Congress slams ‘institutional decay’ after Ajit Ranade's removal as GIPE VC

Days after noted economist Ajit Ranade was removed as vice chancellor of the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, the Congress on Wednesday, 18 September said it was a sad commentary on how institutional decay is taking place in an increasingly illiberal atmosphere.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in February 2022, Ranade was appointed as Vice Chancellor of the prestigious Pune-based institute and this selection was widely acclaimed.

"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," Ramesh said in a post on X.

Ranade is a highly educated and accomplished personality with degrees in engineering from IIT-Mumbai, in management from IIM-Ahmedabad, and a doctorate in economics from Brown University.

These academic credentials cannot be bettered and he also has published a number of well-cited research papers and a long experience in the corporate sector, Ramesh pointed out.

He has been associated with academic institutions much before February 2022 as well, he added. All through, he has always maintained his professional independence and integrity, Ramesh asserted.

"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," the Congress general secretary said.

Ranade was on Saturday removed as the vice chancellor of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) after the institute found that his appointment violated the UGC norms.

The institute, a deemed university, had set up a fact-finding committee to examine the issue after Ranade's appointment was called into question.

A letter by the institute to Ranade stated that the committee was of the opinion that his candidature "does not conform to the established norms set forth by the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines," and hence he was being removed.

Reacting to the development, Ranade had said in a statement that it was a "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 added.