As allegations of nepotism, arbitrary hiring procedures and governance issues surfaced under the Director in September, the IIT Kharagpur protests intensified.
Image Credits: The Print
The IITTA
The Indian Institute of Technology Teachers’ Association wrote to the Union Education Ministry in September raising concerns of ‘favouritism’, unjustified and autocratic hiring procedures and flaws in the Institute’s governance under Director Prof. V K Tewari’s leadership. Governance concerns also include the authorities’ failure to build an on-campus hospital.
The Association has also requested the Ministry to appoint a new Director to the Institute after Prof. Tewari’s tenure ends in January 2025.
As of Friday, 6 December 2024, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur has issued ‘show cause notices’ to about 85 faculty members, deepening the altercation between the administration and the faculty.
In response, the Institute initiated disciplinary charges against IITTA’s four office-bearers, demanding they submit document proof of the claims they made within a week. Still, they asked for a month to produce the documents.
The Hunger Strike
The issue, however, intensified after 86 faculty members wrote a mass petition to the institute, threatening to go on a hunger strike if the notice issued to the four office-bearers was not repealed. The Institute then proceeded to issue ‘show cause’ notices to the 86 protesting faculty.
The Institute has also issued orders to replace three department heads- Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence and Bioscience and Biotechnology, who were signatories to the mass petition. Officials have not yet disclosed whether this replacement process is linked to the tensions.
“Though the director is empowered to make changes in departments, these three had not completed three years, which is typically a head of department’s tenure. Moreover, this move comes at a time when semester results are coming out, and PhD admissions are going on, so the faculty is busy,” The Indian Express reports.
