The removal of the economist notably came after new chancellor Bibek Debroy assumed the position at the institute in July 2024. Debroy, who is also the chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), is believed to have taken the decision based on the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations. Shankar Das, pro-vice-chancellor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, has been appointed the interim vice-chancellor (VC) after the removal of Ajit Ranade.
As per the initial information obtained by OpIndia, Debroy constituted an internal fact-finding committee after he assumed office which found that Ranade’s appointment as the VC in the institute a couple of years ago had violated the regulations of the UGC. However, on 18th September Ranade moved Bombay High Court seeking an urgent hearing for a stay on his termination.
“This is truly unfortunate and a shocking decision. For the past two-and-a-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,” Ranade was quoted as saying in the light of his termination.
What UGC rules are believed to have been violated
According to the UGC regulations issued in the year 2018, a person designated vice-chancellor must be a defined academician with a minimum of ten years of work experience as a professor in any university, or a minimum of ten years of professional experience in a reputable research organization or/and an academic, administrative organization, with proof of academic leadership. As per the UGC, the candidate to be appointed as the VC should also be a person of the highest level of competence, integrity, morals, and institutional commitment.
The fact-finding committee determined that Ajit Ranade’s qualifications did not meet the norms set forth by the UGC guidelines. The study also stated that it was “legally untenable” for him to continue as vice-chancellor because his appointment did not meet the essential legal and regulatory standards. The committee strongly urged his removal from the position.
Controversy not only erupted when Ranade was removed but also when he was appointed
This decision of the Institute further led some to think about why the Search committee in the first place appointed Ranade as VC when even then they were notified that he didn’t have 10 years of experience. It is important to note here that controversy also erupted in the year 2022 when Ranade was appointed as the VC of the institute. The institute in the year 2021 adopted the UGC regulations and created a post of VC. Before that the institute was looked after by the designation of ‘director’ and the last serving director of the institute was Rajas Parchure.
Before getting appointed as the VC of GIPE, Ranade was a member of the board management which serves as the top-most decision-making body of the institute. While he was a Board member, a Search Committee was formed which would interview and analyze the candidates for the post of VC. It is believed that Ranade proposed the name of Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research’s former director, Professor Mahendra Dev as one of the panelists of the Committee. The other members of the Committee consisted of former V-C of Vishwa Bharti University and former RBI deputy director Shyamala Gopinath.
Ranade then resigned from the Board Management and the committee then suddenly ‘invited’ him to apply for the post of VC. The Committee then as per a former senior functionary associated with GIPE found that Ranade met the eligible criteria for the post of VC, leading to his final appointment. While this happened, some of the functionaries working at GIPE indicated that all the acts from Ranade appointing Professor Dev to the Search Committee and then the latter ‘inviting’ Ranade to apply for the post after his resignation from the Board management, would result in ‘conflict of interest’.
Gokhale Institute in 2023 confirmed that Ranade’s appointment had violated UGC rules
The entire matter came to the fore only in the year 2023 when one of the faculty members, Murali Krishna on 19th December of that year alleged that Ranade’s appointment did not meet the eligibility criteria and that his appointment had violated the rules of the UGC. In April 2023, Krishna filed an RTI to know whether Ranade had fulfilled the UGC’s eligibility requirement of a minimum of 10 years of experience as a professor in a university for appointment as VC in consonance with section 7.3 (i) of the UGC regulations, 2018.
To everyone’s surprise, the GIPE then replied saying ‘No’.
“GIPE replied with a no. If, for the appointment of a peon, class X is the eligibility criteria and someone without that is appointed, would that be ok? Wouldn’t action be taken? So, how can we ignore the appointment of the vice-chancellor without meeting the required eligibility criteria?” Krishna was quoted as saying.
In the year 2021, the Servants of India Society (SIS) had also written to the then chancellor Rajiv Kumar raising this issue and pointing out the conflict of interest in having Ranade as a candidate. GIPE is under the aegis of the SIS.
“We, the trustee of the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), want to bring the following facts to your notice: It is learned that Dr. Ajit Ranade and Prof. Abhay Pethe have been invited for interviews for the post of Vice Chancellor of GIPE. Both of them are members of the Board of Management, the highest decision-making Body. Also, they (BOM) have proposed the name of Prof. Mahendra Dev as a member of the Search-Cum-Selection Committee, and therefore their (Ranade’s and Pethe’s) participation in the entire process of selection of V-C as a candidate would amount to conflict of interest. It is absolutely unethical and morally inappropriate (sic),” the society letter signed by Milind Deshmukh, secretary of SIS, and trustee Ramakanta Lenka read.
UGC asked the then-chancellor Rajiv Kumar to take appropriate action but nothing happened
In the meanwhile, the UGC recently took cognizance of the development and sent letters to the GIPE regarding the alleged ‘fraudulent appointment’ of Ranade as the VC. In the recent letter to the former chancellor Rajiv Kumar, in June 2024, the UGC stated that despite prior communications on January 15th and June 4th, GIPE ‘failed to give a convincing reply with proper documents in support of its claim, nor have any corrective measures been taken by the institute’.
