With a plea to “expunge” the show-cause notices issued to 85 faculty members from their personal files and reinstate the recently removed Head of Departments, the IITTA (IIT Kharagpur Teachers Association) has decided to approach the administration and chairman of the Board of Directors of IIT Kharagpur.
The decision was taken after an Extraordinary General Body meeting of the IITTA on Wednesday evening.
“Each faculty member will approach the registrar to confirm whether the show-cause letters have been officially recorded in the personal files of the faculty members. If the letters are recorded, a formal request will be made to expunge them from the records. A formal letter will be drafted by the IITTA to the Registrar, expressing the request for expunging the show cause notices to 85 faculty members and answers thereof, as well as stressing the importance of maintaining the integrity of faculty records,” said a source.
“The IITTA will also write a letter to the BOG chairman (T V Narendran) elaborating on the situation and asking him to take an active role in normalising it. He will be requested to expunge the show-cause notices to prevent any long-term damage to their professional standing (and) to restore the administrative positions of all affected faculty members, including the Heads of Departments,” added the source.
The issue started in September this year with a letter by IITTA to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, alleging nepotism and irregularities at IIT Kharagpur.
This prompted show-cause letters from authorities to the four office bearers of IITTA who signed the letter.
The issue snowballed after 85 faculty members (including IITTA office bearers) held an Extraordinary General Body Meeting on November 28 and threatened to go on hunger strike if the decision was not rolled back.
Soon after, all 85 faculty were show-caused by the institute. Three HoDs (mathematics department, artificial intelligence, and chairperson of the Central Research facility, Life Science division) were removed from their positions.
Later, 18 professors sent apology letters to the authorities and 62 faculties responded to the show cause after which authorities said on December 7 that “no further action” would be taken against them.
“Further, they are advised to refrain from any activity which is violative of the statute and/or service rules of the institute or such other similar acts as may be construed as violative of the above in the future,” authorities had said.
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