Appoint PPC as Director of KGP – Request from a student and an alumnus

I am sure most people reading this post would have heard about the controversy surrounding the appointment of the next Director of IIT Kharagpur. If not, let me give a brief background here. Prof. P.P. Chakraborti (“PPC”) was selected to become the next Director of IIT Kharagpur however since then a controversy has arisen falsely implicating him with an old CBI case which has led to delay in CVC clearance. Please remember that he has been cleared by the Board of Governors (“BoG”), the highest body of the institute on multiple occasions. Nonetheless, if they can prove him guilty, I am all for rejecting his appointment and if required, even punishing him as per law. But, they know he is completely innocent and hence instead of closing the case, it is being delayed under the guise of investigation as that allows people with vested interests to jeopardize his appointment as the Director.

PPC is an embodiment of simplicity. I remember a small personal instance wherein I had met him during my counseling session - my first day of entering KGP. I had no idea what stream to choose, so I asked him. He told me to go by my career goal / stream preference. When I told him that I have no clue about the same, he simply smiled and said then go for a stream which is closest to your subject preference (out of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics which we study for engineering entrance). Since I loved Mathematics, I chose Computer Science and till date, I think it was the best decision I could have made.

Let us leave my personal anecdotes and think independently of what qualities and attributes one would desire for in a Director of an esteemed institute such as IIT KGP – vision, dedication and track record of achievement. I think PPC possesses all these attributes and has displayed the same over last three decades at every level.

Vision: PPC has been the brain and the force behind multiple achievements of the Institute such as establishment of VLSI Lab (much ahead of many others), a strong research oriented formal verification group (of which I had the fortune of being associated with for a brief period), growth of Sponsored Research & Consultancy (SRIC) and Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell) at KGP. He has an ability to think and implement plans which seem out of the realm of reality to most others. He has helped the institute build independent sub-institutions which have served as strong foundations of growth.

Dedication: PPC as a Gold medalist from IIT KGP could have gone to any Ivy league top tier college such as MIT, Berkeley, Princeton for his PhD or to work as a faculty. However, he chose KGP ahead of all and has dutifully and selflessly served the institute forever. I think even his worst of enemies cannot question his love and dedication for the institute.

Track record of achievement: I remember even 10 years ago, we used to say in the institute that PPC has achieved everything that is there to achieve – whether it be President’s Gold Medal (Institute Rank – 1), Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (one of the youngest to achieve the same) or the youngest person to become HoD of Computer Science or a Dean in the institute. He has achieved these feats by sheer hard work and dedication, unmatched by anyone else.

I think PPC as a Director would really take the institute to the next level and in fact, make it the model institute of higher education in the country which every college would like to emulate. He has displayed an undying spirit of hard work and dedication and has a track record of excellence at every level - as a student, as a faculty member, as a Head of the Department and as a Dean. Love and respect for him among students, alumni and faculty alike can be easily seen in the united efforts all these communities are putting in to ensure his appointment as a Director. After all, what does an institute comprise of – if not, its students, alumni and faculty who are demanding for PPC’s appointment in unison.

I believe KGP would be fortunate to have a person of such eminence as its Director and appointment of PPC at the earliest would definitely go down as the best decision MHRD would have taken for the institute in a long time.

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