The chairman of IIT Kharagpur's board of governors has told the teachers' association that the board takes its role of "supervising the affairs of the institute seriously" and will "diligently" deal with all matters.
Tata Steel CEO and MD T.V. Narendran, the board chairman, wrote to the association days after the secretariat of the platform wrote to him seeking his intervention because the association's office bearers were showcaused and informed of possible disciplinary proceedings.
In an email on Monday, Narendran wrote: "The board of governors is most interested in making sure that the stature of IIT Kharagpur as an academic institute of excellence is maintained and further strengthened."
He wrote that he had "discussed the matter" with the director and registrar of the institute. "The director and/or registrar will further communicate with you in the said matter."
Representatives of the association wrote to Narendran on November 27.
Days earlier, IIT Kharagpur initiated “disciplinary proceedings” against the four officer bearers of the teachers’ association because they did not respond to showcause notices asking them to substantiate allegations they made in a letter to the Union education ministry.
In its September 20 letter, the association accused the IIT authorities of nepotism and arbitrary recruitment of teachers among other alleged offences. It requested the ministry to appoint a "person of high academic repute" and “experience in practising inclusive governance” as the new IIT Kharagpur director after V.K. Tewari, the incumbent.
The tension between the teachers' association and the IIT administration escalated further after the registrar on November 29 showcaused 86 teachers for “being a signatory” to a mass representation telling the registrar not to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the office bearers.
Narendran in his email wrote: "As the Chairman of the Board of Governors, I would like to impress upon you that the Board of Governors takes its role of supervising the affairs of the Institute very seriously and will deal with all matters relating to the Institute diligently."
Hours after Narendran's email, the registrar wrote to the office bearers that a meeting had been scheduled with the director on Monday evening.
After the meeting, the teachers' association said in a statement that the director had extended the deadline for the office bearers to respond to the showcause notices to December 13.
The earlier deadline was November 19.
Calls and text messages to the director and the registrar went unanswered.