IIM-C director resigns over faculty's letter to MoE alleging harassment

Anju Seth, the first woman Director of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) recently resigned from her position. While she took the decision a year before her term was set to end as the director, the teachers in the 60-year-old IIM-C had raised allegations over Seth's behaviour with the teaching faculty while Seth had alleged that the faculty was trying to 'curtail her powers as the director of IIM-C.'

Letter by IIM-C faculty to MoE over alleged harassment by Seth

The IIM-C teaching faculty had last year sought the intervention of the Ministry of Education over what they called the "drastic decline of IIM-C in terms of its academic capabilities" under the directorship of Seth. The teachers had written a letter to the Ministry after alleged continued harassment that they were subjected to, in terms of using their freedom of expression on campus.
 
An excerpt from the letter read "There has been an alarming decline in the academic atmosphere as experienced faculty including those of foreign origin are leaving the institution over issues with the director. New recruitments aren't happening even as resignations are being submitted. There is a reduction in expenditure on research while Seth hardly was in the campus for almost 50% of days before the Covid lockdown."

However, Seth who was appointed as the director of the age-old institute in 2018, had accused IIM-C Chairman Shrikrishna Kulkarni of "curbing her powers" as she was trying to bring in reforms. After a long dispute that ended with a legal confrontation as the matter was with the MoE, Seth is said to have appointed the Dean of New Initiatives and External Relations, Prashant Mishra the in-charge as the acting director of IIM-C, while she went on sick leave.

'IIM-C was being systematically undermined in its powers and operations'

She had later alleged that the IIM-C Board of Governors (BoG) had attempted to allegedly clip her powers. After a delay of hearing the matter, the BoG in November 2020 met with the teachers to address the concerns raised over Seth's mismanagement of procedures in the institute. It was observed that the 'Academic Council' of the institute which the principal academic body of IIM-C "was being systematically undermined in both its powers and operations," under the directorship of Seth.

While the BoG heard the matter and the MoE was also apprised of the ongoing dispute between the IIM-C faculty and its director, Seth resigned on March 22 amid as sick leave that she was on. Before being appointed as the IIM-C director Seth served as the Pamplin Professor of Management at Virginia Tech, US, while she also held the position of Professor of Business Administration at the University of Illinois.