Saroj Sharma not removed as chairperson, repatriated as per her request, says NIOS

NEW DELHI: Former National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) chairperson Saroj Sharma has not been removed from the post but repatriated to her parent cadre in accordance with her request, the institute said on Saturday. "Prof. Sharma has not been removed by Centre.

She had requested for premature repatriation from her role to join IITE, Gandhinagar and it was according to the set procedure of repatriation to the parent organisation from central government," the NIOS said in a statement. Sharma was at the centre of a controversy after she was booked by the Delhi Police in connection with the suicide of her driver, who had written to the education ministry accusing her of harassment and caste discrimination.

Earlier this month, the Gujarat government cancelled Sharma's appointment as the vice-chancellor of the Indian Institute of Teacher Education (IITE). She was appointed to the post on September 5 but was yet to take charge.

"I had requested for premature repatriation from my role a month ago to join the IITE-Gandhinagar as the vice-chancellor and it was according to the set procedure of repatriation to the parent organisation from the central government. In such cases, an approval from the DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training) as well as the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) is needed," Sharma said.

"I had requested the Gujarat government to give some more time to me to join but due to a procedural delay in my premature repatriation, it appointed some other person as the vice-chancellor there," she added.

Sharma has been repatriated to her parent department in the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi. She refused to comment on the suicide controversy, saying "a probe is underway".