Jamshedpur, May 14: Even as uncertainty hovers over the appointment of a new director at National Institute of Technology, (NIT) Jamshedpur, director of NIT, Rourkela, S.K. Sarangi would address the faculty of the premier engineering college tomorrow.

The registrar of NIT, Jamshedpur, M.K. Banerjee has issued a circular to this effect today. The circular says that the director of NIT, Rourkela, would address the faculty members at 11am. The mood of the teachers was upbeat as they tried to gauge the implications.

Sources in NIT Teachers’ Association (NITTA) said Sarangi would arrive by the Deccan Airways flight tomorrow morning and come to the engineering college. Sources, however, failed to say whether the director, NIT, Rourkela would join as the new director or not.

The acting director, Akhileswar Mishra, is away in New Delhi to attend a meeting of NIT directors. Mishra had left the institute having handed over the charge to N.K. Narayan of the placement cell. Professor Narayan on Tuesday left the institute giving the charge of directorship to registrar M.K. Banerjee. The teachers, who resumed their duty today, were at a loss to understand the situation.

But majority of the teachers is hopeful that everything would be set once the college gets a new director. “We will see that the answerscripts of examinees of the end semester are checked and the results published on the scheduled day, May 22,” said a section of the teachers. Another section said they would finish the viva voce, which is still on.

“We are dead sure that Sarangi is going to be the new director of the institute. Once the new director joins the institute, everything would normalise,” said a teacher, who was active in the prolonged NITTA strike that was called off yesterday.

Giving a faint idea about their plans, the teacher said that they would the new director some time to settle down before placing their demands to him. “We are concerned about the fate of our careers, which depend on the implementation of the career advancement scheme (CAS). Had the outgoing acting director Akhileswar Mishra paid heed to our pleas, we would never have wanted his replacement,” said another teacher.

When acting director Akhileswar Mishra was contacted over cellphone, he claimed that he was unaware a new director replacing his position.

“I am in New Delhi now and I am not aware of any development in NIT, Jamshedpur,” Mishra told The Telegraph.