Mita Mukherjee

The IIT-Kharagpur Teachers Association has written to the minister of Human Resource Development  complaining about “unprecedented nepotism” and “favouritism” on the campus for over almost five years causing “serious damage to the high repute” of the institute.

“ IIT Kharagpur has witnessed an unprecedented nepotism during the last almost five years. Within this period, we are stunned to see the rise of a particular person, belonging to the same department as the incumbent Director, from Professor position to the Head of the Department, Member of Board of Governors, Dean, SRIC and now the Deputy Director of the Institute. This is now the talk of the town as how favouritism has flourished in the tenure of the current Director. It is also utter surprising that several academically excellent and more prudent senior teachers are bypassed to promote a single person over and over again. This is unbecoming of the spirit of IIT system, especially, IIT Kharagpur…” the letter read.

The teachers also alleged that selection of key administrative positions like Deans, Head of the Departments and chairmen of various committees, have been done “whimsically” flouting all rules and statutes of the institute.

According to the teachers, IIT Kharagpur is “poised to get a new Director from January 2025.”

The teachers urged the ministry to “ bring the previous glory of IIT Kharagpur by selecting a director of high repute and experienced in practicing inclusive governance so that all teachers, staffs and students respect the highest chair of the institute.”

The teachers also complained that existing faculty are leaving the institute due to “arbitrariness and vindictiveness” in the faculty selection process.

 Apart from complaining about irregularities in the selection process, the teachers also informed the HRD minister about the failure of the institute in starting the multi super-speciality hospital and opening an external campus in Malaysia.

The IIT Kharagpur authorities dismissed the allegations in an official statement. “ IIT Kharagpur abides by the statutes and norms of the institute recruitment rules in reference to the individual credibility of the candidates applying for various positions. A committee comprising of qualified cadre of people take a collective decision on the recruitment process, irrespective of any influence from individual capacity.”

Until this month, a total of 414 faculty members and 718 staff members have been recruited since 2020 by the institute in accordance to the prescribed norms of the institute as a part of the  mission recruitment, according to the statement.

The institute claimed that as far as the starting of the multi super-speciality hospital and the Malaysia campus is concerned, “IIT Kharagpur stands as an executive body following the guidelines and directives as communicated by the Ministry of Education. The advancements in these respective areas are monitored and directed by the Ministry of Education in its sole Capacity.”

The institute further clarified that as an Institute of Eminence, Kharagpur IIT does not “endorse this act of Slander” against senior employees.