SHILLONG, Nov 12: The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) on Tuesday urged Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to intervene in the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) crisis and sack Vice-Chancellor P S Shukla as demanded by the students to protect the overall interests of the students of the NE region.
The NESO is a conglomeration of eight students’ bodies from all NE states.
“We have formally written to the Union Education minister backing the demands of the students of the university to sack Vice Chancellor P S Shukla,” NESO chairman Samuel B Jyrwa told PTI.
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He said the intervention of the Union Education minister in this regard would ensure that the “quality of education in the region and the country is not compromised,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ongoing indefinite hunger strike launched by the students of the university under the banner of the NEHU Students’ Union (NEHUSU) and the KSU NEHU Unit continued which affected the functioning of NEHU.
The NESO blamed Shukla for the decline in the university’s rankings. Prior to PS Shukla’s term as VC, NEHU was consistently ranked within the top 60 universities nationally. However, under his leadership, the university’s ranking has plummeted to range between 100-150, they claimed.
The VC on Monday convened a meeting of the university Executive Committee (EC) via virtual mode.
A source close to the VC said that the EC had formally okayed a proposal to probe into the appointment of registrar and deputy registrar whose “competence” was questioned by the students and the faculty.
Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma has also briefed the Union Education minister on the imbroglio at NEHU.
“Briefed the Honble Minister Education @dpradhanbjp ji on the ongoing situation in NEHU and urged him to find an amicable solution to this issue,” the chief minister had posted on X on November 10.
On the other hand the non-teaching staff under the banner of the North Eastern Hill University Non-teaching Staff Association (NEHUNSA) has extended their full support to the ongoing indefinite hunger strike protest led by the students’ union (NEHUSU) for demanding the immediate resignation of the incumbent vice chancellor Prof PS Shukla.
The decision was taken at its emergent general body meeting held here recently.
NEHUNSA president Dr WR Synrem said, “NEHUNSA does not want to see that the university should be a training ground for the appointed officers. On the other hand, we expect that officers holding high posts should be guiding the staff in accordance with the rules passed by the Government of India.”
He alleged that since the joining of the current Vice Chancellor, all work in the university has been disturbed due to the lack of administrative and academic knowledge. As non-teaching employees who are directly involved in administrative duties are greatly frustrated due to the delay in the movement of files, the outcome of which is a delay in processing the regular works in the university, he added.
“It seems that the Vice Chancellor has come to this university to learn, which is not expected of the executive head,” Dr Synrem said.
Stating that the interview for the statutory post(s) of the university was conducted in Guwahati, whereby the Vice Chancellor cited that it was due to the urgent need to fill these positions, the president of the association said, “But to our utter disbelieve, the Controller of Examination which was included in the interview, was allowed to join 6 (six) months after the offer of appointment was made to him.”
“Recently, a deputy registrar was appointed who has no knowledge of correct English, despite the University’s medium of instruction being in English. This has also affected the day to day working of the administration,” he added.
Further, Dr Synrem informed that the condition of the road on the campus is in a dilapidated condition, which was never the case since the inception of the university. This issue too has been discussed with the Vice Chancellor repeatedly, but no action has been taken till date.
He said that the quarters allotted to the employees are never maintained by the university and the occupants have to shell out from their own pockets for any minor or major repairs despite their House Rent Allowance (HRA) being deducted every month.
Street lights, which are very important during the night, are not functioning, hence compromising the security and safety of the residents, including the students.
Moreover, Dr Synrem informed, “Recently, as per the RTI reply received, it clearly states that Compassionate Appointment in Government of India offices has never been discontinued; however, the university is yet to notify the same.” (With inputs from PTI and NNN)
