By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, May 20: The Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education on Wednesday issued an advertisement inviting applications for the appointment to the post of Vice-Chancellor of the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU).
The move comes ahead of the completion of the tenure of the incumbent VC Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla, whose term is scheduled to end on July 26. According to the advertisement, the VC, being the academic as well as administrative head of the university, is expected to be a person possessing the highest level of competence, integrity, morals and institutional commitment.
The candidate should be a distinguished academician with a minimum of 10 years’ experience as Professor in a university or 10 years’ experience in a reputed research and/or academic administrative organisation with proof of having demonstrated academic leadership. The Ministry has also stated that the applicant should preferably not be more than 65 years of age as on the closing date for receipt of applications.
The post carries a fixed pay of Rs 2,10,000 per month along with a special allowance of Rs. 11,250 and other usual allowances as admissible under university rules. It was informed that the appointment will be made from a panel of names recommended by a committee constituted under the provisions of the University Act. The advertisement has been made available on the websites of education.gov.in and nehu.ac.in. Candidates have been asked to apply online through the Ministry of Education SAMARTH (vcrec.smarth.ac.in/index.php/). The online application portal became active from 10 am on May 20 and will remain open till 5 pm on June 18, 2026.
The advertisement comes against the backdrop of a prolonged leadership vacuum at NEHU after the VC’s continued absence since November 2024. Faculty and administrative staff described the absence as having created measurable operational challenges across academic and administrative functions.
Officials said routine decision-making on matters such as approvals for new courses, faculty recruitment, promotion cases, and sanctioning of funds has frequently stalled or been delayed.
Several departmental heads reported difficulties in obtaining signatures and formal clearances for academic calendars, examination schedules, research grants, affecting both teaching and research timelines, and other administrative bottlenecks.
