SHILLONG, OCT 15: The North Eastern Hill University Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA) on Tuesday staged a protest against the alleged interference of the Vice Chancellor Prof PS Shukla in the university’s affairs despite not being in office for over a year.

“This assembly of NEHUTA members in front of the VC office was to highlight the interference of Prof Shukla while he is not in office for the last 333 days, precisely exactly more than 11 months. On November 13, he will complete one year and absent from his office yet drawing his full salary. Now, what irritates us is that when ministry people came during the month of May, the impression was made to us that the 30th of May EC meeting in Delhi will be his last meeting and he will never try to chair any meeting, but now every now and then he is trying to interfere in the activities of NEHU. In the EC meeting of NEHU, he wants to chair by himself, which we will never allow because we have already conveyed to the Ministry that all the stakeholders, NEHUTA, NEHUNSA, NEHUSU, and all the people of the state have said that he is persona non-grata for us and he cannot chair any future meeting. The Ministry has told us that whenever there is an EC meeting or any other meeting, the VC will be on leave. But now, he is defying the understanding between stakeholders and the Ministry and betraying the very promise,” NEHUTA president Lakhon Kma told media persons.

Kma alleged that Prof Shukla has been involved in corrupt practices, including outsourcing construction work to MTDC Imphal, a corporation based in Manipur, despite the university’s own Construction Division being capable of handling the projects.

He claimed that Rs 82 lakhs was released for a project that is yet to be completed, and that this is an act of omission and commission between Prof Shukla and MTDC.

“”All these construction that you see in NEHU has been done through our CDD office, which is capable of undertaking it, but Prof Shukla deliberately bypasses CDD so that he can give and outsource this construction work to MTDC Imphal so that they can have a quid pro quo between them. This is an act of corruption because he has shown now three times that he has done this act of corruption, which we have already reported to the President of India, who is also the visitor of the University, and copy to the Ministry of Education, where we have highlighted how he has involved in corruption whereby within 15 days, he has given the work order, the job has not been completed, but Rs 82 lakhs was released, and finally, after the money has been taken by MTDC, they came out with a letter saying that give us more time for completion of the work. This only shows that it is an act of omission and commission between Prof. Shukla and MTDC,” Prof Kma stated.

The NEHUTA has decided to take its grievances to Delhi and meet with the Ministry of Education to highlight Prof Shukla’s actions and demand his removal.

“We have decided that we will go to Delhi, we will meet the Ministry, and we will explain to them what has happened here and how their promise of resolving the issue of NEHU has come as an act of betrayal to us because right now, Prof Shukla, although he is not in office for the last one year now, is drawing full salary, doing nothing as far as the VC is concerned, all his job is done by the Pro VCs of Shillong and Tura. You can never hear of such events anywhere in the country where somebody is not in office for almost 11-12 months now and still draws full salary, and it is a wastage of exchequer money, and this is being done by Prof Shukla. We are strongly against it, and we will make sure that we expose him fully by going to Delhi and meeting people and ensuring that his act of corruption is highlighted to the highest order,” Prof Kma said.

The NEHUTA has urged the administration to convene an Executive Council meeting to address pending issues, including faculty promotions and service confirmations.

The association has demanded the appointment of a Dean for the School of Social Sciences based on seniority and rotation, alleging that the current reappointment process is arbitrary and violates NEHU statutes.

It has also urged the administration to clear pending medical bills and take up repair and maintenance of faculty quarters.

The association has also raised concerns over alleged violations of General Financial Rules (GFR) in allotment of construction works at the Tura Campus.

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