Overview
- The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has circulated a draft Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2025 to replace ISI’s society model with a statutory body and repeal the 1959 Act.
- A new Board of Governance dominated by central nominees would decide academic, administrative, financial and staffing matters, while the Academic Council’s role would be advisory.
- The draft outlines a director chosen from a panel by a government‑constituted search committee, with the President as Visitor empowered to order reviews and remove the director.
- The board would be able to open, merge, relocate or close ISI centres in India or abroad, with no guarantee that Kolkata remains the permanent headquarters.
- ISI faculty, staff and students have mounted coordinated resistance, issuing a petition after a joint press conference on November 24 and holding a rally on November 28, as MoSPI says the bill aligns governance with peer national institutions.