Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) chairman Yellapragada Sudershan Rao today rejected reports that he had resigned from his post over the issue of denial of monthly honorarium of Rs 1.5 lakh.
"I had neither asked for an honorarium nor I had resigned due to the reason. My intention was wrongly projected," he told reporters.
In his letter to HRD minister Smriti Irani in November last year, Rao, who had headed the top history research body for over an year then, expressed his intention to resign from the post citing "personal reasons".
However, there were reports attributing the move to the chairman's unhappiness over being denied an honorarium of Rs 1.5 lakh per month.
The proposal to grant Rao an honorarium was first mooted during the 81st meeting of the General Council of ICHR in September last year.
According to the minutes of the meeting, all ICHR members "unanimously resolved" to recommend "the grant of suitable honorarium as a token of respect" for the chairman, and the proposal was forwarded to the HRD ministry for "consideration".
Although the records do not mention any specific amount, sources said the Council had sought an amount of Rs 1.5 lakh per month for Rao.
While Rao had in a note put on its website in November said that he had sent his resignation, he continues to head ICHR as the letter sent by him seeking permission to step down on personal grounds had put the HRD ministry in a quandary with officials contending that this did not tantamount to resigning.
Rao is a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana, the RSS's history wing, and former head of the Department of History and Tourism Management at Kakatiya University.
He was appointed as ICHR boss for a term of three years in July 2014, in a controversial move that was criticised by historians such as Romila Thapar and Irfan Habib who questioned his academic credentials.
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