IIM Calcutta’s wait for a regular director is set to lengthen with the education ministry rejecting a list of names for the post after sitting on the recommendations for over six months.

The education ministry is learnt to have asked the elite B-school, which has been functioning without a regular director since September 2023, to conduct a fresh appointment process and send a new list of names.

Two IIM Calcutta officials said the ministry rejected the names citing a delay of over one year since the appointment process was started by the B-school in February 2024. However, the ministry’s action seems to have caused the delay.

According to the IIM (Amendment) Act, 2023, the chairperson will be nominated by the Visitor, the President of India, and the director’s appointment has to be approved by the Visitor after the board of governors (BoG) recommends the names based on suggestions of a search-cum-selection panel.

It has been learnt that IIM Calcutta had sent three names for the director’s post to the education ministry around September 2024. However, the ministry didn’t forward the names to the President’s office for final approval. Last month, the ministry decided to scrap the list and sought fresh recommendations.

Prof. Saibal Chattopadhyay is currently discharging the role of director-in-charge at IIM Calcutta. He will retire in the next few months. Chairperson Shrikrishna Kulkarni is on an extended tenure.

Last year, The Telegraph had through an RTI application tried to obtain information from the education ministry about the progress in the appointment of the director at IIM Calcutta and chairpersons in over a dozen IIMs. The ministry had declined to share any information.

“Currently, the matter is under process in the ministry. Therefore, information may not be shared at this stage,” the ministry had said in its reply.

A retired faculty member of IIM Calcutta said the appointment process, if restarted, would take about six months to complete.

“The ad hoc leadership affects the overall functioning of the institute. Without a regular director or chairperson, the institute can’t take any long-term decisions,” the retired faculty member said.

In the last seven years, the institute has had two regular directors who resigned after around two years of taking charge. Anju Seth, who resigned in 2021, had complained of interference by the BoG in day-to-day functioning.

IIM Kashipur and IIM Shillong also do not have regular directors at present.