Former and current faculty members, students, and research scholars of The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Calcutta, organised a candlelight rally to protest against the ISI Bill on Wednesday. The protesters are worried that the Centre will present the bill for approval at an upcoming cabinet meeting, overlooking their resistance. Partha Pratim Majumder, a former National Chair of Science and a former ISI professor, said that Jagannath Sarkar, a BJP MP from the Ranaghat Lok Sabha constituency, asked about the status of the ISI Bill, 2025. “In its reply, the ministry said that the pre-legislative consultation, including inter-ministerial consultation, on the draft ISI Bill is complete. A professor on the ISI council said: “When all the decision-making bodies are deliberating on the pros and cons of the bill, the ministry is going to take it up in thecabinet.”

Source: The Telegraph March 19, 2026 04:22 UTC