President Droupadi Murmu approves appointment of new directors at 8 IITs: Education Ministry

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu has approved the appointment of directors to eight IITs, including two who have been reappointed for a second term, according to the education ministry. These are the first major set of appointments in higher education institutes approved by President Murmu after she took charge in July.

The IITs that are set to get new directors include the campuses in Palakkad, Tirupati, Dharwad, Bhilai, Gandhinagar, Bhubaneswar, Goa, and Jammu.

Hon’ble President of India Smt Droupadi Murmu in her capacity as the Visitor of IITs approves the appointment of Directors of IITs. @EduMinOfIndia extends best wishes for a fulfilling and successful tenure. pic.twitter.com/EdCbMZ1fFX
— Ministry of Education (@EduMinOfIndia) September 19, 2022

The new appointees are all serving directors or professors at IITs. IIT Bhilai Director Rajat Moona has been named as the director of IIT Gandhinagar and IIT Dharwad Director Pasumarthy Seshu has been selected as the director of IIT Goa.

The two IIT directors who have been reappointed for a second term are -- K N Satyanarayana (IIT Tirupati) and Manoj Singh Gaur (IIT Jammu).

Meanwhile, Professors of IIT Madras — Seshadri Sekhar and Shreepad Karmalkar — have been designated as directors of IIT Palakkad and IIT Bhubaneswar respectively.

Venkayappaya R Desai from IIT Kharagpur’s Department of Civil Engineering has become the director of IIT Dharwad. Rajiv Prakash who is from IIT BHU’s School of Material Science and Technology has now become Director of IIT Bhilai.

Many of these institutions have been without directors for years, which is seen as having made the government go against the usual practice and notify these appointments in bulk. Incidentally, former President Ramnath Kovind had, in July 2021, appointed vice-chancellors to 12 universities.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is on an official visit to Tamil Nadu, on Monday said at an event in IIT Madras: “IITs are not just educational institutions, they are the temples to create a scientific temper and shape humanity’s future. Our society has great expectations from IITs. Our IITians have to be torchbearer’s of growth and development.”

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