Prof accused of sexual harassment: Mumbai’s TISS yet to act on ICC recommendations of ‘removal of service’

According to sources, the professor is still on leave and continues to be on the payroll.

Two months after the internal complaints committee (ICC) of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) probed a sexual harassment complaint against Prof Vijayakumar P and recommended that he “should be removed from service at the institute within a month as per the service rules laid out in TISS bylaws”, the institute is yet to implement these recommendations despite Dr Shalini Bharat, TISS director, accepting them.

Bharat had accepted the ICC’s report on March 14. Other recommendations said Prof Vijayakumar should be asked to vacate the accommodation allocated to him by the institute, with effect from the day when the action taken by the higher authorities is notified.

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The third recommendation said the institute should take proactive action to develop and institute a strong policy on faculty-student interaction to prevent such exploitative situations.

However, according to sources, the professor is still on leave and continues to be on the payroll. On April 30, the complainant had sent an email to Bharat, asking if the recommendations had been implemented. However, she is yet to receive a response.

When The Indian Express contacted Bharat, she said, “These are internal matters and the procedure is on. The process has to be completed before drawing a conclusion.”