Iim-rohtak director’s second term illegal, unethical: Academicians
ROHTAK: A group of academicians and members of the civil society wrote to Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday, alleging that the head of Iim-rohtak, Dheeraj Sharma, who got a second fiveyear term on February 28, is not eligible to hold the position and called his appointment ‘illegal and unethical’.
Sharma’s first term as the IIM director ended on February 9. Academicians and civil society members alleged that he has not met the minimum required eligibility criteria laid down in the recent advertisement released by Iim-rohtak for the position of director. “In the CV submitted to the Union ministry of education (and then MHRD) for his previous appointment, Sharma had stated that he became a full-professor at Iim-ahmedabad in May 2014. As per an RTI reply and letter to the board of governors of Iim-ahmedabad, it is clear that he separated from the institute on February 28, 2019. In Iimrohtak, his position was that of a director, which is an administrative position and not an academic one. So he had around four years and nine months of experience as a full professor when he was reappointed as the director of Iim-rohtak,” the complainants said. Thus, it is clear that Sharma, as on February 28 this year, did not have the minimum experience of seven years as full professor at any reputed institute, the complainants added. They further wrote that the Iim-rohtak director does not have more than 13 years of teaching/research experience against the mandatory duration of 15 years.
“Despite repeated communication by the Union ministry of education, Sharma did not submit self-attested copies of his experience certificate. It is not clear if the board paid due attention and checked the experience certificate of Sharma at the time of offering him the second term,” they added.the Union ministry of education has admitted in an affidavit to the Punjab and Haryana high court that Sharma was not eligible for the position. The ministry had issued Sharma a show-cause notice on March 28 this year for concealing facts and the IIM director had filed a writ in the Punjab and Haryana high court to challenge it.
The Union government said it is now enquiring as to how Sharma was appointed and who is responsible for this.
Despite repeated attempts via calls and messages, Iim-rohtak director Dheeraj Sharma could not be reached for a comment.