New Delhi: Two days after Anju Seth resigned from the post of director of Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, its Board of Governors issued a statement Wednesday saying she made “baseless and self-serving allegations against the board and the institute”.
The board has accepted Seth’s resignation and appointed Subir Bhattacharya, a faculty member at IIM-C, as the director-in-charge.
Seth put in her papers Sunday night, one year prior to her tenure officially getting over. She was to retire in February 2022.
Seth’s resignation came amid an ongoing tussle between her and the institute’s faculty members that escalated last month when the board stepped in and stripped her of her powers as the director.
The institute had in fact also started its search for a new director, with an advertisement put up on its site inviting applications by April 10.
‘Baseless and self-serving assertions’
In her resignation to the BoG, Seth is reported to have cited a “breakdown of confidence” between her and board chairman Shrikrishna Kulkarni. She also accused other board members of running a smear campaign against her and maligning her publicly.
Referring to the allegations, the BoG said in its statement: “It was regretted that at the time of leaving Prof. Anju Seth has made baseless and self-serving assertions against the Institute and the Board. IIM Calcutta will continue to be run in the best traditions of good governance and transparency.”
It added: “The Board looks forward to working closely with the Ministry of Education, Faculty members, the staff, students, the alumni community and other stakeholders and friends of IIM Calcutta to take the Institute to greater heights.”
The confrontation between Seth and the Board started sometime in December.
In December last year, over 75 per cent of the IIM-Calcutta faculty had, in a letter to the Ministry of Education, alleged that Seth had centralised powers and diminished their role in decision-making. It later snowballed into a larger issue after the board stepped in.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mazumdar)
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