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Crisis deepens, NEHU under total lockdown from today

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NEHUSU and KSU NEHU unit to hold indefinite hunger strike over demand for ouster of Registrar and other ‘illegal’ appointees

SHILLONG, Nov 5: The NEHUSU and the NEHU unit of the KSU on Tuesday announced a total lockdown of the university from Wednesday after Vice Chancellor Prabha Shankar Shukla allegedly refused to listen to the demands of the students despite inviting them for talks.
They also decided to hold an indefinite hunger strike outside the administrative block building to pressure the VC to comply with their demand to remove the registrar, deputy registrar, and other “illegal” appointees.
Earlier, the members of the two unions had heated arguments with the VC in his chamber after the latter declined to listen to their grievances.
The agitated students asked Prof Shukla to also step down as he was “unfit” to head the university.
Addressing the students after emerging from the VC’s chamber, NEHUSU general secretary, Toniho S Kharsati said Prof Shukla was not ready to listen to the demands placed before him in 2022.
“We fail to understand why the VC refused to hear us out when he had agreed to meet us,” he said, expressing unhappiness with Prof Shukla’s attitude.
He said they decided to go for an indefinite hunger strike and total shutdown as the government did not address the grievances of the students aired in several memorandums they had submitted.
Kharsati said all the students of the university have come out to protest since they are concerned that NEHU is no longer among the top 100 universities in the country.
At the same time, the NEHUSU general secretary urged the state government to intervene and impress upon the Centre to appoint a new VC.
“We have not seen anything positive since this VC took over charge in 2021. We are concerned about the future of the students if he continues in office,” he said.
Kharsati said nothing can be expected from a VC who cannot convene a meeting of the Academic Council properly. The last meeting was disrupted.
“The teachers, students, and the non-teaching staff have lost confidence in the VC,” he added.
The KSU’s NEHU unit president, Shibaitlang Rymbai said they will continue with their agitation until the VC steps down from his position.
He said the issues they have highlighted have affected the entire student community of the university.
Earlier, the students took out a rally from the Central Library to the Administrative Block to protest against the failure of the VC to comply with their two demands – the removal of all illegal appointees and the appointment of Pro VCs on both Shillong and Tura campuses.
The leaders of the KSU’s central body led by its general secretary, Donald V Thabah met the agitating students to lend support.
The Meghalaya Tribal Teachers’ Association (MeTTA-NEHU) also supported the ongoing indefinite hunger strike of the NEHUSU at the Administrative Block Office of the university.
The members of the MeTTA-NEHU visited the agitating students after their general body meeting.
MeTTA-NEHU president DRL Nonglait told reporters that they had anticipated such a situation in the university following the exit of former Vice Chancellor SK Srivastava.
He further said that they tried their best to see a person from the state as the VC. “We failed in our efforts to get a local VC and we had to welcome Prof Shukla to lead the university,” he said.
He further said they expected Prof Shukla to take steps to improve the overall ranking of the university and address the grievances and problems faced by its students and employees.
“It is really sad to see the university go down to its lowest rankings during the tenure of the present VC. Now we are facing the consequences,” the MeTTA-NEHU president said.
According to him, the university now is witnessing an unpleasant situation where both the students and non-teaching staff have to agitate due to the failure of the VC.

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