MNNIT suspends ST engineering faculty member amid discrimination complaint

An assistant professor in the electrical engineering department of Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), M Venkatesh Naik, was suspended after 22 faculty members complained of misbehaviour against him.

The Scheduled Tribe (ST) member was suspended without any enquiry into the allegations and has been asked to stay put at the institute during the suspension.

According to The Telegraph reports, Naik has been engaged in an ongoing dispute with the administration and a few faculty members over discrimination in the allocation of PhD candidates for supervision.

Since joining MNNIT in 2012, Naik has supervised four students in total, though two of them left before completing their course. As per the institute’s rules, an assistant professor can supervise up to 4 PhD students at a time.

The case has emerged amid the growing complaints of caste based discrimination in higher educational institutions. The government’s think tank, Niti Aayog, is surveying by reaching out to students and faculty members in universities such as IITs, IIMs, and other institutions to collect data on their experiences on campus.

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MNNIT: Faculty member complained about discrimination

Early in March, Naik filed a complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) alleging discrimination in getting PhD students to supervise. Later in May, the commission directed MNNIT to assign him two PhD students in 2025 as compensation for not getting any in 2018 and 2019, and help him improve his research record for future promotions.

On September 11, his department led by Nitin Singh, who is also the chairman PhD allotment committee, decided to assign Naik two PhD students, one of whom was a part-time scholar. However, Naik requested that he be given a regular (full-time) scholar, as the NCST had directed, and that the part-time student be assigned to another faculty member.

After an internal meeting was held, faculty members raised Naik’s demand and suggested that a part-time student be withdrawn from him. After which, Naik had objected that he was not getting a regular student after the withdrawal. Following this, a faculty member filed a complaint of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ against him during a discussion and meeting.

Reportedly, Naik has said the suspension order is ‘illegal, arbitrary, and unsustainable.’ The suspension order has been passed without any enquiry; however, as per the law, the order must be on reasonable grounds and supported by facts.