[ Nellie N Manpoong ]
YUPIA, May 4: The National Institute of Technology (NIT), Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh has been hit by another challenge as Director Dr Rajiv Kumar Garg tendered his resignation within five months of his joining following alleged threats.
While the director has cited family issues and poor functioning of the institute as some of the reasons for his resignation to the faculty members and others, he has reportedly been receiving threats for the past few months and termed those threats as the reason for his resignation to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).
The faculty members also claimed that they did not have any clue about his resignation until last weekend when they came across an advertisement in the weekly publication, ‘Employment News’, seeking NIT directors for Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi.
On receiving the news, the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) held a meeting with the faculty members on Friday at the NIT campus, where NIT Registrar-in-Charge Dr MK Shone informed that none of the faculty members were aware of Dr Garg’s resignation until someone came across the advertisement.
Dr Shone said that the faculty members also met with the director, but the director did not reveal the contents of the resignation letter or provide the exact date of his resignation.
Refraining from commenting further on behalf of the director, Dr Shone claimed that he has also been receiving threats since he was given the charge of registrar.
“I have been teaching here for four years and have never had any complaints against me or any sort of threats. The threats began soon after I was made the registrar-in-charge in Feb this year. I am not even a full-fledged registrar”, he said, adding that, his family has also been brought into the picture by the intimidators.
Sources informed that besides the director and registrar-in-charge, several other faculty members have also received threats through phone calls and are being harassed through RTI applications against them.
Meanwhile, many students were unaware of the new development.
“We heard about his resignation, but were not sure whether it was true or not”, said a third year student.
AAPSU president Hawa Bagang and general secretary Tobom Dai also met with the director in his official residence here and were given the same statement of ‘family issues and difficulties in the working system of the institute’ as reasons for his resignation.
Suspecting internal conflict, Bagang said that they were certain that the issue is more than what the director claims to be.
“If he has resigned due to threats then it would not only tarnish the image of the state, but would also mean that no other director will agree to come to the NIT, which could eventually lead to the closure of the premier technical institute”, said Bagang.
Further, Dai said that the union would now appeal to the MHRD and chief secretary not to release the director until a fact-finding committee is set up to unearth the facts behind his resignation.
Despite several attempts, the director refused to interact with the media on the issue.
The director had been appointed after days of protest by students in October last year and had joined the institute on 4 December, 2017.
