Ex-Vice-Chancellor A Jayakrishnan calls IISER chief posting patently illegal'
Thiruvananthapuram: There have been more allegations about the appointment of the director of IISER-Thiruvananthapuram by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. A former Vice-Chancellor of Kerala University had complained to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an open letter dated May 29, 2014 that the appointment of Dr V. Ramakrishnan as director was ‘patently illegal.’ He had earlier written to former HRD Minister Smruti Irani, but received no reply.
Mr A. Jayakrishnan, who now serves as a biotechnology professor at IIT Chennai, told Deccan Chronicle that the MHRD did not notify the vacancy of the director in the public domain when a second round of selection took place. This was conducted as the search-cum-selection committee did not find any of the five candidates who appeared in the first round suitable. Mr Jayakrishnan, one of the first five, said that instead of calling for fresh applications and notifying the position again in the public domain, the MHRD invited nominations from the directors of national institutions.
The vacancy was first notified on February 3, 2013. “A 10-year experience at the level of a university professor was an essential requirement for the position. I personally know many who had become eligible in August. Not notifying it in public domain is a clear violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, which says that the state shall not deny equality before the law,” he said.
He also questioned the merit of the members of the nomination committee. Through an RTI, he had obtained the minutes of the second meeting of the selection committee for selecting the director. “A member of the committee, Sunny Varkey, founder of Varkey GEMS Foundation, is a school dropout,” said Mr Jayakrishnan. He alleged that it was a politically manipulated appointment, with Mr Sunny Varkey being a friend and the committee chairperson, Vinayshil Gautam, a teacher of Mr Shashi Tharoor MP, the then HRD Minister for State.
‘Appointment row is a closed chapter’
IISER-Thiruvananthapu- ram authorities maintain that there was no impropriety over the appointment of the institute’s director. DC, on September 7, had published an article with a letter supposedly written by its faculty to the Prime Minister alleging that director Veerabahu Ramakrishnan was not qualified for the position. In the rejoinder signed by registrar-in-charge M. P. Rajan, IISER authorities say that the Prime Minister’s Office had issued a reply in Public Grievances Web Portal (CPGRAMS).
The complaint letter, in January, had alleged that there was a conflict of interest as V. K. Vaidyan, a member of the search-cum-selection committee, has collaborated with the present director for research publications since 1987. While the complaint alleges political influence in the appointment of the members of the search-cum-selection committee, the authorities deny it. Quoting the reply reportedly published on CPGRAMS site, they say that the committee was constituted by the Union ministry of human resources development.
The entire selection process was exclusively carried out by the department of higher education of the ministry, they say. The complaint also alleges nepotism in the appointment of consultants for various construction projects. In the rejoinder, IISER authorities say that “director is the authority to implement and regularise the policy on all administrative matters including appointments, engagement of consultants, etc.”
“The case has been treated as closed as is evident from the Public Grievance Web portal,” the letter from the IISER authorities says. DC had contacted the director’s office for a response on Tuesday but was told that he was out of town. When Tessy Thomas, chairperson, the board of governors, was contacted, her office said that she was not aware of the issue.
