TERI (The Energy and Resources Insititute) Director General R K Pachauri has been eased out as from his post following accusations of sexual harassment. Ajay Mathur, presently Director General of Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has been appointed in his place.
An official TERI press release said that Mathur would take up his new responsibilities as soon as he is in a position to do so.
Pachauri, 74, shot into the limelight in February 2015 when an FIR was registered against him by a senior TERI employee. A Delhi court has granted him anticipatory bail.
Ajay Mathur, the new appointee, is a Chemical Engineer from the University of Roorkee. He did his PhD from the University of Illinois and received the Outstanding Alumni Award of the University of Illinois in 2002. Prior to joining BEE, he has worked on energy research, financing, and implementation; has headed the World Bank’s Climate Change Team in Washington, DC and the Energy Engineering Division of TERI in New Delhi; and has also been President of Suzlon Energy Limited.
This is the 2nd high profile case of sexual harassment in Indian workplaces in recent times, following Tehelka chief Tarun Tejpal’s long-drawn saga last year, and a Greenpeace employee’s alleged rape by a colleague.