NEIGRIHMS ruckus: CM vows action against group

SHILLONG, April 8: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday promised that the government will initiate action in connection with the recent incident of disruption of operations at NEIGRIHMS.
He said the police have taken note of the incident and a case has been registered. The police are taking steps as per law and action will be initiated against the perpetrators based on evidence, he said.
“From any point of view, this is unacceptable,” Sangma said referring to the locking of NEIGRIHMS director’s office by the Hynniewtrep Youth Council in protest against non-fulfilment of its demands.
He said even during wars, armed forces have an unwritten code of not touching hospitals.
“The operations of hospital were kind of interfered with. Whatever the reasons may be, at the end of the day, if you do something like that, it is the people and the patients who suffer,” he said.
Stating that this is not the way to address issues, he said the state government, the central government and the institute never closed their doors for any discussion on any issues.
“We proved it and showed it in the past and we will continue to engage in the future. There is no instance where the functioning of a hospital was disturbed,” Sangma said.
“If there are concerns, then there are ways to discuss and address them but stopping the operations of a hospital is not one of them,” he added.
‘Working on NEHU solution’
Speaking about the ongoing imbroglio in the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) over the demand for Vice Chancellor Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla’s removal, Sangma said the government is indirectly engaging at various levels to find a solution.
“There are issues from both sides. We have tried to understand those and reach out to stakeholders, directly or through somebody in the system, to see how we can resolve the issues for smooth functioning of NEHU,” the chief minister said.
Pointing out that NEHU is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education and the state government is not the competent authority in matters relating to the varsity, he said, “Appointment of the Chancellor is done at the President’s level. Therefore, there are complications and it is difficult for us to intervene…”
“…but we are engaging. We are talking to people. I have personally gone to meet the students,” he said, reminding that when he tried to engage with the students, some of them took it otherwise.
“My purpose was engagement. I am engaging with certain staff and faculty members, unofficially and informally,” Sangma said, adding, “Other political leaders as well as bureaucrats are also engaging. So, we are finding a way. We’re trying to see how we can bring the different stakeholders together to resolve this issue.”
He also said that he is engaging with the central government and talking to the Union Education Minister, updating him regularly about the developments and requesting him to try and find a solution.