In an unusual move, an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) has approached the government against its own director. The Human Resource department of IIM-Ranchi is learnt to have written to the HRD Ministry alleging that the institute director, Professor Shailendra Singh, doesn’t spend enough time on campus, which, in turn, hampers decision-making. According to sources, the complaint states that Singh travels often to IIM-Lucknow and IIT-Kanpur without intimating the IIM-Ranchi authorities and his absence, allegedly, has affected the functioning of the institute. Singh was appointed as director of IIM-Ranchi less than a year ago, in March 2017. Before that, he was the dean of research and a senior professor of human resource management at IIM-Lucknow. He has a Masters degree in psychology from Allahabad University, LL.B. from Delhi University and a doctorate in organisational behaviour from IIT-Kanpur. Singh, according to his website, specialises in organisational behaviour, emotional intelligence, human resource development, business law and stress, among other things. When contacted on Tuesday, Singh told The Indian Express that he isn’t aware of any complaint lodged against him by his institute. “How can the HR department, which works under me, complain against me? That is absolutely wrong. I suspect this is mischief on somebody’s part,” he said. Informed about the content of the complaint, he added, “If I travel, that’s my prerogative and (it) has nothing to do with the decision-making of the institute. My institute cannot write like that.” According to sources, the government is seized of the complaint and is looking into the matter. Although the ministry receives complaints against IIM directors often, it almost never gets one from the institute administration itself. The HRD Ministry, for instance, was recently asked by the PMO to look into a complaint of harassment filed by the wife of a senior professor at IIM-Lucknow against the institute’s director. The Ranchi complaint is different as it has come from the institute’s HR department.
