The IIT Kharagpur authorities have initiated “disciplinary proceedings” against the four officer-bearers of the teachers’ association because they did not respond to the show-cause notice asking them to substantiate the allegations the group had mentioned in a letter to the Union education ministry.

The association in its letter accused the IIT authorities of nepotism and arbitrary recruitment of teachers among others.

The show-cause notice, issued on November 12, asked the president, vice-president, general secretary and treasurer of the association to respond by November 19.

The IIT registrar has written to the four: “The undersigned is directed to inform that the request for extension of time for submission of reply to the referred notice has not been approved by the competent authority. As per the Institute’s regulations, the disciplinary proceeding is hereby being initiated due to failure to provide the explanation as mentioned in the noticeunder reference.”

In a letter to the registrar on November 14, the association had sought an extension of the deadline to December 26 saying the teachers would be busy with academic activities for the autumn semester.

Amal Das, the general secretary of the association, was separately showcaused on charges of speaking to reporters about the allegations without following the procedure laid down by the institute.

Metro called Das seeking his reaction to the development but he refused to comment.

In its September 20 letter to the ministry, the association referred to the allegations that they said had emerged during the tenure of the present director, V.K. Tiwari.

The teachers requested the ministry to ensure that a person of high academic repute and “experience in practising inclusive governance” be considered while appointing Tiwari’s successor early next year.

This newspaper approached the IIT director for a reaction. In response, the institute issued a statement: “The Institute has asked Prof. Amal Kumar Das, Spokesperson of IITTA to provide the documents and papers that they have sent to the Ministry of Education along with their letter on 20th September, 2024. They had been given time to respond with the proper documented papers by 19th November, 2024. However, as per their claim, the papers have already been submitted to the Ministry of Education to comply, so what do they need a month’s time for? They have already been given one week’s notice. IITTA’s application for an extension of time to respond, nullifies their stance on the alleged misconduct in the Institute and is only in the interest of maligning the reputation of the administration in particular and Institute of Eminence in general.”

A member of the teachers’ association said they were forced to write to the ministry because the director did not listen to them whenever they sought a discussion about the grievances.

Anupam Basu, a former professor at the IIT, said: “It is unfortunate that the relationship between the teaching community and the administration has turned so caustic.”