"IIT Kharagpur, for the last five years, has paid the price," said a former professor of the oldest Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kharagpur (KGP), under the condition of anonymity. He continued, "The place has lost its invigorating qualities, once hallowed, now hollowed..."
This professor, who is also a member of the IIT Teachers' Association (IITTA), expresses solidarity with the 86 professors at IIT-KGP who have received showcause notices. This controversy now poses a challenge for the current director of IIT-KGP, Professor VK Tewari, who is about to retire from his post, as his tenure ends on December 30, 2024.
However, the institute, in its official statement released today, December 3, remains resolute in its stance and refutes all allegations.
As 26 days remain for the director to leave his office, this issue might just leave a blotch on his otherwise seamless career as the director.
Problems tantamount
"I cannot explain...but there were several instances where we (teachers) were unnecessarily troubled by the administration. We could not express our problems, we could not state our grievances...the answer was one — speak to the Prime Minister," said the irate professor, but he added that when they resolved to take their problems to the Centre, the consequences were vindictive.
Let's recap a little more extensively.
The seed of this issue was sown on September 20, 2024, when this cohort of professors addressed a letter to Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan, detailing several of their grievances, and adding that since the institution is set to get its new director from January 2025, there must be provisions made to consult the teachers as well as the staff members and the students to make the process democratic.
According to the letter dated September 20, 2024, that EdexLive has a copy of, "...Governance of IIT Kharagpur, at times, became unilateral, uncooperative and hard-headed, disregarding the wishes and aspiration of teachers, staff and students. This has caused serious damage to the high repute of our Institute in the last five years..." it stated.
The letter further highlighted the shortcomings of the institute, and how this was further impacting its reputation. These are:
a) Nepotism
"IIT-KGP is one big family, and it belongs to VK Tewari and no one else," said the professor. Allegations of favouritism displayed towards a certain official have been a cause of dismay for these teachers. They allege that while other senior teachers were disregarded for the position, a certain person associated with IIT-KGP was allegedly given four promotions within a short span of time, irrespective of the norms, and without any consultations. They further stated that several other appointments were also made similarly.
b) Arbitrary faculty recruitment and probation period
The letter highlights that the tenure of the Board of Governors (BOG) and other rules have been flouted.
Dr Brijesh Rai, an academician, deftly pointed out anomalies with the appointments via a post dated December 2, 2024.
"A surprising revelation emerged while reviewing the Board of Governors (BoG) webpage: three members nominated by the IIT Council, whose tenure is three years, have been serving for over nine years," he wrote.
These members include Professor N Balakrishnan, an honorary professor at the Department of Aeronautics at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Sudha Murty, former Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, and Professor Jai Pal Mittal, an honorary scientist at the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI).
Scrutinising the move, he said, "It is ironic that while faculty members are being questioned for their actions, there seems to be no accountability for lapses at the highest levels of administration."
Not only this, the letter underscores that there has been no particular diktat on the probationary period, leaving several young faculty members waiting for more than a year.
c) Dissolution of a reputation built over 70 years
The letter also highlighted several institutional failures endured by IIT-KGP, including a non-operational super-speciality hospital built for the nearby community. Both the hospital and the associated medical college remain closed and inactive.
They also claim that while IIT Madras and IIT Delhi have established offshore campuses in Zanzibar and Abu Dhabi, respectively, but the IIT Kharagpur campus in Malaysia has made no progress in the past two years.
The members of the IITTA also allege that rigorous rules have diluted the sense of community and culture at the institution.
"IIT-KGP earlier used to be one with the locale, intermingling with the community. The culture here was thriving. Now, the institution seems to stand all alone. This is a rural setting, and the institution needs cooperation from them, but that has been cut off as well," claimed the professor.
Showdown with showcause
There were in total three showcause notices issued to the president, the general secretary, the vice-president, and the treasurer of the IITTA, and later, to the 86 officials who had signed a letter prompting the administration to dissolve the showcase notices, which the IITTA thinks is a "move to silence their democratic freedom within the institution."
"In the association's meetings, we can take any resolution. We are an independent body functioning for over 60 years, how can our decisions be rendered as baseless or something that warrants punitive action?" inquired the professor.
He further informed EdexLive that there was a brief meeting held with the director yesterday, Monday, December 2, and the association was asked to retract the claims they made against IIT-KGP.
The professor informed, "We would now approach the Calcutta High Court to get a stay order on the notices. For now, we will be protesting against these arbitrary actions taken by the administration. We want to see IIT-KGP rise to its pinnacle, and not grovel in mud."
IIT KGP replies...
EdexLive reached out to the IIT-KGP for a response, and via a statement received from an official channel, the institute refuted the claims made by the IITTA. "The institute stands firm on its ground nullifying all the allegations," it said.
As per the statement, "The director of the Institute advises them not to malign the reputation of the Institute of Eminence. This is an academic institution and this type of propaganda and approach should not be encouraged."
They called out that such acts are vengeful in nature — "Among the 800+ faculty members, the intent of action of these 85 signatories is questioned in mobilising 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..."
In addition to this, they added that most of the signatories, who are unaware of the agenda, are withdrawing from the representation, and claim that the association is mobilising the media "without any concrete evidence."
Yet, contention(s) remain...
The official statement also mentioned that the institute's stakeholders engaged in a constructive dialogue with the office bearers of the IITTA. As a result, they were granted an extension until December 13, 2024, as requested, to submit proper documentation supporting their allegations, which was the primary objective of their request.
According to a letter by the IITTA, addressed to Capt Amit Jain, Registrar at IIT-KGP, which EdexLive is in possession of, clearly delineates the IITTA representatives' specific request for an extension of the deadline until December 26, 2024, to submit their response to the showcause notice.
Although, facts may forever be shrouded in mystery, can IIT-KGP retain its enduring legacy, or will it be tainted due to an internal rift?
