Editor,
An alarming situation has emerged in NEHU where a recent recruitment process for faculty in the Department of Architecture, School of Technology appears to have deviated from the norms prescribed by the Council of Architecture, which is the regulatory authority on matters related to the profession including the prescription of qualifications and standards in architectural education.
In a response to an RTI that took four months to be replied to, it was accepted by the University that the advertisements for the posts in the Department mentioned the eligibility criteria to be followed only as per the UGC and AICTE regulations with no mention of the Council of Architecture Minimum Standards of Architectural Education Regulations, 2020. This is most peculiar as the Department of Architecture is listed as an approved institution of the Council and is expected to implement the criteria prescribed by the Council regulations for faculty recruitment. It is also unusual that the University agrees to conforming to these regulations while contradicting, that the University recruitment portal required candidates to have a compulsory PhD for certain faculty positions in the Department of Architecture when the Council regulations clearly state otherwise.
What is more baffling is that the RTI reply states that the University Selection Committee ensures that recruitment is done as per the advertisement only which would imply that the Council regulations were not considered. This would have excluded architects who may have been eligible to apply for the posts of Associate Professor and Professor as they were subjected to requirements not prescribed by the Council. A total of seven faculty positions across different levels were advertised with only one position being filled up. The University admitted that the results were not published on the University website. As it stands, the Department is short of fulfilling the required student-teacher ratio and when inaccurate requirements for faculty positions are advertised, it leads to doubts regarding the veracity of recruitment and management practices within the University. It leads to a gap in teaching capacity and for reasons best known to the University, the motive to keep six faculty positions vacant seems unclear. This comes at a time when the entire North East region has ample qualified professionals with experience in this discipline who could enhance the profile of the Department and the University as a whole.
The UGC itself recognises that the Council of Architecture prescribes qualifications and standards of education regarding the discipline and in a recent notice dated the July 16, 2024, has requested all Universities to take serious steps to ensure that vacant positions are filled at the earliest. In this regard, it is presumed that NEHU will ensure that the range of educational disciplines within the University will be governed legitimately by their respective regulations during faculty recruitment.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request,
Via email
Why is Meghalaya heating up like never before?
Editor,
About 40 years ago, I remember people quickly kindling coal grates to warm themselves, even during the summer rains in Shillong. But now, we sweat even when it rains continuously for two weeks. Humidity makes the situation even worse. Many complain of being unable to sleep at night due to the excessive heat. Over the course of these four decades, the temperature of the town has significantly increased. Some believe it has risen by almost 6 to 7 degrees. Is this a joke? Should we just laugh it off?
Well, is it not the same earth rotating on its axis? Is it not the same revolution through its elliptical path for the “changes of seasons”, and the same distance from the Sun? The planetary distance and the length of days and nights haven’t changed one bit. Nature hasn’t deviated an inch, but we surely have!
Truly, this steep rise in temperature is a direct result of our mindless actions and insatiable greed, apart from global warming. What if we could remove the entrenched “greediness” from the minds of citizens of the state? I am sure Shillong would be the Scotland of the East within just 10 years. It would soon start healing! But alas, that seems next to impossible. When we have not been able to clear even smelly garbage from our drains and riversides, how could we ever think of clearing the dirt of avarice from the minds of the people?
Whether one agrees or not, greed is the main driving force behind the extensive deforestation in Meghalaya! This greed, as sharp as a razor, has chopped down hundreds of billions of trees over the decades. We’ve exported them by fleets of trucks every day and night outside the state and even the country, all in a rush to get rich quickly. It never occurred to any of us that we were inviting disaster with the resultant destruction of our forest cover. It never dawned on us that this rapid damage to greenery and water bodies would lead to losing a vital part of our ecosystem that regulates temperature and maintains ecological balance.
Haven’t we dug out millions of metric tons of sand, stone, boulders, coal, and limestone as if there’s no tomorrow? I think the education that we brag about has not made us any wiser. Do any of the authorities speak out against this madness? No, not at all; except for a few writers and journalists. It seems our environmental administrators have all gone fishing.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some businessmen climbed up to the top of a hill and shouted, saying that wads of money earned is the key to fresh air and clean water, proudly brandishing a bottle of mineral water and an oxygen cylinder.
Ironically, the stifling traffic jams caused by the excessive number of vehicles, which also contribute to the rising temperatures in town, haven’t stopped us from splurging on expensive Thar and SUV cars. Our new mantra is: if not on the road, let them be in our garages. At any cost, our wealth, ill-gotten or otherwise must be on display!
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong
Regrets and Correction
Editor,
Apropos of the letter ‘Inclusion and terminology,’ by Mondakini Basu, (ST. July 26, 2024), I on behalf of Sri Sarada Sangha Shillong would like to thank the author for her words of appreciation towards the philanthropic activities of the Sangha while also pointing out the ‘unacceptable’ use of the words ‘Deaf and Dumb’ regarding the school, meant for welfare of the disabled, as was published in the report of ST July 22, 2024.
The Sangha regrets the use of inappropriate words to define the performance of the differently-abled children which is purely due to lack of awareness on our part and is totally unintentional.
Further, with reference to the first paragraph of Ms Basu’s letter, I would like to point out that the Sarada Sangha Shillong had launched its 70th anniversary only, and not its ‘Quasqui-anniversary (125yrs)’, as mentioned in the letter.
Yours etc.,
Uma Purkayastha,
Via email
Clarification
Editor,
My sincere apologies to Sarada Sangha Shillong for mistakenly referring to their platinum jubilee anniversary as quasi-qui anniversary in my letter to the Editor dated, 26.07.24.
Mondakini Basu