GUWAHATI: Academic activities at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) in Meghalaya have been disrupted for the past six days.
Students have been on a hunger strike and have locked the institute's gates, demanding the removal of Vice-Chancellor Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla, among other issues.
Alleged irregularities in the appointment of the registrar, a deputy registrar, and other “incompetent” teaching and non-teaching staff are among the reasons behind the agitation. The protesters are demanding the termination of these employees.
The protest is being staged by the North-Eastern Hill University Students’ Union and the NEHU unit of the Khasi Students’ Union. Various organizations have lent their support to the protest.
Five of the 19 students on the hunger strike had to be hospitalized. Four were discharged later and rejoined the protest. The fifth, a female student, is still admitted to the hospital.
Governor Chandrashekhar H. Vijayashankar, who is the Chief Rector of the central university, appealed to the students to withdraw their agitation, assuring that their demands would be considered. However, the students decided to continue the protest until the VC is ousted.
In a memorandum submitted to President Droupadi Murmu recently, the two protesting student bodies alleged that the NEHU management, under the leadership of Prof. Shukla and Registrar Colonel (retd) Omkar Singh, had reached an untenable state, with significant and alarming consequences for the academic standards, infrastructure, and reputation of the institution.
“The decline in the university’s rankings is a stark reflection of the failure of the administration to fulfil its core responsibilities. Prior to the appointment of Prof PS Shukla, NEHU was consistently ranked within the top 60 universities nationally,” the memorandum said.
“However, under his leadership, the university’s ranking has plummeted to range between 100-150. This drop in performance is an urgent cause for concern and calls for immediate corrective action,” the memorandum further read.
It alleged that the VC consistently failed to address the pressing issues affecting the university, adding, “his dismissive attitude and failure to take proactive steps to resolve concerns has created an atmosphere of dissatisfaction and distrust among the students.”
According to the students, the issues afflicting the university include an acute shortage of infrastructure and manpower, unfulfilled recruitment drives, disruption of academic processes, “incompetence of the registrar and a deputy registrar,” and “unethical” appointments, among others.