G. Thimmaiah has been removed from the post of the chairman of the Board of Governors, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru, on Saturday for his alleged “misdeeds”.
A. Ravindra, retired IAS officer and former Chief Secretary, will be the new chairman for the remaining period (till December 2015).
A meeting of the Board of Governors at the institute decided on the removal and new posting, said members who attended the meeting. Prof. Thimmaiah was elected to the post in January 2013 for a three-year period. For the first time in the history of ISEC, a head of the institute has been removed before the end of the term.
The resolution passed by the Board of Governors said that Prof. Thimmaiah has conducted himself “against the interests and objectives of the institution”. A few months ago, the Upalokayukta had summoned Prof. Thimmaiah to present his defence of the allegations against him on the misuse of funds and lapses in the appointment of professors.
On December 23, 2014, T.N. Bhat, Assistant Professor of ISEC, had filed a complaint to the Upalokayukta seeking a probe into the alleged financial and administrative irregularities at the institute. Prof. Bhat made allegations related to the utilisation of funds as well as appointment of professors against the principles of reservation.
Binay Kumar Pattnaik resigned as the Director of the ISEC on February 3.
