'Joint secretary runs IIMs': Sanjaya Baru on how bureaucratic control is driving talent away from India

India's premier institutions — from IIMs to central universities — are being run by bureaucrats instead of academics, a trend that is discouraging India's top talent from returning home, says policy analyst and author Sanjaya Baru. He questioned why the government has failed to reverse brain drain despite years of claiming to prioritise ease of business and innovation. 

"Now that's my question — the government, the political leadership should answer it. How many such people have you brought back? Back then, Nehru brought back Homi Bhabha, Sethna, KN Raj — senior intellectuals were invited to return. How many have you brought back? Today, our talent is looking towards Europe, Canada, and Australia. No one wants to return to India. Why? Because scientific institutions in India are all bureaucratic and highly bureaucratised," he said in an interview with Lallantop discussing his new book Secession of the Successful.  

Baru recalled that during Indira Gandhi's tenure, then Secretary Abid Hussain had led a government-appointed committee to examine the functioning of India's scientific institutions. "Even at that time, there were complaints that bureaucratic control had become excessive and scientists were leaving," Baru said. "The Abid Hussain Committee submitted its report, and its key recommendation was that scientific institutions should be run by scientists, not by bureaucrats or IAS officers. I'm talking about the 1980s."

More than four decades later, Baru believes little has changed. "Today, the same problem persists. Not just scientific institutions — even universities are being run by bureaucrats. A Joint Secretary sitting in the Ministry of HRD manages IIMs and central universities. Vice-chancellors have to wait outside for appointments."

According to Baru, this bureaucratic interference has stifled intellectual freedom. "How will the country run like this? You have to give intellectual freedom. You have to provide academic freedom. You have to tell them: fine, come, pursue whatever research you want. We will fund it — but it must lead to some impact, some output. And then you assess that output — are they doing meaningful work or not?"

Baru's critique doesn't end with science and academia. He says India is also witnessing what he calls a "capital strike." Referring to a recent Finance Ministry report, he said: "Now even the Ministry of Finance is asking: Why are Indian businessmen investing more outside India than within India?"

He linked this to unresolved ease-of-doing-business issues. "We've long known about labour strikes, but now we are witnessing a capital strike. Because capitalists are not investing in India. The government has also begun recognising this as a problem. And the answer is very simple: ease of business."

He recounted a conversation with a prominent Indian businessman who had set up a factory in an Eastern European country. "He said that when he went there and informed someone locally that he needed land for a factory, the news immediately reached the Prime Minister’s Office. The very next day, the PM's office called him — the Prime Minister wanted to meet him. And when he met the PM, he said: 'You want to invest in my country? Tell me what you need, we'll make it happen.'"

"In India, forget meeting the Prime Minister — even getting an appointment with the Industry Minister or Industry Secretary takes 2–3 days, or a week, or even two weeks. And even if you get the appointment, you're made to wait outside for an hour or two. So the attitude is different. That's why he said, 'I'm taking my money and investing it outside India.’"

Baru noted that while the government repeatedly invokes ease of business, even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had shifted the narrative to ease of living in his Independence Day speech. But on-ground systems continue to frustrate both citizens and investors.

"Look at something as basic as a bank KYC — it has become a nuisance for ordinary people. Every year you have to fill out the KYC form, submit Aadhaar card, provide photos — why? This doesn't happen in other countries. Here, for everything, you need to submit Aadhaar, self-attested documents, upload a PDF form — and even the upload has size limitations. So these small, small things need to be addressed."

On the growing NRI disconnect, Baru said the new wave of exit is not just intellectual but economic. "The latest wave is the migration of the elite, the rich, the wealthy, the millionaires. They are based in Dubai, they're based in Singapore, they're based in London. And tens of hundreds of Indian wealthy are leaving India or many of them have one foot in India and one foot in Singapore or Dubai."