VC Dr Ajit Ranade removed by GIPE chancellor after ineligibility probe

Pune: Dr Ajit Ranade, Vice Chancellor of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), has been removed from his position by chancellor Dr Bibek Debroy with immediate effect. This comes after an inquiry by a fact-finding committee following a complaint that he did not meet the eligibility criteria required for the position. The events have raised several concerns over the way proceedings have taken place in this matter.

“We have been following up on this since Dr Ranade’s appointment to the position around two years ago. On April 17, 2023, we filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, demanding information on whether Dr Ranade fulfilled the University Grants Commission’s (UGC’s) eligibility requirement of minimum 10 years of experience as professor in a university for appointment as VC. On May 18, 2023, we received a response that said that he did not meet the criteria,” said Adv. Kaustubh Patil.

Patil says that he represents a group of professors and students at GIPE who flagged Dr Ranade’s appointment initially. He says that he was approached by them to fight the case on their behalf. Despite requests from Indie Journal, the professors and students were not available for media queries in this regard.

_{RTI Query filed by former faculty member M. Murali Krishna}

Following the RTI response, M. Murali Krishna, a former faculty member of GIPE, filed a formal complaint at the UGC against the appointment of Ranade as GIPE VC.

“The complaint was filed on December 19, 2023. However, we saw no action for months following the complaint. Last month, I held a protest at the institute regarding this issue and also gave an ultimatum, that if no action was taken against Dr Ranade, then we will hold a protest on the day Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to visit the institute for Convocation Ceremony and show her black flags. Probably, after the ultimatum and due the recent appointment of new chancellor, finally, action has been taken,” Patil adds.

Ranade was issued a show-cause notice in this matter by the former chancellor Rajeev Kumar to come clean over the allegations. Ranade had responded to the notice saying that his appointment was done in a transparent manner following all the rules and regulations as applicable and with the highest level of integrity.

In July, this year, Dr Bibek Debroy was appointed as the new GIPE chancellor, replacing Dr Rajeev Kumar. Before his appointment as the Chancellor, Debroy served as the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) of India. He formed a fact-finding committee to look into the complaint against the appointment of the VC.

_{Letter by Chancellor Dr Bibek Debroy}

“The fact-finding committee visited the campus yesterday (Friday) and immediately submitted a report determining that Dr Ranade did not meet the qualifications required to be the VC. On Saturday morning, he was issued a letter by the Chancellor, informing him of his removal from the post,” Patil said.

“The committee strongly recommends the removal of Dr Ajit Ranade from his position as Vice-Chancellor of GIPE, Pune,” a copy of the letter shared with Indie Journal by Patil reads.

Observers express doubt over proceedings

Observers to this series of events have raised doubts over the process, questioning the rapid investigation and report by the fact-finding committee, followed by the removal of Dr Ranade with immediate effect. In fact, even Patil expressed surprise over the speed in which the proceedings took place. Sources from the institute said that Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) VC was part of the fact-finding committee.

Experts, on earlier occasions, have also questioned whether the UGC rules that require continuous teaching experience of 10 years should be changed. Dr Ajit Ranade is a renowned economist with many publications in reputed journals.

Ranade was appointed by a three-member committee of Shyamala Gopinathan, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Dr Mahendra Dev and Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhary. In 2021, Servants of India Society (SIS) had written a letter to Rajeev Kumar pointing out having Ranade as a candidate being considered for the post of VC, as he had published a paper with Dev. Patil has now demanded an inquiry of the selection committee as well.

Observers have also questioned why Ranade was removed from his post with immediate effect, instead of being asked to resign. Ranade was unavailable for comments over the issue. Ranade issued a statement in this regard, calling the development “truly unfortunate and shocking decision”. “For the past two-and-half years, I have been working diligently and to the best of my ability, contributing to positive developments in the institute. These results seem to have been completely ignored,” he said.