Shillong, Jan 12: Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui has directed officials to study and find solutions to the administrative crisis of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) arising out of prolonged absence of the vice-chancellor Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla.
The minister, following a meeting with stakeholders of NEHU, asked the officials to take up the matter with the NEHU Pro-VC.
The representatives of NEHUTA, NEHUNSA, NEHUSU, and KSU, urged the minister to intervene in the matter by asking the Pro-VC of Tura campus to either takes charge of the Shillong headquarters as Acting VC (in ‘absence’ of the VC) or quit from the post.
Expressing concern over the prolonged crisis, the minister said the student community should not be at all affected by the administrative crisis.
“If it is affecting them in NEHU, it will affect entire state as many colleges are affiliated to NEHU… even scholarship of students will also be affected,” Rymbui said.
Terming the NEHU situation as “paralysed administration”, he said the situation had affected matters of declaration of results, payment of wages, sanctioning of seminars, etc.
He emphasized that the government’s priority is to ensure the university functions smoothly without affecting the student community.
Rymbui wrote to the Union Education Minister on December 15, seeking a permanent solution to the crisis.
“I will try again to have a meeting with him to emphasise that a permanent solution could be arrived at,” he said.
“”The NEHU statutes don’t have the power to appoint an Acting VC… the present incumbent must resign, like Prof Umdor did, for the senior-most professor to take over,” he added.
“The delay affects not only NEHU students but also those in affiliated colleges, impacting result declarations and more,” he said.
Asked about the status of the inquiry instituted by the ministry, Rymbui said the Ministry’s inquiry report, led by Prof DP Singh, remains undisclosed.
“The Ministry is very serious, that’s why they instituted an inquiry… but till date, we don’t know what’s in that report.”
The minister also informed that Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has been engaging with the central government to find a permanent solution.
Rymbui emphasized the need to address both immediate and long-term challenges.
“We have to tackle two issues – the present context and a permanent solution,” he said, urging swift action to restore NEHU’s academic stability.
