SHILLONG: North Eastern Hill University Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA) has petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee, who is also the Visitor of the Central University, to institute an enquiry against the University Vice Chancellor and its registrar for allegedly forging official documents pertaining to the university. The Meghalaya Tribal Teachers’ Association also extended support to NEHUTA on the Hills Area Special Allowances row.
NEHUTA president Prof X P Mao, in a letter to the President alleged that the Vice Chancellor is indulging in criminal conspiracy of doctoring official document including the minutes of the executive council meet of the University in connivance with the registrar and misleading the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Visitor’s office.
According to the teachers, the Vice Chancellor S K Srivastava allegedly ‘misrepresented’ the MHRD on the minutes of the emergent executive council meet in May this year on matters related to repeal of the Ordinance that allows the employees to enjoy the Hills Area Special Allowances (HASA) since January 1995.
”The minutes sent to the MHRD are totally different and in contradiction to the resolution of the executive council indicating willful concealment and deliberate misrepresentation of facts by NEHU officials,” Prof Mao alleged.
Prof Mao accused Srivastava of informing the MHRD that the executive council had ‘humbly accepted’ the repeal of the Ordinance whereas “the fact is that Executive Council had wanted the matter to be discussed at the Academic Council”.
The teaching community at NEHU had given a week’s deadline to Prof Srivastava to resign from his office and warned of serious legal actions for misinterpreting facts amounting to ‘forgery’.
Meanwhile, the executive committee of Meghalaya Tribal Teachers’ Association (MeTTA) met on July 19 to discuss matters pertaining to NEHU and in particular matters related to the recent news, which appeared in various newspapers. The members examined the varied issues and after threadbare discussions, MeTTA resolved to stand in unity with NEHUTA and all stakeholders in maintaining and protecting the dignity, honour and pride of NEHU.
The Tribal Association said that NEHUTA has given correct information on the matters and the public should be discerning about false information being disseminated.
MeTTA strongly condemned the ‘doctoring’ and ‘tampering’ of official documents (i.e Minutes of the 48th Emergent Executive Council held in May 15) by the Vice-Chancellor. “This is a grossly unethical and disgraceful action committed by the present VC, which subverts NEHU’s honour, dignity and pride,” added the association.