In view of the resignation of Shankar Mohan from the post of the director of the KR Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts in Kerala, which witnessed protests recently, Shibu Abraham, finance officer of the institution, has been given temporary charge of the director.

In a press release issued on Tuesday, January 24, Higher Education Minister R Bindu said the interim director was appointed to run the day-to-day administrative affairs of the institution, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express. The new appointment comes close on the heels of the students at the institute calling off their protests following talks with the minister.

Slew of resignations, fewer staff members

Meanwhile, academic activities at the institute resumed partially on Tuesday with the preparatory works for workshops by filmmakers. The regular classes, however, are expected to begin only by next week, sources said. The institute has been facing an unprecedented crisis with eight of its employees tendering their resignations in solidarity with the outgoing director, who is facing a flurry of charges including caste discrimination.

Among those who followed the director, also included the dean and administrative officer. With their resignations, the authorities have been forced to run the institute with a much smaller number of staff members. The cinematography department, for instance, has lost both its faculty members during the resignation spree. Meanwhile, speculations are also rife about the resignation of more faculty members and non-teaching staff in the coming days. It is learnt that the chairman of the academic council also tendered his resignation, as per the TNIE report.