Conrad’s intervention sought into conflict in NEHU admission process

SHILLONG, Oct 19: The NEHU Students’ Union (NEHUSU) and the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) NEHU unit on Wednesday sought Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s intervention into the ongoing conflict in the admission process at the university.
“We would like to submit that there is a conflict on the interpretation of weightage to be provided to the students seeking admission in the said University,” NEHUSU general secretary Laridame C Laloo and KSU NEHU unit general secretary Shibaitlang Rymbai stated in a joint letter to the chief minister.
“According to clause 5 of RC-1 under the ordinance OC-1 of the North-Eastern Hill University, the weightage to be given to graduates from NEHU-affiliated colleges and graduates, who are from universities other than NEHU but are domiciles of Meghalaya, will be 10 per cent,” the two student bodies stated.
Pointing out that the UGC made CUET mandatory for admission into all central universities, they said admission into NEHU will be based on the CUET score and that weightage should be added to CUET score as per NEHU ordinance.
According to them, there is an attempt to misinterpret the rules by contending that a weightage of 10 marks will be added instead of 10 per cent as per the ordinance.
They said the Central Admission Committee of the university held a meeting on October 18 to interpret the ordinance but were not able to reach a “constructive” conclusion due to differences in opinions.
The two student bodies mentioned that an Academic Council meeting will be held on Thursday to interpret the same.
“We strongly oppose the ideology of misinterpreting the said ordinance as this would greatly hamper the aspiring students from the state and NEHU-affiliated colleges as well. Further, we strongly oppose any amendment, if made, in the Academic Council,” they stated.
They urged the CM to intervene and ensure that the NEHU administration does not try to make any changes or misinterpret the ordinance.
According to them, the weightage to be provided to the students seeking admission should be added in terms of percentage as per the ordinance and not in marks.