Two-term BJP MP and Vice President of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), 68-year-old Chetan Chauhan is the latest Chauhan to court controversy after being appointed the new chairman of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT). While the government is facing flak online over a cricketer with banking experience being appointed as Chairman of India’s premiere fashion institute, Chauhan is no anomaly.
The court of public opinion may have pronounced its verdict against the appointment , but history shows that NIFT hasn’t been led by anyone from the fashion industry since its inception in 1986.
The Quint spoke to NIFT faculty and some ex-students to understand how the appontment affects them.
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The tenure of the NIFT Chairperson is three years and a bureaucrat or ministry official is usually appointed to chair the board. A senior faculty member on the condition of anonymity said that it has never affected academics:
Previous Chairs of NIFT Board of Governors:
Another faculty member, however said:
The NIFT Act 2006 says that the Chairperson of the Board of Governors should be an academician, scientist, technologist or professional. But even post 2006, either bureaucrats or business heads have been at the helm.
The NIFT board takes administrative and financial decisions for the institute and appoints senior academic and administrative staff. A senior head of department at NIFT Delhi also added that the board usually takes into consideration recommendations of the senior faculty and heads when it comes to academic decisions and syllabus.
The current NIFT board comprises of prominent members from varied backgrounds: Members of Parliament, Joint Secretaries of the Textile Ministry, members of the BJP and prominent members of the textile industry and universities. The Chairman of Fashion Design Council of India seems to be the only member with a fashion background on the entire board.
Alumni and designers like Rina Dhaka have questioned the appointment and said it would be better to have someone from the industry head NIFT. But many former students and faculty say it doesn’t affect the day-to-day functioning.
Further, NIFT graduates added that they never met or interacted with the Chairman, except on graduation day. One even said she didn’t know who the Chairman was while she was a student. Another NIFT graduate said:
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