IIT Delhi appoints new physics dept head, deans amid protests over MSc student's death

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has announced a series of appointments and extensions for deans, associate deans, heads of departments, centres, schools and other units. The appointments and extensions will take effect from September 1, 2026.

The notification names S. Pradyumna of applied mechanics as Dean (Students Affairs) up to August 31, 2028, while Dipti Ranjan Sahoo of Civil Engineering has received a one-year extension as Dean (Infrastructure) up to August 31, 2027.

The leadership changes come amid student protests at IIT Delhi following the death of MSc Physics student Rishikesh Kumar. While protesters have demanded resignations of senior officials, sources familiar with the latest appointments said the changes announced on the notification should not be viewed as resignations, as several tenures had reached their scheduled end.

Tenure changes drive latest appointments

According to another source, the changes announced in the latest IIT Delhi notification are linked to the completion or extension of existing tenure rather than being a consequence of registrations. The notification itself lists specific appointments as either "new appointment" or extension for one or more years.

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For instance, S. Pradyumna's appointment as Dean (student affairs) is marked as a new appointment, while Dipti Ranjan Sahoo's position as Dean (Infrastructure) has been extended for one year. Similar tenure-based extensions are listed for several Associate Dean positions.

The notification also states that the remaining appointments will continue as per earlier notifications. This indicates that the August 28 order covers scheduled appointments and extensions across different academic and administrative units.

Meanwhile, according to sources, ADSW Sreedevi has already submitted her resignation, but the Director has not accepted it.' This claim could not be established from the August 28 IIT Delhi notification, which does not mention a resignation by Sreedevi.

Department heads get new appointments

As per the notification, Santanu Ghosh has been appointed Head of Physics, Amit Kumar as Head of Computer Science & Engineering and Prabal Talukdar as Head of Mechanical Engineering, with their terms extending up to August 31, 2028.

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Selvarajan Nagendran has received a one-year extension as Head of Chemistry up to August 31, 2027. Shankar Prakriya will serve as Head of Electrical Engineering and Anurag S. Rathore as Head of Chemical Engineering, with both terms also extending up to August 31, 2027.

Centre and school heads also named

For its centres, IIT Delhi has appointed Priyanka Kaushal as head of the centre for rural development and technology (CRDT), Monika Aggarwal as head of the centre for applied research in electronics (CARE), Satish Kumar Dubey as head of the centre for sensors, instrumentation and cyber-physical system engineering (SeNSE). Their terms run up to August 31, 2028.

At the school level, Aaditshwar Seth has been appointed head of the Amar Nath and Shashi Khosla school of information technology, while Chetan Arora has been appointed head of the Yardi school of artificial intelligence. Both appointments run up to August 31, 2028. Vivekanandan Perumal has received a one-year extension as head of the Kusuma school of biological sciences up to August 31, 2027.

Other units receive fresh appointments

For other units, Sudarsan Ghosh of mechanical engineering has been appointed head of the central workshop up to August 31, 2028. Dr. Neeraj Chaurasia of the central library has received a two-year extension as head of the hindi cell, also up to August 31, 2028.

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The official notification reads, "Rest of the appointments will continue as per the earlier notifications. As per the decision of the 7th/2018 meeting of the Deans Committee held on 28th November 2018, the Deans/Associate Deans are expected to spend 50% of the time in administrative work. Hence, they shall be given 50% waiver of average teaching load of the respective Academic Unit."

Protesters seek independent probe, accountability

Students protesting after Rishikesh Kumar's death have demanded an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the incident. They have also sought accountability from senior institute officials and demanded the resignation of the Dean and Associate Deans in the Student Affairs Office, along with the Head of the Physics Department.

The protesters have also demanded compensation of Rs 1 crore for Kumar's family. Their demands included examination of alleged institutional issues such as non-allocation of housing, denial of academic projects and concerns over student support and mental-health protocols.

Students wanted an independent investigation rather than an internal process and also sought that students participating in the protest should not face action. The demands were raised during demonstrations on the IIT Delhi campus following Kumar's death.