PMO asks for list of ‘headless’ educational Institutions

NEW DELHI: Taking note of pending vacancies in educational institutions, the Prime Minister’s Office asked the human resource development (HRD) ministry to list all institutions without heads or with acting heads.

While three IIMs, two NITs, two schools of planning and architecture, and an IIT are without directors, positions of the CBSE chairperson and NCERT director have also been vacant for over a year.

In a letter to the ministry, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) on October 5 said the PMO wants the list of institutions with all details, such as how long the positions have been vacant, who last occupied the position, when their term ended, etc.

One of the reasons for the vacancies, sources said, is attributed to the Smriti Iraniheaded ministry scrapping the UPA-appointed search panels and beginning afresh the process of appointment. Some of the institutions in this category include the three IIMs -- Lucknow, Kozhikode and Ranchi -- and as many as eight central universities.

While the NDA government advertised the existing vacancies and formed a search panel for many of them, the process has not reached its conclusion.

In case of the three IIMs without regular directors for almost a year, the ministry appointed a search panel for selecting the director of IIM Lucknow and sent three names to the appointments committee of the Cabinet (ACC) for final approval in May. But the ministry has not heard from it since.

According to sources, the ACC has been unable to decide whether it wants to go with the names sent by the ministry.

In the case of IIMs Ranchi and Kozhikode, while the selection process for the former was completed last week, the selection panel has been formed for the latter.

THREE IIMS, TWO NITS, TWO SCHOOLS OF PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE, AND AN IIT ARE WITHOUT DIRECTORS