafted without any consultation with the ISI statutory bodies. “If this bill is thrust on ISI, then ISI will have to rewrite its governing rules and regulations to fit the new Act. This will take away the creative inputs of the faculty and will create problems in the institute,” said a faculty member.
They argued that MoSPI bases the bill on the 4th Review Committee (Mashelkar report). The 4th review committee did not suggest repeal of the ISI Act. “It suggested only two amendments. It also did not suggest abolition of the ISI Society. ISI has remained accountable to the government on all accounts. However, sections 9, 11 and 12 of the ISI Act 1959 have provisions for the government to intervene if ISI is not accountable,” said Arijit Bishnu, a professor of the institute.
“The ISI Bill talks of “Viksit Bharat”. ISI had a role to play in laying the statistical foundation of the nation through NSSO that led to Viksit Bharat. Our statistical system, pioneered by ISI, was a role model for many countries. ISI has enhanced the prestige of India globally,” said Ayan Basu, professor at the institute.
The silence of the bill on the issue of headquarters has also raised apprehensions that the headquarters might be shifted from Kolkata. “The 1959 ISI Act specifically mentions Kolkata to be the headquarters, but the present Act is silent on the headquarters,” said Kuntal Ghosh, associate professor at the institute. While the second draft, which was circulated in Nov 2025, acknowledged Kolkata as the headquarters, while the bill does not refer to any headquarters.
“MoSPI has not discussed anything about the bill and its implementation with the present director Amartya Kumar Dutta,” said Bishnu.