Mysuru: Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) Director Prof. Ram Rajasekharan has been transferred to New Delhi.

In a sudden development that took everyone in the premier food laboratory in the country by surprise, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, through a fax message, said Prof. Ram Rajasekharan has been transferred in “public interest.”

He has been posted to CSIR Headquarters in New Delhi as Director (Special Projects and Initiatives). Jitendra J. Jadhav, Director, CSIR National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bengaluru, has been asked to hold additional charge as Director of CFTRI.

According to sources in city-based CFTRI, there was a call from the Joint Secretary, Administration, CSIR, New Delhi, yesterday at 9 am to the Director’s Office. “Did you get the fax?”

When it was found that only one page had been received, the Officer in Delhi said that another page would be faxed immediately. The content of the fax was brought to the notice of Prof. Rajasekharan, who was on medical leave. By then Jadhav had already come in the morning and taken charge as the Director. The sources said that he visited a few Departments, held meetings with Senior Scientists, Administration, Finance and Accounts staff till late in the evening and left for Bengaluru.

Transfer buzz

Immediately the transfer of Prof. Ram Rajasekharan started doing the rounds in the CFTRI campus. Everyone was taken by surprise and shock at this sudden development. A source in the campus said that lot of employees were rejoicing at this development and a few pro-Kannada staff burst crackers.

Another insider said that the fax about his transfer had come on August 25 evening itself. Since that day was a holiday being Ganesha Chaturthi, no one in the Administrative Office was aware. The source said that since it was a holiday they were not aware and only on Monday morning when they got the fax message again they came to know of the developments.

A Senior Scientist, who had retired recently from CFTRI, told Star of Mysore on condition of anonymity, “The trouble for Rajasekharan was brewing for a long time. Apart from anti-Kannada activities, his many deeds earlier have caught up with him.”

According to the Scientist, Prof. Rajasekharan had sacked a Senior Scientist a couple of years ago, just when he was about to retire. This scientist was referred to as the ‘Whistle Blower’ of CFTRI as throughout his career he was carrying on tirades against the Directors. He was writing regularly to the PMO and CSIR pointing to the many misdeeds of Prof. Rajasekharan.

Moreover, just as Prof. Rajasekharan had dismissed or transferred a few people citing ‘public interest’ as the reason, the same reason, ironically has been attributed for his transfer now, said the Scientist.  

The source in the Office said that they were not sure whether the former Director, who was not keeping well, was at his residence, or left this morning.

All efforts from SOM to contact Prof. Rajasekharan were futile as the mobile phone kept ringing.