Shillong, Jan 15: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) has approached the Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’  endorsing the name of the only tribal candidate for the position of the new Vice-Chancellor in North Eastern Hill University (NEHU).

In a letter, the KSU endorsed the name of Prof. Sherwin May Sungoh as the next Vice-Chancellor of the university, the only candidate who has been short-listed for the post of Vice-Chancellor from the University.

The union in its letter stated, “The reason being so is that the union is of the opinion that culture and ethos of the region (Meghalaya) should be one of the key considerations in the selection of the new Vice-Chancellor”.

Backing the candidature of Prof. Sungoh, the student body said that she is a person with a background in education and stated that it is of utmost importance that the local ethos and sentiments be carefully considered considering the adverse situation that has arisen in the past five years.

The Union pointed out that in over 5 (five) long years when Prof. S. K. Srivastava was in charge as the Vice-Chancellor of the University, the growth and progress of the University had deteriorated and declined rapidly which was evident from the fact that the ranking of the University had slipped and fallen from rank of 16 to a lowly position of below 50 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework.

It brought to the fore the many protests and agitations against Prof. S. K. Srivastava from the students, the teachers, the staff and employees of the University to express their anger and resentment in his incompetence and incapability as a Vice-Chancellor to resolve various matters which has been put forward to him.

The union also alleged that there has been allegations leveled against him for mismanagement of public resources, misguided policies, and lack of academic conferences- an important criteria long deemed essential in academics perception.