New Delhi:
The IIT faculty has decided to go on a hunger strike on September 24 but as they demand better pay and more autonomy from the government, this unprecedented move has exposed yet another crisis within the system - the differences between the faculty and the directors.
"We have decided to go strike on September 24 because our demands have not been met, so forced to take this step," said Thenmozhi, President, All India IIT federation.
A dramatic turnaround in a little over 2 weeks - the smiles of these IIT directors are now giving way to anger among the faculty whose demands have being ignored yet again.
NDTV has learnt that some faculty members feel the IIT directors who were appointed by the government often find it tough to do a balancing act between the ministry and the faculty.
At a general body meeting, a director was requested to tell the faculty why they were satisfied after their meeting with the HRD minister.
"We are also speaking to the directors to make them understand of our situation," said Thenmozhi.
"We understand that they are in a difficult position but they also have to understand that interests of the faculty cannot be ignored," said Professor SS Moorthy, president, faculty federation, Delhi.
The faculty federation has now invited directors of all 7 IITs for a meeting this week so that they can present a united front before they take their appeal to the minister.
Till then, they have requested the directors not to respond to the communication sent from the ministry.
And this may be yet another issue that binds the IITs with the IIMs.
NDTV has learnt that an IIM director tried to convince the faculty to agree to the HRD proposal but it was unanimously rejected.