AYUSH Ministry promises to pay pending stipend, complete NEHU affiliation process for PG courses
SHILLONG, Dec 1: The eight MD (Homeopathy) students of the North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy (NEIAH) are likely call off their indefinite hunger strike on Monday.
The development comes after Under Secretary to the Ministry of AYUSH, Abdul Sadiq Khan met the agitating students at NEIAH campus on Sunday evening.
During his meeting with the students, Khan assured them that their stipends which have been pending for a year will be disbursed.
Khan also confirmed that the affiliation of their three-year PG courses with NEHU will be done as soon as normalcy returns in the institute.
The agitating students were also told by the administration that the affiliation process was under way.
The eight students are now waiting for a written assurance from the Under Secretary on their demands before calling off their indefinite hunger strike which they started on November 26.
Regarding their third demand for providing guides to the PG students in accordance with the norms of the National Commission for Homeopathy (NCH), the administration said it will be done by NEHU once the three-year PG course is affiliated under the university.
Earlier in the day, a delegation of Meghalaya BJP, led by Cabinet Minister AL Hek, urged the eight students to suspend their indefinite hunger strike.
State BJP spokesperson Mariahom Kharkrang, who was also part of the delegation, said that prior to meeting the agitating students they had met the officials of the institute who briefed them on the status of the students’ grievances.
“Based on the status given by the officials it is expected that their main grievances (pending stipend and NEHU affiliation) will be attended to within 8 to 10 days,” Kharkrang said, while assuring the students that the BJP would take up their grievances with the central government for an early resolution.