The National Institute of Technology Calicut (NIT-C) has been functioning without a full-time director for the past five months, as the Centre is yet to take a decision in this regard.
It is learnt that a selection committee appointed by the Ministry of Education had conducted an online interview of the shortlisted persons in September. Now, the Ministry has to recommend a name for the post to be ratified by the President.
The post has been lying vacant after the five-year tenure of incumbent director Sivaji Chakravorti ended in mid-August. Incidentally, Dr. Chakravorti was appointed after the post lay vacant for more than a year.
“This issue comes when classes for the new B.Tech batch also commenced at the NIT-C this month. The intake of 1,200 students for B.Tech course each year, possibly was also the highest among the NITs in the country. Likewise, the post of of director at NIT-Delhi, for which a notification has been called along with NIT-C, has also not been filled.
The Ministry has also entertained applications from employed persons in government departments, autonomous organisations, public sector undertakings, and universities for the post on a contract basis.
The upper age limit for appointment is 65 years.
Earlier, the ranking of the NIT-C in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of the Ministry had climbed down in 2018.
This has been attributed to the acute shortage of staff with 50% of the teaching faculty then placed on ad hoc basis.
It was during the tenure of Dr. Chakravorti that the NIT-C made strides on various fronts, including academic and research. It improved its rank in the NIRF this year. Its all-India rank now is 23 in engineering and is placed third in the architecture category. The institute has been the number one engineering college in the State for the past several years.
Also, the NIT-C has been able to get record placements in the country and abroad in the past three years as well.
