New Delhi--In a scathing criticism of the process adopted by the Human Resource Development Ministry for the recent selection of directors of three Indian Institutes of Technology, nuclear scientist and chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT-Bombay Anil Kakodkar said he quit the board as he could not be party to “wrongdoing”.
Speaking to Shekhar Gupta on Walk the Talk on NDTV 24×7, Kakodkar alleged the ministry adopted “too casual a process for such an important activity”. He also, for the first time, publicly rebutted the ministry’s claim that he had re-joined the selection process.
A member of the selection committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the IIT Council, Kakodkar had resigned on March 12 following a “disagreement” over the choice of an IIT director. The ministry, however, did not accept his resignation, with HRD Minister Smriti Irani requesting him to withdraw it.
Speaking at Express Adda last month, HRD Minister Smriti Irani had dismissed a report, first published in The Indian Express, about Kakodkar’s resignation.
The selection committee, chaired by Irani, was reaching a consensus on the choice of directors for IIT-Patna and IIT-Bhubaneswar, but there was no agreement on IIT-Ropar, and the process involving 12 candidates was later cancelled. All 37 candidates in the original shortlist were called for a fresh round of interviews on March 22, which was not attended by Kakodkar. Directors for all three IITs have now been appointed.
Asked if the earlier selection process had been set aside without discussion, Kakodkar said, “It looks like that.”
Indian Express
