IIT Kharagpur I 100 faculty members protest against director: Report

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, is going through some turbulent times, with the rift between the director and members of the faculty deepening over the past couple of months.

In September this year, the IIT Teachers’ Association (IITTA) wrote to the Union Education Ministry, accusing the current director of IIT Kharagpur, VK Tewari, of presiding over arbitrary recruitment and several other irregularities, according to a report by the Indian Express.

The institute reportedly responded by initiating disciplinary proceedings against four office-bearers of IITTA, asking them to substantiate their claims within a week. They, however, asked for a month’s time to present documents.

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The issue worsened after 86 faculty members wrote a mass petition to the institute, threatening to go on a hunger strike if the show-cause notices to the office bearers were not withdrawn. Rather than acceding to their demand, the institute issued show-cause notices to these 86 faculty members also.

Matters came to a head when almost 100 faculty members wore black bands and held a silent protest on the campus on Wednesday (December 4) and Thursday (December 5).

On Wednesday, the institute reportedly replaced three heads of departments who were signatories to the mass petition. Though the order for their removal from their positions did not state the reason, the report said that a head of department’s tenure was usually three years and they had not completed three years.

IITTA letter to Education Ministry

The IITTA letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan reportedly states that the current director VK Tewari’s tenure ends in January 2025, and requests the ministry to appoint a new director after that.

The letter claims that under his tenure, “favouritism has flourished, and several academically excellent and more prudent senior teachers are bypassed to promote a single person over and over again”.

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It states that the selection of key administrative positions like deans, heads of departments, and chairmen of various committees was done whimsically, flouting all rules and statutes of the institute.

It also alleges that there was an arbitrariness and vindictiveness in the faculty selection process causing several existing faculty members to leave the institute.

It was brought to the notice of the ministry that the institute failed to start a Multi Super-Speciality Hospital on campus.

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IIT’s statement on Dec 3

IIT Kharagpur issued a statement on December 3, “The institute stands firm on its ground nullifying all the allegations. Among the 800-plus faculty members, the intent of action of these 85 signatories are questioned in mobilizing a mass representation to threaten the administration, propagating a collective hateful purpose, and disrupting the normal academic workflow of the institution without a definitive agenda. Apart from a few, most of the signatories are unaware of the motive of the agenda and are therefore withdrawing their stance. This is an academic institution, and this type of propaganda and approach should not be encouraged.”