At Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics in Maharashtra, things became very tense recently. On September 15, 2023, 47 teachers decided to quit their jobs together. They wrote a letter to the school leaders saying they were unhappy.
The problem started when the school needed to choose a new chancellor, which is a big boss for the school. Dr. Radhakrishnan Nair was liked by 68% of the teachers, but Dr. Mehta Singh had support from important people on the board. It became a big issue when it was found out that the way they picked the chancellor wasn’t correct.
Because of this fight, many school activities have stopped. Now, 23 research projects can’t continue, and 4 international partnerships are on hold. The leaders of the school haven’t acted quickly. They’d only two emergency meetings in 45 days, but nothing was solved.
The school is facing problems. Many students are leaving, and 17% fewer students want to join next year. The money for research is also down by ₹4.2 crore. The school’s ranking dropped from 12th to 19th place among schools that study economics.
To find out what went wrong, the Maharashtra State Higher Education Commission is looking into the issue. They’ve a team of three people investigating. Their first report came out on October 10, 2023, and it showed that there were big mistakes in the way the chancellor was chosen. The final report is expected by December 2023.
