As part of their nationwide programme, nearly 75 faculty members and a large number of alumni of IIT Kharagpur today took part in a silent protest march in the city demanding the immediate appointment of Partha Pratim Chakrabarti as the institute’s director.
Similar protests were organised during the day in Delhi and Bangalore, Indian Institute of Technology sources said.
Over 400 faculty members and alumni went on a day’s token hunger-strike at IIT’s Kharagpur campus on July 17 to press for their demands.
They alleged that IIT Kharagpur had been headless for over a year now, and the director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, who was selected by an MHRD constituted search-cum-selection committee in July 2012, had not yet been allowed to assume office.
The protesters said their demand was that Prof Chakrabarti be given CVC clearance and be appointed as the Director without any further delay and before July 29.
“This movement has brought faculty-alumni-students together for a shared cause,” the sources said.
They said in the absence of the director, no major policy decision could be taken at the institute.