Following protests by students and activist organisations, Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, executive vice-chairman and former Director-General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), was asked to go on “leave” from all posts at the organisation. Full executive powers have been transferred to the new Director-General, Ajay Mathur, who has also been inducted as the member of the governing council.
Ashok Chawla, former Chairman of the Competition Commission of India, has been appointed as chairman of the council.
He replaces Sreekantan Nair, of the National Institute of Advanced Sciences, who has been on the council for over 40 years, said a TERI statement.
All this was in the aftermath of an emergency meeting of the governing council which, among others, consists of Deepak Parekh, former Chairman, HDFC; Naina Lal Kidwai, former Chairperson, HSBC India; and Shailesh Nayak, former Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
On February 9, Rajendra Kumar Pachauri Pachauri was appointed as executive vice-chairman of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) — a specially created designation — and, according to a previous report in The Hindu, was set to play an active role in the expansion of TERI in India and abroad.
Ashok Chawla, former Chairman of the Competition Commission of India, who has been appointed as chairman of the governing council, confirmed that he was present at Friday’s meeting of the governing council, which lasted four hours, but he could not comment on the nature of the discussions and whether the student protests and fresh sexual harassment charges against Mr. Pachauri triggered the reshuffle.
“In the next 10 days, the Director-General [Ajay Mathur] and I will come up with more details about reforms within the organisation,” he said.
“The governing council of TERI supports the rights of women and has consistently ensured the provision of a secure environment and a safe workplace for its employees,” a TERI statement said. It added that a third of the organisation, and 10 of its 14 directors, were women.
On Wednesday, a woman who had worked in TERI’s magazine division between 2003 and 2004 made public, through her lawyers, the harassment she had allegedly suffered at the hands of Mr. Pachauri during her tenure. Then, students at TERI University refused to accept their convocation degrees from him, citing his promotion and a criminal case pending in court. On Friday, the faculty of the university — at an internal meeting — decided that there be no restriction on students wanting to express their unhappiness with Mr. Pachauri’s presence in executive positions at TERI.
TERI reiterated that Mr. Mathur would operate with full executive powers.
B.V. Sreekantan, a member of the council for over 40 years, resigned as chairman opposing the elevation of Mr. Pachauri.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who stepped down from the council last year assuming moral responsibility for the sexual harassment charge against Mr. Pachauri, told The Hindu that he [Pachauri] had lost an opportunity to clear his name by not stepping down on his own and going on leave instead.
“It seems to me now Mr. Pachauri is digging his own grave,” she added.
