IIT Gandhinagar faces allegations of ‘favouritism’ and ‘conflict of interest’ in appointment of faculty but institute maintains complete silence

IIT Gandhinagar is yet again mired in controversies. The educational institution is now faced with allegations of ‘conflict of interest’ and favouritism in the appointment of faculty. On Monday (8th September), columnist Harshil Mehta posed several questions to the IIT Gandhinagar and its hiring process on X (formerly Twitter). According to him, the wife of a Professor has been roped in as ‘visiting faculty’ for the Korean language at the educational institution. A Korean/American citizen was just another English and Korean "tutor" in the USA.But she is then made an "Assistant Teaching Professor" at Humanities Dept, IIT Gandhinagar.Her husband? He was working–still works–in a top position at IIT Gandhinagar.For transparency and… pic.twitter.com/bJOF9QAJmV— Harshil (હર્ષિલ) (@MehHarshil) September 8, 2025 The woman worked as a ‘tutor’ of the English and Korean languages in the United States but was appointed as ‘Assistant Teaching Professor’ in the Humanities Department of IIT Gandhinagar. “Her husband? He was working–still works–in a top position at IIT Gandhinagar,” Harshil Mehta pointed out. The columnist posed 3 questions to the educational institution for transparency. Which processes did IITGn follow to avoid conflict of interest and provide an equal opportunity to Indian citizens? Does India not have any English teacher that a foreign national was hired? Does IIT Gandhinagar have any spouse hiring policy? If yes, where is it? If no, where is the conflict of interest policy? How national security is maintained when IITGn host a semiconductor lab and work in tribal areas but it has employees with different nationalities? Harshil Mehta pointed out that there are 14 cases of such favouritism and conflict of interest. While speaking to OpIndia, he said, “The question is whether IIT Gandhinagar runs any family reunion program? If so, then it should be declared as an official policy.” IIT Gandhinagar has so many appointments with conflict of interest and favouritism. If husband is working as a professor, then on what basis his Korean wife is appointed as a visiting faculty?I have identified 14 couples (husband-wife, father-daughter) from the same family…— Harshil (હર્ષિલ) (@MehHarshil) September 6, 2025 He pointed out, “Professor Prachi Thareja is on the internal complaint committee of the institute. Does the institute know that her husband also works there? If there is a complaint against her husband, how will Prachi decide the case since it is a clear case of conflict of interest?” Mehta stated that large organisations have internal policies to prevent such situations from arising. “What is the policy of IIT Gandhinagar? It should tell what steps were taken to prevent such activities.” He also posed questions to the former Director of IIT Gandhinagar, Sudhir Jain, under whom most of these contentious appointmenets were made. Harshil Mehta sought urgent intervention of the Central government and the Union Ministry of Education.

Sep 9, 2025 8

IIT Gandhinagar faces allegations of ‘favouritism’ and ‘conflict of interest’ in appointment of faculty but institute maintains complete silence
IIT Gandhinagar faces allegations of 'favouritism' and 'conflict of interest' in appointment of faculty but institute maintains complete silence

IIT Gandhinagar is yet again mired in controversies. The educational institution is now faced with allegations of ‘conflict of interest’ and favouritism in the appointment of faculty.

On Monday (8th September), columnist Harshil Mehta posed several questions to the IIT Gandhinagar and its hiring process on X (formerly Twitter).

According to him, the wife of a Professor has been roped in as ‘visiting faculty’ for the Korean language at the educational institution.

The woman worked as a ‘tutor’ of the English and Korean languages in the United States but was appointed as ‘Assistant Teaching Professor’ in the Humanities Department of IIT Gandhinagar.

“Her husband? He was working–still works–in a top position at IIT Gandhinagar,” Harshil Mehta pointed out. The columnist posed 3 questions to the educational institution for transparency.

  1. Which processes did IITGn follow to avoid conflict of interest and provide an equal opportunity to Indian citizens? Does India not have any English teacher that a foreign national was hired?
  2. Does IIT Gandhinagar have any spouse hiring policy? If yes, where is it? If no, where is the conflict of interest policy?
  3. How national security is maintained when IITGn host a semiconductor lab and work in tribal areas but it has employees with different nationalities?

Harshil Mehta pointed out that there are 14 cases of such favouritism and conflict of interest. While speaking to OpIndia, he said, “The question is whether IIT Gandhinagar runs any family reunion program? If so, then it should be declared as an official policy.”

He pointed out, “Professor Prachi Thareja is on the internal complaint committee of the institute. Does the institute know that her husband also works there? If there is a complaint against her husband, how will Prachi decide the case since it is a clear case of conflict of interest?”

Mehta stated that large organisations have internal policies to prevent such situations from arising. “What is the policy of IIT Gandhinagar? It should tell what steps were taken to prevent such activities.”

He also posed questions to the former Director of IIT Gandhinagar, Sudhir Jain, under whom most of these contentious appointmenets were made.

Harshil Mehta sought urgent intervention of the Central government and the Union Ministry of Education.

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