The commission also noted that such violations were serious and that those reiterated that UGC regulations were mandatory and that all universities and colleges would have to follow them.
“The Hon’ble Supreme Court, in several cases, has made it clear that the selection procedure given in the UGC Regulations is mandatory in the appointment of a vice-chancellor. Given the above, you are requested to submit a status report on the action taken in the matter immediately,” the UGC letter filed in June 2024 said.
Later, in July this year, Bibek Debroy was appointed as the chancellor of GIPE after the term of the previous chancellor Rajiv Kumar ended in that month. Debroy had earlier worked at GIPE from 1983 to 1987. He was selected for the post within 10 days after UGC sought an action taken report from the institute on the allegations of flouting of rules in the appointment of vice chancellor Ajit Ranade.
After Bibek Debroy became the chancellor, a special committee was formed to investigate the matter. The same committee terminated Ranade saying that his appointment had violated the UGC rules.
Political leaders, scientists, and senior economists call out Ranade’s termination
Ranade’s removal has divided the Institute into two parts, one favouring UGC action saying ‘justice has now been served’ while others say that he has become the easy victim of politics. Congress’ Jairam Ramesh condemned his removal saying, “In September 2024, he gets sacked on the grounds that he does not have 10 years teaching experience as per UGC rules. Isn’t this strange? Surely, this information was available to the appointing authorities two years back. Clearly, there is more to this than meets the eye. Whatever it is, it is a sad commentary on how institutional decay is taking place in an increasingly illiberal atmosphere.”
In February 2022, Ajit Ranade was appointed as Vice Chancellor of the prestigious Pune-based Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. This selection was widely acclaimed.
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 18, 2024
In September 2024, he gets sacked on the grounds that he does not have 10 years teaching experience as…
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena founder, and president Raj Thackeray also commented on the issue saying that the center had discouraged a stalwart like Ranade for merely taking the education standards seriously. “Well, for that reason, Ranade does not have 10 years of teaching experience. So while appointing him, was this not taken into account? After two and a half years of his performance in this position, how can the authorities suddenly remember this?” he said.
“If someone like Ajit Rande voluntarily enters the field of education, and the government utterly discourages him, what sort of expert and stalwart will show up in such crucial fields? Is it the ‘new educational policy’ to humiliate and expel scholars in this manner?” he questioned.
सस्नेह जय महाराष्ट्र,
— Raj Thackeray (@RajThackeray) September 16, 2024
गेले २ दिवस वर्तमानपत्रामंध्ये पुण्यातील गोखले राज्यशास्त्र आणि अर्थशास्त्र संस्थेच्या कुलगुरू पदावरून डॉ. अजित रानडे यांना अतिशय चुकीच्या पद्धतीने हटवल्याची बातमी वाचनात येत आहे. डॉ. अजित रानडेंसारख्या एका उच्चविद्याविभूषित, खाजगी क्षेत्रात खूप मोठी… pic.twitter.com/gvgBePq00Q
Apart from these, several economists also called out the termination. “The decision to remove Ranade is very disappointing. Even in the short period of two and a half years of Ranade, there has been a great increase in the academic quality of the Gokhale Institute, due to which the academic and teaching quality of the institute has been recognized at the international level,” Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Senior Economist said.
“The abrupt removal of an intellectual from the post of Vice-Chancellor, who has done a great job in bringing the Gokhale Institute back to its past glory, is shocking. The long-term impact on the ability to attract talent is certain,” Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, Senior Scientist said.
However, the issue regarding the alleged erroneous appointment of Ranade has been raking up since the year 2021, his appointment.
GIPE associates questioned Ranade’s way of functioning
Amid this, there are several who are saying that the UGC has now taken the proper decision by terminating Ranade for allegedly violating the rules of the UGC. One of the faculty members at GIPE said to the media on the condition of anonymity that Ranade was an ‘opportunist’ and that he never was eligible for the post in the first place. He also raised concerns over Ranade’s style of functioning at the institute.
Meanwhile, other staffers said that Ranade made unauthorized staff appointments and also increased tuition fees for several courses immediately after taking over the post of VC in the year 2021-2022. “He was not familiar with the functioning of GIPE. Though the V-C has a lot of powers, he cannot make unilateral decisions. He did not involve the faculty in major decision-making processes. For instance, institutional policies such as fee hikes, reductions in pensionary benefits for some staff, etc., were neither brought up in faculty meetings nor discussed with the staff. Therefore, a section of teaching and non-teaching members revolted and reached out to the chancellor,” a senior faculty member said to The Print.
“He created some posts, including that of the OSD (officer on special duty), chief of staff, and some visiting professors, without following the required process. No one was consulted, and no advertisements called for applications. People known to him were hired directly to these posts, on high salaries,” he added.
