"Sexual harassment" in Gujarat institute: IRMA director asked to proceed on 100 day leave after faculty pressure

By Nachiketa Desai*
The board of governors of Gujarat’s prestigious Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), has sent its director RC Natarajan on a forced leave following a complaint of sexual harassment filed against him by one of its senior staff members.
The staff member had filed a police case against Natarajan for “constantly harassing her sexually.” The board simultaneously decided to extend the contract of the complainant, which was to expire April 30, 2017, till receipt of the report by the local complaint committee or till 100 days, “whichever is earlier.”
The decision to send Natarajan on leave was taken at a special meeting of the IRMA board of governors on Tuesday a day after the faculty members of the top institute declared that they would raise the allegation of sexual harassment before the board, which is chaired by an IAS official, who happens to be from the Bihar cadre.
In a letter, a group of faculty members had urged the IRMA board to give them proper hearing, alleging that the director and some anonymous callers had been “intimidating the witnesses of the sexual harassment case ever since the victim filed a police case.”
"We have received explicit as well as veiled threats even from anonymous callers," the faculty members complained in their letter, adding, "Over the past few weeks the incumbent director has in many ways tried to coerce and intimidate individual faculty and witnesses putting them under tremendous stress and pressure," the letter said.
"Under these conditions the faculty group strongly feels that they cannot function in a normal manner as long as the current director is allowed to have access to IRMA's resources during pendency of the case", the faculty members said.
The board, which met on Tuesday to discuss issues relating to the incident of sexual harassment filed against the director, appointed Dr Rakesh Saxena as director in-charge in place of Natarajan, who has been sent on leave for 100 days, or till the receipt of the inquiry report of the district’s local complaint committee before which the complainant has filed a criminal case.
“The board unequivocally reiterated its commitment to upholding ethical values of IRMA and its tradition of excellence. The board emphasized the need to adhere to gender equality and sensitivity, ethical behavior in and off campus, pursuit of academic excellence and commitment to rural poor,” said a statement issued after the board meeting.
“IRMA is one institution which had a lady director for five years. The Board is clearly of the view that there is no space for any inappropriate behavior on the part of any officer, staff, faculty and students. The Board is committed to keep IRMA as a safe place to work, learn and innovate,” the statement said.
Expressing concern at the turn of events, the board said, it has decided to take “effective steps” to prevent any case of sexual harassment in future. It also declared it would put in place “additional institutional provisions and structures” to effectively deal with future complaints.
In a press release, the board said, it “unequivocally" reiterates IRMA’s "commitment to upholding its ethical values of IRMA and its tradition of excellence”, adding, “The board emphasized the need to adhere to gender equality and sensitivity, ethical behavior in and off campus, pursuit of academic excellence and commitment to rural poor.”
It asserted, “IRMA is one institution which had a lady Director for 5 years. The Board is clearly of the view that there is no space for any inappropriate behavior on the part of any officer, staff, Faculty and students. The board is committed to keep IRMA as a safe place to work, learn and innovate.”
---
*Consulting Editor (Political), United News of India

Comments

Anonymous said…

Contract employees have this bad habit of making false allegations when their term is due for renewal. A fair and objective enquiry should be held.

April 20, 2017

Anonymous said…

Kudos to the complainant who has stood up and come out against such vicious creatures in our society... If found guilty, harshest punishment needs to be handed over...

May 19, 2017

Junk food push causing severe public health crisis of obesity, diabetes in India: Report

By Rajiv Shah A new report , “The Junk Push: Rising Consumption of Ultra-processed foods in India- Policy, Politics and Reality”, public health experts, consumers groups, lawyers, youth and patient groups, has called upon the Government of India to check the soaring consumption of High Fat Sugar or Salt (HFSS) foods or ultra-processed foods (UPF), popularly called junk food.

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam* Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Astonishing? Violating its own policy, Barclays 'refinanced' Adani Group's $8 billion bonds

By Rajiv Shah A new report released by two global NGOs, BankTrack and the Toxic Bonds Network, has claimed to have come up with “a disquieting truth”: that Barclays, a financial heavyweight with a “controversial” track record, is deeply entrenched in a “disturbing” alliance with “the Indian conglomerate and coal miner Adani Group.”

Modi govt intimidating US citizens critical of abuses in India: NY Christian group to Biden

Counterview Desk the New York Council of Churches for its release of an open letter calling on the Biden administration to “speak out forcefully” against rising Hindu extremist violence targeting Christians and other minorities in India. In the letter addressed to President Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other major elected officials, the NY Council of Churches expressed "grave concern regarding escalating anti-Christian violence" throughout India, particularly in Manipur, where predominantly Christian Kuki-Zo tribals have faced hundreds of violent attacks on their villages, churches, and homes at the hands of predominantly Hindu Meitei mobs.

Link India's 'deteriorating' religious conditions with trade relations: US policymakers told

By Our Representative Commissioners on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) raised concerns about the “sophisticated, systematic persecution” of religious minorities by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a hearing on India in Washington DC.

Green revolution "not sustainable", Bt cotton a failure in India: MS Swaminathan

MS Swaminathan Counterview Desk In a recent paper in the journal “Current Science”, distinguished scientist PC Kesaven and his colleague MS Swaminathan, widely regarded as the father of the Green Revolution, have argued that Bt insecticidal cotton, widely regarded as the continuation of the Green Revolution, has been a failure in India and has not provided livelihood security for mainly resource-poor, small and marginal farmers. Sharply taking on Green Revolution, the authors say, it has not been sustainable largely because of adverse environmental and social impacts, insisting on the need to move away from the simplistic output-yield paradigm that dominates much thinking. Seeking to address the concerns about local food security and sovereignty as well as on-farm and off-farm social and ecological issues associated with the Green Revolution, they argue in favour of what they call sustainable ‘Evergreen Revolution’, based on a ‘systems approach’ and ‘ecoagriculture’. Pointing ou

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Jharkhand: Attempt to create red scare for 'brutal crackdown', increase loot of resources

Counterview Desk The civil rights group Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization in a statement on plans to crackdown on “64 democratic progressive organisations” in Jharkhand under the pretext of the need to investigate their Maoist link, has alleged that this an attempt to suppress dissent against corporate loot and create an authoritarian state.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah* The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Search This Blog