The National ST Commission revokes the directorship of the IIM Rohtak and orders all assistant professor incentives to be paid
In the event that the IIM director does not comply with the directions, the National ST Commission revokes for Scheduled Tribes will hear the case again in November.
Dheeraj Sharma, Director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)- Rohtak, has been summoned by the National ST Commission revokes for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) to review the case of a female assistant professor who alleged he had acted inappropriately in terminating her services after filing a harassment complaint.
On September 19, the NCST also directed the IIM director to “take steps to release all her incentive claims on an immediate basis.”.
Ananta Nayak, a National ST Commission revokes NCST member, issued a slew of directives to Sharma and requested an Action Taken Report. The Commission said if Sharma did not follow the instructions, it would hold another hearing in the first week of November.
A humanitarian approach to resolving the dispute was requested by the Commission and Sharma was requested to reconsider the case.”
The committee required Sharma to submit biometric attendance data and the work profile of the petitioner (assistant professor’s) duties. A number of other instructions are directed to the director of IIM, including releasing the arrears of salaries and incentive claims to the petitioner immediately, submitting the internal grievance committee’s findings within one week, submitting detailed comments and feedback from external experts regarding the petitioner’s probation, and submitting a complete report on the petitioner’s incentive claim for 2019.
Within 30 days of receiving the minutes of the NCST order, the National ST Commission revokes has requested the director submit an action taken report.
It was claimed that the assistant professor was harassed and that the IIM, Rohtak management denied her probation closure and withheld her salary. IIM IIM harassed the petitioner through a variety of means, including denial of probation closure, withholding of salary, deactivating her official email, forcing her to vacate her office and locking the building with her possessions inside it, as detailed in her petition filed on August 14, 2022.
As of 24/08/2022, the petitioner reported that even though she had not resigned or been terminated, she was not required to complete any dues formalities after sending the complaint to NCST. Upon leaving her office, her possessions were locked after some days. As the National ST Commission revokes NCST noted in its directions for redressing her grievance, she was sent an email asking her to not attend faculty meetings and later, her email address was revoked.
As a result, the National ST Commission revokes issued a revised notice two days later ordering the secretary of the Department of Higher Education and the director of the Indian Institute of Management Rohtak to provide facts and comments with ATR within seven business days. In response to her caste, IIM, Rohtak stated they were unaware of her caste, that they did not discriminate against faculty, and that they had followed all the rules for closing probation.
“The FDEC (Faculty Development and Evaluation Committee) was constituted for everyone. The petitioner’s performance was found unsatisfactory,” the IIM, Rohtak responded.
It was found that the publication was paid, thereby prohibiting Petitioner from submitting to that particular publication. The process for closing probation had been followed the same for everyone.
As a result, the director explained that the dean (IIM, Rohtak) sent an email on April 28 regarding the non-closure of probation that should be considered a ‘termination letter’ to the assistant professor. As a result of the NCST’s questioning, however, the director said, “How could it be considered termination when her case was also forwarded to external examiners one month after the email was sent?
Despite vehement opposition from the director, the National ST Commission revokes recommended numerous actions after hearing both sides.
In Rohtak, a local court last month ordered the police to carry out a further investigation into the sexual harassment case against Sharma, criticizing the sleuths for their ‘faulty investigation’.
