The 79th meeting of the Board of Governors (BoG) of NIPER Mohali was held on 22 March 2023 under the chairmanship of Dr. Girish Sahni, former Director General, CSIR.
Subsequent to amendments to the NIPER Act, representatives of different authorities were permitted to attend Board meetings. This amendment was carried out after I, as Director of NIPER Mohali, had objected to the presence of such representatives, as this provision did not exist under the original NIPER Act. By diluting the original statutory provisions through amendments, attendance by alternate representatives was formally permitted.
In the 79th BoG meeting, Mr. Ranga Chandrasekhar, Deputy Drugs Controller (India), represented the DCGI, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. Mr. Jagdeep Singh Sidhu, Deputy Director, represented the Secretary, Technical Education, Government of Punjab.
In contrast, the 78th BoG meeting was attended by Dr. P. B. N. Prasad, Joint Drugs Controller (India), representing the DCGI, and Mr. Mohanbir Singh Sidhu, Additional Director, representing the Secretary, Technical Education, Government of Punjab.
Thus, different representatives attended successive meetings. Such frequent changes raise a serious concern about continuity of deliberations and consistency in institutional decision-making, especially when senior officials themselves do not attend.
In his opening remarks at the 79th meeting, Dr. Girish Sahni observed that the Board had been constituted after a gap of more than three years and that the agenda reflected a heavy backlog requiring cooperation between the Board members, the nodal ministry, and the Institute. In response, Mr. Rajneesh Tingal, Joint Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, attributed the delay to:
- Review of the NIPER Act and Statutes
- Promulgation of NIPER Council Rules, 2022
- NIPER (Amendment) Act, 2021
- NIPER (Amendment) Statutes, 2022
However, the real reason behind these developments was my objection to the attendance of non-members in Board meetings. To counter this objection, the NIPER Act and Statutes were amended, and a super-body called the NIPER Council was created. This Council effectively diluted the role of the Board of Governors, where the Director had a meaningful voice. Through the Council, decisions of the Board of Governors can now be stalled or overridden at the level of the Department of Pharmaceuticals.
Photo caption: Dr. L. Hanumanthaiah, MP (Karnataka)
In December 2022, the Vision Document–2025 was deliberated upon, with a provision for mid-term assessment.
As usual, under the first agenda item, the Board noted several sub judice matters, including recovery suits, the Capt. Kshitij Sharma case, cases filed by Technical Assistants, the K. S. Saini case, and matters related to Part B of the First Schedule of CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 2008.
Instead of taking a decision on NBA or NABL accreditation of each Central Laboratory of the Institute, the matter was referred to the Academic Planning and Development Committee for recommendations.
Under Agenda Item 67.5, the Board noted actions taken by me in my capacity as Director. One such action pertained to the regularisation of 3–4 employees and issuance of regularisation letters. I was never asked to explain the background or justification for these actions. Notably, Mr. Jitender Kumar Chandel—who had earlier been suspended by me—acted as Secretary to the Board during this meeting, effectively preventing a fair presentation of facts.
Photo caption: Shri Ramji (UP) spoke on centralized
It is pertinent to note that the earlier Board, under the chairmanship of Dr. V. M. Katoch, had explicitly directed me to seek legal opinion from the NIPER counsel and act accordingly. The legal opinion was obtained from the counsel recognised by the Board itself, and the regularisation letters were issued strictly in compliance with those directions. By raking up the issue again, the Board under Dr. Girish Sahni merely continued the legacy of pushing employees into litigation.
To preserve secrecy surrounding questionable decisions, the Board decided not to upload full minutes of its meetings. Under Agenda Item 72.4, it was resolved that only selected portions of the minutes, to the extent permissible under the RTI Act, 2005, would be uploaded on the Institute’s website.
Under Agenda Item 73.T1, the Board ratified the relieving of Mr. PJP Singh Waraich w.e.f. 22.05.2019. The former Registrar was finally relieved through a fresh order pursuant to the letter issued by the Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals/Chairperson, Apex Council of NIPERs. This clearly validated my action as Director and amounted to tacit approval by the competent authority.
Clause 3.5.1(e) of the NIPER Statutes mandates that an officer of CPWD not below the rank of Superintending Engineer, nominated by the Ministry of Urban Development, or his nominee not below the rank of Executive Engineer, be a member of the Laboratory Services, Building and Works Committee. Contrary to this provision, the Board approved the nomination of the Joint Chief Engineer (Civil) of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Punjab Civil Zone, Chandigarh.
Under Agenda Item 78.8, the Board considered faculty recruitment and approved the recommendations of the Selection Committee for five Assistant Professors against Advertisement No. 08/2021 dated 26.06.2021. Ironically, when I had proposed faculty recruitment earlier, it was objected to by Mr. Rajneesh Tingal and Dr. V. M. Katoch. This time, however, the Board merely rubber-stamped recommendations made by a Selection Committee constituted without the Board’s approval and which had already conducted interviews and finalised selections.
Appointments of Dr. Uma Ranjan Lal, Dr. Sukhendu Nandi, Dr. Ashutosh Kumar, Dr. Anamika Bose, and Dr. Jaideep Saha were approved. Two candidates were granted three advance increments, and one candidate two advance increments. Notably, Mr. Tingal attended this meeting and did not object—highlighting a stark contrast to his earlier stance when the process was initiated transparently during my tenure.
Similarly, during the 79th meeting, no objection was raised to authorising the Director to sign Memoranda of Understanding. Under Agenda Item 78.17, the Board unanimously resolved to empower the Director to decide upon and sign Contracts/MoUs, keeping the interests of the Institute, employees, and students in mind, and ensuring that the Institute’s brand is not compromised. Only MoUs involving the Director’s direct scientific involvement or international collaborations were to be placed before the Board.
The bias of Mr. Rajneesh Tingal is clearly evident from the minutes of the 79th Board meeting. Issues that were earlier objected to during my tenure were now viewed through an entirely different lens.