OpIndia has also learned that Ajit Ranade is the founding member of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) organization. The other founding members of the same include Adv. Kamini Jaiswal and Jagdeep Chhokar. Jaiswal has represented ‘activist’ Teesta Setalvad in the Gujarat riots case, JNU students including Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya in the JNU Sedition Case, and also SAR Gilani, Professor at Delhi University who was arrested in Parliament Attack Case in 2001. She is known as the strongest advocate of human rights in terror-related cases in India. On the other hand, Chhokar is believed to have close links with ‘activist’ Harsh Mander who is facing a CBI investigation due to irregularities in his NGO.
Notably, ADR has also been one of the crucial petitioners in the Electoral Bonds Case with the other two being Common Cause and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The Supreme Court in the given case held that the Electoral Bond Scheme was unconstitutional for violating the right to information of voters. A detailed report on this case can be read here.
Further, Ranade as the VC of the GIPE also invited Parakala Prabhakar in April 2024 to speak on the ‘Political Economy of New India’. Notably, Prabhakar who is the husband of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman noted during his address that the Electoral Bond was the world’s biggest fraud ever allegedly committed by the Modi government, as reported by the local news media.
Gokhale Institute under VC Ranade was also recently in the news after a ‘wall of democracy’ established to increase voter awareness was vandalized. The word ‘democracy’ from the wall was struck out and instead ‘NOTA 2024’ along with ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ (long live the revolution) were written beside it during the Lok Sabha elections 2024. Ranade then said that he would take action against the perpetrators seen on the CCTV but eventually, the Election Commission and the Police had to step in to take the poster down.
In February 2024, Ranade invited controversial actor-director Nandita Das to the history literature festival that happened from February 9th to 11th. Das has been in support of those who have been agitating against the Citizenship Amendment Act. “The CAA and the NRC are spontaneous and no political parties are involved in them. These are led by ‘students’ and common people. The youth has created hope in the country. Every other place is becoming a Shaheen Bagh now, and I think as human beings, we should speak up against these laws,” she was quoted as saying on the sidelines of the Jaipur Literature Festival in 2020.
In the year 2014, she had also protested against PM Modi saying that his government would bring the ‘ideology of hate into the government machinery’. She also made her directorial debut in the year 2008 through the film ‘Firaaq’ set in the city of Ahmedabad, showcasing the situation a month after the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Ranade is also criticized by some of the faculty members of the GIPE for appointing Sabyasachi Das as a visiting faculty for a brief period in 2023. Das resigned from Ashoka University after he wrote a controversial research paper titled ‘Democratic backsliding in the world’s largest democracy’ in August 2023. The paper allegedly alleged PM Modi of poll manipulation in the year 2019. “A section of the (GIPE) faculty had voiced concerns over how Das’s appointment was done without proper consultation,” the faculty member said.
However, one of the Board members at the GIPE said many new changes that led to the growth of the institute were incorporated by the VC who now has been terminated. “He started many new courses and a center for geopolitics and geoeconomics. He also studied social issues such as Maratha reservations, among others. During his tenure, classrooms were upgraded, and hostel capacity was increased. It (his dismissal) is nothing but internal politics by some present and former faculty members to bring a bad name to the institute,” the board member said.
He also is said to have invited senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders such as Ram Madhav and Vinay Saharabuddhe for special talks at the institute. “He also attended an RSS event where he was invited as the chief guest in Pune in October 2023,” one of the other faculty members said. Given all this, people like Congress’ Jairam Ramesh who claim that Ranade has been removed as a part of ‘politics’ and not due to UGC violations seem misinformed.
Exceptions to UGC regulations?
The UGC regulations using which Ranade’s termination was executed on 14th September are also meanwhile being questioned. According to a former UGC chairperson, there have been instances in which people without 10 years of experience as professors have been awarded VCs. The former chairman cited the examples of former IAS officer Najeeb Jung, who was named Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in 2009, and retired Lieutenant General Zameer Uddin Shah, who was appointed Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University in 2012.
However, the GIPE in 2023 accepting the violation of UGC in Ranade’s appointment case can’t be ignored. To reiterate, the UGC while replying to the RTI by one of the GIPE faculty members said that Ranade had not fulfilled the UGC’s eligibility requirement of a minimum of 10 years of experience as a professor in a university for appointment as VC in consonance with section 7.3 (i) of the UGC regulations, 2018. The issue seems controversial and needs proper investigation by the higher authorities of the Commission. Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court has decided to hear the case of stay on Ranade’s termination by September 22nd.
Interim vice-chancellor named
In the meanwhile, after the removal of Ranade from the post, Shankar Das, pro-vice-chancellor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, has been appointed interim vice-chancellor (VC) of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) with effect from Sept 22. Notably, as per UGC rules, when the pro-VC is unavailable, the chancellor has to appoint the senior-most professor as interim VC until the appointment of a new VC. But as per Debroy, GIPE’s senior-most professor Deepak Shah refused to take the responsibility. As a result, Shankar Das has been named to perform the duties of the VC.
