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| Smriti Irani steps into one more IIT controversy |
Sujay Ghosh, July 23, 2015, New delhi, NewsCrunch
Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani has triggered a new controversy by rejecting the names proposed by the IIT-BHU Board of Governors for the post of the chairperson of the Institute.
The Board had proposed five names, including former Nasscom chairman Kiran Karnik and former IIM Bangalore director Pankaj Chandra, reports The Telegraph.
Rejecting the entire list, Smriti Irani has opted for G.C. Tripathi, the vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, as the chairperson of IIT BHU.
IIT-BHU was in another controversy sometime ago when it had to tried to make Kashi culture and mythology part of IIT curriculum.
By convention, the Board of Governors sends a list of names to the HRD ministry for the chairperson's post. The ministry picks one and forwards it to the President of India for approval.
IITs, which zealously guard their autonomy from the government, emphasise on their independence to appoint key officials.
In March this year, nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar had resigned as the chairman of the board of governors of IIT Bombay over his differences with Smriti Irani on the selection of IIT directors for Patna, Bhubaneswar and Ropar.
In December last year, IIT Delhi director R Shevgaonkar had sent his resignation citing sharp differences with the HRD ministry over certain issues.