Wednesday, April 2, 2025

NEIAH students end hunger strike

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Ministry of AYUSH agrees to fulfil their demands

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG, Dec 2: The eight Post Graduate (PG) students of Homoeopathy of the North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy (NEIAH) have decided to end their indefinite hunger strike after the Ministry of AYUSH accepted their demands.
The agitating scholars who were on an indefinite hunger strike since November 26 took the decision following a marathon meeting with the Under Secretary of the Ministry of AYUSH, Abdul Sadiq Khan in the presence of faculty members and officers of NEIAH on Monday evening.
It was a continuation of Sunday’s meeting between the agitating scholars and the Under Secretary.
The Ministry set a condition that they will accept all their demands only if they withdraw the indefinite hunger strike which the students agreed to.
The three main demands of the agitating scholars are release of their pending stipends and assurance of regular disbursement, expediting the affiliation process of their course with NEHU and allotment of guides for the MD students at the earliest.
It may be mentioned that AYUSH Secretary, Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha had discussed the matter with the agitating students on November 29 during a virtual meeting and had agreed to partly release their stipend with effect from November 1, 2024.
The remaining amount will be paid to the students (from December 2023) in the form of arrears after receiving the approval of the Department of Expenditure.
The students were also assured that all the procedure for obtaining affiliation of the course with NEHU, Shillong has been completed and affiliation will be obtained as soon as things normalise at NEHU.
Initially the students refused to accept the part payment of their stipend but following detailed deliberations, the students agreed to withdraw the hunger strike on the condition that the stipend is released to the students with retrospective effect from December 2023 to November 2024 immediately.
KSU unit demands
permanent director
The KSU NEIAH unit on Monday sought the intervention of the AYUSH Secretary for appointment of a permanent director in the institute.
In a letter addressed to Kotecha, KSU NEIAH unit general secretary, Eddie Rymbai said NEIAH is running two colleges (Ayurveda and Homeopathy) and the absence of a permanent director in the institution has left a critical impact on the smooth functioning, strategic planning, and overall success of the institution.
He said that a permanent director would provide consistent leadership and foster an environment conducive to growth and overall welfare of the institute.

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