New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS): Expressing concern over the inordinate delay of over three years in constitution of the General Council of premiere Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-D) by the AAP Government, Delhi Lieutenant Governor, VK Saxena, through his Secretariat, has asked the Chief Secretary to ensure reconstitution of the council in a time-bound manner.

According to Raj Bhawan, the file for reconstitution of the General Council of IIIT-D, whose three-year tenure expired in March 2019, had been lying with Delhi’s Education Minister – first Manish Sisodia and thereafter, Atishi – for unexplained reasons since May 2020.

Upon complaints received from several quarters about this inaction on part of the Education Minister, the LG Secretariat withdrew the file from the Government invoking Rule 19(5) of the ToBR.

Records on file show that the General Council of IIIT-D was last constituted on March 15, 2016 with a three-year term, which expired in March 2019.

The official said that IIIT-D had requested the Department of Training and Technical Education (DTTE) for re-constitution of the General Council in July, 2019 itself. However, the proposal of the Department for approval of the General Council of IIITD was lying pending in the office of Minister Education since May 20, 2020 i.e. more than three years, without any action.

While disposing the file, the LG’s Secretariat issued instructions for directing the administrative department to process the proposal for constitution of the General Council of IIIT-D in a time-bound manner, in terms of the statutory provisions and the extant law in force, for smooth governance and functioning of the university.

“The LG Secretariat has brought on file that the General Council of IIIT-D, being a Statutory Authority, is mandated to perform key functions related to the functioning of the institute viz. developing, planning, monitoring and formulating policies to execute the strategic plan for the institute, reviewing the broad policies and programmes of the institute, suggesting measures for the improvement and development of the institute, considering the annual accounts of the institute,” said the LG’s office.

“Any delay in the constitution of such an authority leads to severely affecting the governance of a premier Technology Institute like IIIT-D. The callous attitude of the Government towards the formulation of a statutory body is very unfortunate,” it noted.