March 29, 2024

THREAT CALLS NIT Director quits, AAPSU says State’s reputation at stake

TAP | Updated: May 4, 2018

 

Staff REPORTER*

YUPIA, May 04: Rajiv Kumar Garg, who was appointed Director of National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jote, in October last year, has resigned suddenly, citing threat calls from unidentified people.

Garg declined to see visitors due to health reasons, but he met Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) President Hawa Bagang and General Secretary Tobom Dai at his official residence on Friday to let them know why he had taken the decision.

The reasons behind the threat calls to the NIT director and members of his family are not known. But neither he nor Registrar in-charge MK Shome have filed FIR in the local police station, but IRBn personnel have been posted at the institute for their protection.

“I came to know about the resignation of the director from the Employment News of April 28. The faculty and I approached him, and he said some people were posting vulgarities about his wife,” Dr Shome said.

“I don’t believe the director is not revealing the truth behind his resignation. He is citing health, water and climate. Until and unless we find the person or people threatening him, we cannot be sure,” Hawa told reporters.

Suspecting the issue could be money, he said the State’s reputation is at stake because of the alleged threats.

“If he had health issues, he could have sought medical leave. We will call for investigation into the director’s resignation and will not allow him to leave the State until it’s done,” Hawa said, adding Garg’s resignation within a few months of taking charge will harm NIT’s image.

“We have learnt that the Ministry of Human Resources Department (MHRD) has accepted his resignation. This is unfortunate, since we have come to know that the resignation letter has been written in such a way that the next director would never come to the State,” he said.

The AAPSU would be seeking a copy of Garg’s resignation letter from MHRD.

Dai said the union has urged the State government to set up a high-power enquiry committee to unearth the reason for the director’s resignation. “This is disconcerting, particularly after all the legal fight against MHRD to get a permanent director,” he said, sniffing a major design behind the development.

Garg was teaching industrial and production engineering at NIT Jalandhar before he was appointed as the NIT Jote director eight months ago. The Jote institute had witnessed months of protest, as it was functioning without a permanent director for long besides lacking basic amenities at the permanent campus site.

Alleging illegal appointments at the Central institute, Dai did not rule out the possibility of people threatening the director for clearance of bills for work under NIT-Yupia.

“AAPSU culprit should be caught as soon as possible and punished. We appeal to the local faculty of the institute to guard and fight for the director,” he said, fearing that Garg’s resignation could affect the students as the exams for all streams are scheduled to start from May 7.

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