New Delhi: The Gujarat government has cancelled the appointment of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) chairperson Saroj Sharma as the vice-chancellor of the Indian Institute of Teacher Education (IITE), days after Delhi Police questioned her in connection with a probe into the death by suicide of her staff driver Ram Kumar.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 12(1) of the Indian Institute of Teacher Education, Gujarat Act, 2010, the Government of Gujarat appointed Dr. Saroj Sharma as Vice Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Teacher Education Gandhinagar on 05/09/2024. The appointment…stands cancelled,” the education department said in a notification issued on 18 October.
Sharma had been appointed the V-C of the Gandhinagar-based university by the state government on 5 September. Just weeks later, Kumar died by suicide on the intervening night of 27-28 September. On 28 September, the police registered a First Information Report (FIR) in the case after Kumar’s family lodged a complaint against Sharma.
ThePrint reported on 17 October that the Delhi Police wrote to the Ministry of Education on 3 October, informing the secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy that a case had been registered against Sharma under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, among other sections, and the investigation was in progress. Delhi Police had questioned her on 16 October.
On the same day, Sharma had quashed speculations about her delay in taking over, telling the Ahmedabad Mirror that it was due to procedural issues.
“IITE is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision education institute. I applied for the job because I wanted to head it as the vice-chancellor. There is no reason for not joining IITE as the VC after I am entrusted with the responsibility to take it to the next level,” she told the newspaper.
However, on 18 October, the Gujarat government’s education department issued a notification, cancelling Sharma’s appointment as the next VC of IITE. The annual reports of IITE— launched in 2010 when Prime Minister Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat—describe the teachers training institute as Modi’s “brainchild”.
The education department, in the notification, added that Ramesh Chaturbhai Patel, who taught at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, was being appointed as the VC of IITE instead. The notification did not offer any explanation for the abrupt cancellation of Sharma’s appointment.
She declined to comment when ThePrint reached out to her over calls and texts on the cancellation of her appointment and the police probe against her.
Also Read: NIOS chief Saroj Sharma in dock after driver dies by suicide, blaming her. FIR lodged under SC/ST Act
‘Kumar accused Sharma of harassment’
In the note, accessed by ThePrint, the Delhi Police said that during its enquiry, it found a suicide note left by Kumar “accusing harassment by Sharma including caste-based discrimination and his transfer to Bangalore as the reason for suicide”.
“According to the contents of the statement of Avi Pawar (son of deceased Ram Kumar) a case FIR No. 863/2024, dated 28/09/2024, u/s 108 BNS and 3(2)(v)/3(2)(vii) SC/ST (POA) Act 1989 has been registered at PS Samaypur Badli, Delhi against Mrs. Saroj Sharma (present Chairman of NIOS) and further investigation is in progress. The copy of FIR is attached for your kind perusal please. This is for your kind information and necessary action,” the police added.
Days before his death, Kumar had also written to the education department, accusing Sharma of insulting him over his caste and “illegally and arbitrarily” transferring him to the NIOS regional centre in Bengaluru from its Noida headquarters. ThePrint has seen a copy of the complaint. It was forwarded by the ministry to the NIOS on 24 September, three days before he died by suicide.
In a separate letter, accessed by ThePrint, to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Kumar alleged that Sharma hurled casteist abuses at him. “She told me that I belong to a low caste and was not qualified to talk to her. I will show you the status of your caste”. He also accused her of misusing her official car by forcing him to falsify records in the logbook.
(If you are feeling suicidal or depressed, please call a helpline number in your state)
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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