NEHU bodies serve 48-hr ultimatum to Education Ministry to appoint Acting VC

Shillong, March 17: The North-Eastern Hill University Students’ Union (NEHUSU), North-Eastern Hill University Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA), and North-Eastern Hill University Non-Teaching Staff Association (NEHUNSA) have decided to give a 48-hour ultimatum to the Ministry of Education, demanding the immediate appointment of an Acting Vice-Chancellor for the university.

In a meeting on Monday, the three statutory bodies have rejected the ‘remote’ functioning of Prof. P. S. Shukla, who resumed his duties as Vice Chancellor earlier this month ‘virtually’. They claimed that Prof. Shukla has been absent from the campus for over 130 days, and demanded that his salary be stopped as he has exhausted all the leaves applied to him. They also demanded that the salaries of Registrar and Deputy Registrar should also be stopped as they too have been absent from the campus for the similar period of time.

Stating that the university cannot afford to not have a VC in station, NEHUTA president Prof. Lakhon Kma said, “We have a very unprecedented situation in Shillong that we don’t have a VC, and the regular VC have absconded. He seems to claim that he has joined online which we have totally rejected because under any rule of Government of India, there is no provision of joining online. So, he is not in station, so, for us, he is on leave.”

He said Prof. Shukla has been on leave for more than 130 days continuously, and also an inquiry has been conducted and the report has been submitted to ministry, the content of which have yet to be made public. “So how under the sun can somebody declare himself free of all charges and claim to have assumed the duties of Vice Chancellor?” Prof. Kma further wondered.

The resolutions of Monday’s meeting will be sent to the Ministry of Education for consideration, with a 48-hour deadline. If the Ministry fails to abide to their demands, they have warned to invoke Clause 2(A)(5)(ii) of the NEHU rules, which allows the senior most faculty to assume charge as the acting VC. If that is not allowed, they have warned to once again stage agitation.

“The university will send a letter to the Ministry attaching the resolutions that we have taken and wait for 48 hours. If they don’t respond then naturally that particular statute will be invoked and the senior most professor in station will take charge as the Vice Chancellor to perform the duties of the Vice Chancellor,” he informed.

Clause 2(A)(5)(i) & (ii) of NEHU’s Statutes states: (5) (i) in the event that the Vice-Chancellor is unable to perform his duties owing to absence, illness or any other cause, the duty of his office shall be performed by the Pro-Vice Chancellor, or if there is more than one Pro-Vice Chancellor, by the senior-most Pro-Vice-Chancellor until the Vice-Chancellor attends to the duties of his office. Provided that if a Pro-Vice-Chancellor is not available, the senior most Professor shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor. (ii) If the office of the Vice-Chancellor becomes vacant due to death, resignation, retirement or otherwise, the senior-most Professor shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor until a new Vice-Chancellor assumes office.

Meanwhile, NEHUSU president Sandy Sohtun criticized Prof. Shukla’s attempts to direct university affairs remotely. “He is trying to run the university through WhatsApp from Guwahati, which we will never accept,” Sohtun said. He added that students would not allow Shukla to return to campus and reiterated that if the ministry failed to act within the deadline, they would ensure that the rules were followed to appoint an acting VC.

The students also warned of renewed agitation if their concerns were ignored. “Previously, they did not listen to the voice of students or stakeholders. We had to go on a hunger strike on November 5. If the situation remains unresolved and the committee’s report is further delayed, we may resume our protest or the hunger strike,” they warned.

All the three statutory bodies reaffirmed that they will not allow Prof. Shukla to return to the campus. They want him to resign and leave the university.

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