Adil Lateef
SRINAGAR, July 29: A major row has erupted between prestigious National Institute of Technology (NIT) Board of Governors (BoG) and Director over the appointment of Registrar as latter on the directions of Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) has refused to abide by former’s order.
The row started after the BoG Chairman issued an order regarding the appointment of Incharge Registrar till the appointment of a full time Registrar. “With immediate effect, Dr MS Mir, Professor Civil Engineering Department, shall assume the charge as I/C Registrar of NIT Srinagar till appointment of a full time regular Registrar,” read the order.
“This order is being issued in pursuance of the decision taken by the BoG in its 94th meeting held on 19th June 2017, notwithstanding having received the letter no. 16-9/2017-TS.III, dated 14th July, 2017 from Director (NITs), MHRD,” read the order issued by Dr M J Zarabi, the Chairman of BOG, which is highest governing body of the institute.
In a letter addressed to BOG Chairman and Director NIT, MHRD Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, who is Director of NITs, had on July 14 said that “I am directed to state that the matter of changing the existing acting Registrar of NIT, Srinagar, as referred by the Chairman of BoG, NIT, Srinagar has been examined in the Ministry”.
“In this connection, it may be noted that the Statue 23 of the First Statutes of NIT defines the manner of appointment of the Registrar of the NIT. Considering the crucial nature of the job, it is essential that there is a full-time and regular Registrar for the NIT,” Sharma said.
He went on to say in the letter that the concerned Ministry has been emphasizing on the need to fill up the post of the Registrar on a regular basis, following the due process. “In this case, the post has been kept vacant since July 2012 which is totally unacceptable,” he said.
The Director of NITs directed the Director NIT, Srinagar, to immediately start the process of recruiting a regular Registrar following the process laid down in the Statutes and complete the same by August 2017. “Since it is expected that this process would be completed by the end of August 2017, no change of the acting arrangements is warranted at this stage,” he directed in the letter.
Notwithstanding the directions from MHRD the BoG issued order of Incharge Registar’s appointment. Amid the row, the Under Secretary to the Government of India, MHRD, AK Singh in a letter addressed to Director NIT, Srinagar on July 24 said that “as per the provisions of the Act and the Statues, the minutes of the meeting of the Board (BoG) should have been issued by the Registrar/Director. “Similarly, the orders emanating from these minutes should be issued by the Director.”
In the letter, the Under Secretary, however, said that as per the Section 13 of the NITSER Act 2007, the Board is responsible for the general superintendence, direction and control of the affairs of the Institute. “It is expected to take decisions on question of Policy relating to administration and working of Institute.
“As per 16(2) of the Act, the Chairperson shall ensure that the decision taken by the Board are implemented. As per the Section 17 (2) of the NITSER Act, 2007, Director of the Institute is the principal academic and executive officer, and is responsible for the administration of the Institute.
Statute 6 of the First Statutes specifies that all orders and decisions of the Board shall be authenticated by the signatures of the Director or Registrar or any person authorized by the Board in this behalf,” AK Singh said. Amid simmering row, the Non-Teaching Employees Association (NTEA) wrote a letter to Director NIT and asked him to fulfill the BoG order.
The NTEA in meeting while defending the authority of the BoG, accused MHRD of creating confusion regarding the running of authority of NIT. “On one hand the Ministry is advising to follow the NIT statutes for appointment of Registrar and on the other hand the same letter seems to have been issued in violation of the same statutes and the NIT Act which is a Constitutional document passed by the Parliament,” NTEA said.
Later in a memorandum to Under Secretary, GOI, MHRD, AK Singh, the NTEA said that “the present I/C Director instead of respecting the democratically taken BOG decisions continuously ignored the same and thereby has not only brought disrespect to the honor, fame and prestige of the Institute but to BOG, to the Chairman BOG and even to the MHRD”.
“This defiance of the decisions of the BOG and the orders of the Chairman had given rise to an anarchic situation in the Institute which in no way is good for the future of the Institute and the students coming out of it. The decision of the BOG for immediate replacement of the Incharge Registrar by Prof M S Mir has been appreciated by all the fraternity of the Institute. However, the non-implementation of the same for about a month created a chaos and confusion among the stake holders,” it said in the memorandum.
There was a persistent demand from all the quarters for implementation of BOG decision to replace the I/C Registrar and accordingly Chairman BOG had to act to honor and implement the BOG decisions, because the I/C Director had refused to fulfill his constitutional obligations, responsibilities and duties in the matter, the non-teaching body of the NIT said, adding:”The action of the Chairman BOG was welcomed by all fraternity of the Institute except by 4-5 faculty members who usually remain around the I/C Director for their own ends”.
Seeking replacement of Director, the NTEA urged the MHRD that “in the backdrop of this his holding of the chair of Director NIT Srinagar will only lead to the further damage of the Institute which he has already inflicted during the last 7-8 months.”
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