SHILLONG, Feb 26: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday gave a clean chit to the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM) despite damning allegations by his Assam counterpart, Himanta Biswa Sarma about fake degrees being issued by the university.
Sangma defended USTM, saying the university has got all necessary approvals and they have followed all procedures. “All permissions are in order and there is nothing wrong. All of their degrees are absolutely genuine,” he said.
Asked about the allegations made by the Assam CM, Sangma refused to comment on the matter.
Not satisfied, the State BJP has asked its coalition partner, NPP, not to brush the USTM issue under the carpet by issuing mundane statements like “there are no illegalities”.
The BJP asked the government to order a probe into the allegations for the sake of the thousands of students staring at an uncertain future.
“The Vice Chancellor’s arrest means there is something wrong. If the government is sincere and if they care about the future of the thousands of students of USTM they should act and not be mere spectators,” BJP vice president Bernard N Marak said on Wednesday.
“The state government cannot just say there are no illegalities when there are major accusations against USTM. If there is any allegation or any kind of misappropriation pointed out against the institution, the state has to take steps to address them through a probe,” he added.
