No talk of shifting ISI campus from Kolkata: Official

Kolkata, Oct 7 (PTI) The Centre's draft Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2025 is aimed at repositioning the Kolkata-based establishment as a world-class institution but there is no talk about shifting the campus outside West Bengal, an official said on Tuesday.

The institute official said that the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released the draft Bill for public consultation.

It is aimed at overhauling the 94-year-old institute but will in no way lead to shifting of the campus to outside the state as claimed in some quarters, he said.

It is aimed at aligning ISI with the governance framework of other institutions of national importance (INI) to strengthen its capacity for delivering world-class education, he added.

Over the years, four review committees have examined the functioning of ISI and the most recent, chaired by R A Mashelkar in 2020, recommended major reforms to strengthen governance, expand academic programmes. It said that the institute must reimagine, reinvent and reposition itself to regain its leadership position and remain relevant in changing times as it reaches its centenary year in 2031, the official said.

"It will, however, in no way result in any decision to shift the ISI campus to Delhi or elsewhere as the Centre is well-aware of the historical significance associated with the campus in Kolkata, founded by legendary statistician P C Mahalanobis, and the human resource pool here creating pioneering research work over the years," he said.

The MoSPI, in the draft Bill posted on September 25 on its website, said, "A new legislation for ISI by upscaling the existing Act to the level of other existing INI legislations is being proposed, putting in place a revamped governance structure, making the Board of Governance a leaner and more empowered body for policy, administrative and financial matters." "The draft Bill has been released for public consultation with stakeholders and people are invited to submit comments and suggestions till October 24," the MoSPI said in its website. PTI SUS ACD