By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 4: The North-Eastern Hill University Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA) on Monday expressed resentment that Vice Chancellor Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla is maintaining a stony silence on the demand for the termination of services of Registrar Colonel (retd) Omkar Singh and Deputy Registrar Amit Gupta.
The deadline given by the NEHU Students’ Union (NEHUSU) and the KSU NEHU Unit to the VC to terminate the services of the registrar and deputy registrar ended on Monday.
The NEHUTA said Prof Shukla’s “ill-motivated inaction” and negligence are of “Himalayan proportions”. The association alleged that he failed to address a single issue raised by the university community in an appropriate manner.
“His evasive role only points at his casual and faltering approach like an ostrich hiding his head under sand dunes,” NEHUTA president Lakhon Kma said.
He said they are concerned that Prof Shukla is trying to hide behind some empty procedures and intentional delays. He also said that the VC continues to stay out of station by ignoring the public outcry over his failure to run NEHU even with a minimal sense of commitment.
“Such omission and commission on the part of Vice Chancellor Prabha Shankar Shukla brings under scanner total failure of Omkar Singh as Controller of Examinations, as his background has nothing to do with any past stint in any higher educational institution,” the NEHUTA president said.
Further, he said it is a matter of concern that a Deputy Registrar cannot even write a single sentence correctly and publishes wrong official documents. He said this shatters any semblance of NEHU as a higher educational institution.
“On being confronted by the students, he (VC) admitted in full public view that he has been biased as the chairman of all selection committees that made these dubious appointments. It is on record that Amit Gupta was declared not eligible for the post of Deputy Registrar by the screening committee in late 2023 due to lack of experience but within a few months, he becomes so eligible and experienced that he supersedes all other candidates and is appointed by this VC,” the NEHUTA president said.
According to him, this exemplified the biased conduct of the VC as the chairman of the selection committee. He alleged that the VC had ignored all good candidates, local or otherwise, during the appointment of the Registrar and several other faculty members.
Kma wondered if NEHU can afford to function with so many Prof Shukla recruits, misfitting into their job.
“It is ironical that the VC started sermonising about NEHU’s future. The fact remains that he created a huge administrative, financial and academic vacuum by deliberately bringing down basic standards of competence in recruitment so that NEHU can no longer stand on its own feet. Such is the sordid state of affairs. In spite of our repeated calls, he showed no willingness to take any corrective measure,” the NEHUTA president said.
“He (Prof Shukla) is surrounded by some clerks, and novitiate is yet to realise the seriousness of malfunctioning that is created by the Registrar and his cohort that in the ultimate analysis only downgrades the image of his being the VC. Seemingly, the VC is least bothered about his institutional responsibility and lost threads of connectivity with larger NEHU fraternity,” Kma said.
According to him, various wrongdoings, which disturbed the academic atmosphere, can be attributed to the VC’s failure to uphold rules and regulations of NEHU.
Citing an example, he said the VC dilly-dallied on granting earned leave to those who ran offices during vacation, or stalled leave of teachers and their gratuity and medical allowances.
Kma said the VC’s opinion that Academic Council is only for academic matters only goes to show his poor understanding of the powers and functions of Academic Council which statutorily decides on all matters of academic life of the university, including pay and emoluments.
“As the university community is silently suffering and the VC is enjoying leave, once again, the NEHUTA condemns such irresponsible shirking of responsibility clearly showing how NEHU affairs get least priority from the incumbent VC. His delay in willingness to talk shows his insensitivity towards the seriousness of the omissions and commissions by the Registrar,” Kma said.
He said the university community stands firm against any such casuistry by the VC. Unless issues raised are appreciated by the VC, the accountability for all that consequential stalemate now squarely lies with the VC and his cohort, Kma added.
At its November 1 general body meeting, NEHUTA expressed appreciation for NEHUNSA’s letter of support and resolved to strongly support NEHUSU’s demand for the removal of the registrar and the deputy registrar in the larger interest of NEHU.