Mathematics professor Amartya Kumar Dutta at the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, has been appointed the new full-term director of the institute, and will take charge on April 1.
The tenure of the last full-term director, Sangha-mitra Bandyopadhyay, ended in September 2025. Since then, the institute has been led by officiating directors.
The appointment comes at a time when the institute, better known for its academic rigour, has been in the news over the Union government’s alleged attempt to unilaterally overhaul its autonomous governance structure.
Dutta had earlier voiced support for the ISI Act of 1959 during his address on the institute’s foundation day on December 17. The Centre is seeking to repeal the Act, stating that the move would streamline processes and accelerate decision-making.
He was selected by a three-member search committee appointed by the ISI council, the institute’s highest administrative decision-making body. The committee, constituted on September 25, 2025, said on March 27 that it had unanimously recommended Dutta for the post of director for a term of five years or until superannuation, whichever is earlier.
The retirement age for ISI professors is 65. Dutta is 60.
Faculty members had been pressing for the appointment of a full-term director to resume stalled recruitment of teachers and staff.
The Bonhooghly campus has witnessed multiple protests in recent weeks against the proposed Bill drafted by the Union ministry of statistics and programme implementation. The Bill seeks to repeal the ISI Act of 1959, which was passed under then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Dutta is aware of the growing dissent on campus.
In an earlier speech, Dutta cited Nehru’s remarks in Parliament during the passage of the Act, underscoring the importance of institutional autonomy in scientific growth.
Quoting Nehru, Dutta had said: “Wherever science has grown considerably — let us say, in the United States or the Soviet Union, two entirely different types of countries with different structures of government, they give the widest latitude, both of them, to their scientific apparatus to grow. Naturally, they have checks to see that money is not wasted. But they give them latitude.”
Such an approach is essential for the growth of science, Dutta had said.
An ISI professor told Metro on Tuesday: “The Bill seeks to do away with the latitude that we call autonomy by diluting the powers of the academic council — the highest decision-making body on academic affairs — and introducing an overarching board of governors. It will be intriguing to see what stand the new director takes on the proposed Bill.”
Calls and messages to Dutta from this newspaper did not elicit a response.
The academic council has expressed “serious concern” over the draft Bill and urged the Union ministry to engage in dialogue before implementing any changes to the governance framework.
In November 2025, the ISI Society also opposed the Bill, stating in a resolution that it would undermine institutional autonomy.
“The new director has taken charge at a critical juncture,” an ISI professor said. “The future of an institution founded by Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in 1931 remains uncertain as the proposed legislation looms over it.”