Chetan Chauhan must be given time to perform as NIFT chairman: Santosh Gangwar

NEW DELHI: Amid a controversy over former cricketer Chetan Chauhan being named as NIFT chairman, Textile Minister Santosh Gangwar today said he must be given time to perform and ruled out seeking review of the appointment.

"He (Chauhan) should be given at least three months time for assessing his performance as NIFT Chairman. It is premature to form an opinion based on his past as a cricketer," Gangwar told PTI.

Asked whether the decision related to Chauhan's appointment will be reviewed by the government, Gangwar said: "The review, if any, has to be undertaken by the President of India. We will not send any such recommendation. We want to assess his performance".

On the appointment, Gangwar said Chauhan was a two-time MP and had also worked in a bank, apart from the experience he had acquired being a well-travelled personality.

A controversy has erupted over the appointment of Chauhan, a former BJP MP, as the Chairman of prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), with political parties and fashion designers questioning the decision of the government.

As per the NIFT Act 2006, the Chairperson of its Board of Governors shall be an eminent academician, scientist or technologist or professional, who is to be nominated by the Visitor, in this case the President of India.

Set up in 1986, the institute is under the administrative control of the Textiles Ministry.