Shillong, July 8: The teaching fraternity of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) under the banners of the NEHUTA and MeTTA-NEHU have demanded for appointment of a tribal woman professor as the Vice Chancellor (VC) for the varsity with the tenure of the incumbent VC, Prof SK Srivastava currently on an one-year extension.
Prof. Srivastava’s tenure ended on September 23, 2020 and was given an one-year extension by the President, Visitor of the University, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. He had assumed the office of the Vice-Chancellor of NEHU on September 24, 2015 for a period of five years.
In a joint statement issued on Thursday, NEHUTA president Prof XP Mao and MeTTA-NEHU president Dr Lakhon Kma said, “We…demand immediate appointment of qualified local tribal woman professor as VC of NEHU, without any further delay, in the best interest of the university and the society.”
The demand is in view of the unique matrilineal society of Meghalaya and the university needing a ‘healing’ touch after six years of alleged mismanagement and decline in its status and ranking.
“We request the Union Government and the newly appointed Minister of Education to kindly consider the case of a tribal woman Professor, who figures in the consideration of search cum selection committee so that NEHU gets a VC who can not only lead but can bring in a healing effect to the mismanaged affairs of the University and can take it to the path of progress and all round development,” they said.
The Meghalaya Tribals Teachers’ Association (MeTTA-NEHU) and North Eastern Hill University Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA) said the delay in appointment of a suitable candidate as new Vice-Chancellor of NEHU has affected the university.
“We reiterate that in the absence of a new Vice-Chancellor, the progress of the university is practically stalled, as NEHU suffers from serious administrative, academic and financial lapses over the last five years that brought down the status and the rank of the University,” they said.
“Given such an unwarranted slide of NEHU, the earliest central university for the North-Eastern region, the cause of higher education and specialized and professional training of talents from the region and the state of Meghalaya is stunted, as the institutional frame has wilted during the tenure of Prof SK Srivastava,” they added.
The two associations also urged the Ministry of Education to complete the statutory procedure for appointment of a new VC, as the process was completed by the search cum selection committee long back.
