IIM A Director Apologises to Nitin Gadkari For Breach of Protocol During IIM N Launch

The breach of protocol occurred when the invitation letter sent to Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Transport in the Government of India, for the inauguration of IIM Nagpur bore Gadkari’s name printed in a small font below the name of Ashish Nanda, director of IIM Ahmedabad (IIM A). Gadkari’s office also took offense at the fact that the invitation was e-mailed instead of being personally delivered.

Director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM A) Ashish Nanda has sent a letter to Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari apologising for the “breach of protocol” in the invitation letter for inauguration of IIM-Nagpur on Sunday.

The breach of protocol took place because Gadkari’s name was printed in a small font below that of Nanda’s in the invite sent to some, including the media. Moreover, speaking to the Indian Express, Gadkari’s public relations office said, “Not only that, no IIM official came to personally hand over the invite to the Union minister and it was sent to him by email.” Gadkari did not attend the inaugural function. 

In his letter, Nanda said, “I write to apologise to you for breach of protocol in inviting you and publicising the event. We were rushing through preparations for the inauguration within a one-week window before start of classes today…in the confusion, my office staff made several mistakes. Having reviewed all activities, all I can do is offer my sincere and personal apology.

As per reports in the media, what rankled Gadkari further was that Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadvanis’ name was featured prominently in bold font whereas the Nagpur MP’s was cut to size in smaller print.

According to a report in DNA, Gadkari deemed the entire incident as a lapse in protocol. The minister’s associate told the newspaper that his name should have been along with Fadnavis. His associate also claim that IIM in Nagpur came to be due to Gadkari’s efforts. Hence, the snub, which was possibly unintentional, didn’t go down well with him. 

Fadnavis reportedly called up Gadkari to enquire why he was not attending the inauguration event. The Union Minister asked him to go ahead with the event and said that he will ‘deal’ with the IIM authorities later.  

In his letter, Nanda said, “I write to apologise to you for breach of protocol in inviting you and publicising the event. We were rushing through preparations for the inauguration within a one-week window before start of classes today. To add to the complexity, I was in China all of last week. In the confusion, my office staff made several mistakes. Having reviewed all activities, all I can do is offer my sincere and personal apology. We took a hurried and casual approach that made you feel unwelcome. The loss has been ours — at not having you at the inauguration — and IIM students — at not having the benefit of listening to you and partaking of your wisdom. I would very much like to make good our students’ loss at the earliest opportunity. Towards the objective, I will seek a personal appointment with you to invite you to visit IIM-Nagpur at an early date and share your experiences and insights with the students.”

Gadkari’s PR office has denied reports that have appeared in a section of the media that Gadkari was planning to initiate breach of privilege against Nanda. (With inputs from Indian Express and DNA. Image courtesy PTI)