Sitharam and Subhasis Chaudhuri for Guwahati and Mumbai, respectively, and decided to reappoint Partha Pratim Chakraborty as IIT Kharagpur director. But the PMO is learnt to have nudged the ministry against reappointing Chakraborty, the sources said. Emails sent to the PMO and the HRD ministry for their reactions had brought no response till late in the evening. An IIT Kharagpur teacher said there should not be any interference in the selection of institute directors. Then HRD minister Smriti Irani had cancelled the 13 candidates short-listed for the institutes in Patna, Bhubaneswar and Ropar by a panel headed by scientist Anil Kakodkar.

Source: The Telegraph February 08, 2019 22:04 UTC