It is not often that the Governor of a state takes pro-active action to blow the lid off a scam that was incubating for a while. Ever since its inception the CMJ University named after its founder Chandra Mohan Jha, a contractor whose educational qualifications are suspect and who had earlier announced that he had acquired a PhD from some nondescript foreign university, had created a furore when its engineering students failed to get their degrees. That such malfeasance can happen under the watch of the state is unacceptable, more so when it concerns education. The CMJ colleges of engineering have now been shifted to Khanapara and therefore from the immediate gaze of the public. Most of the students enrolled there are from Assam and elsewhere who have failed to check out the antecedents of the University. The engineering colleges were earlier affiliated to North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) but were later de-affiliated because the colleges failed to meet the minimum requirements of the University. Subsequently CMJ was baptized into a University, with the blessings of the State Government. This made it easier for CMJ to give out degrees without any hassle. But the University has overshot its brief. It has appointed a Chancellor without the knowledge of the Visitor – in this case the Governor of Meghalaya. It has also suddenly become a manufacturer of PhD degrees. Such aberration is unheard of.
Meghalaya has enacted several legislations for opening up private universities, some of them as early as 2005 but which have not been able to start up for reasons best known to the promoters. And now some of those who find it difficult to run the show are thinking of selling off the enterprise. This is a dangerous trend as it turns education into a commodity that can be bought and sold off at a premium. At this juncture it is important for the State Government to come up with an ombudsman to oversee the functioning of all private universities and also to put a cap on the number of universities to be opened in the future.
Although in a social welfare state higher education is expected to be state sponsored but such state or central universities have not been able to absorb the growing number of aspirants for higher education. This is where private universities fill the void. It would be wrong to demonise all private universities for the criminal proclivities of a few. Some of them are striving to become centers of excellence in their own right and to give the state sponsored universities a run for their money. The State Government should now take stock of the private universities and initiate legal and disciplinary action against those that have shown wayward tendencies.