National
New chairman for ICSSR
By Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, FEB. 11. The six-month-long controversy over the chairmanship of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) was settled today with the appointment of the former Economic Adviser to the Finance Ministry, V.R. Panchamukhi, as the chairman for three years. The post had fallen vacant on July 18 last year after the Government withdrew the nomination of the incumbent, M.L. Sondhi, on the ground that he had lost the confidence of the members of the council.
Prior to his removal, Prof. Sondhi had been in the eye of a storm within the council for his style of functioning. Prof.
Sondhi - who has been a BJP member of the Rajya Sabha - had been complaining against the hard-core RSS faction within the council alleging that they were trying to saffronise the ICSSR agenda. But his ouster came after he began speaking out against senior members of the Union Cabinet and making allegations against different government departments.
Following his removal, the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Human Resource Development, K.S. Sarma, had been given additional charge of ICSSR as ``a purely temporary measure'' pending the nomination of a regular incumbent. However, with Prof. Sondhi challenging his removal in court, a fresh appointment was possible only now after the Delhi High Court dismissed his petition.
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