SHILLONG, July 27: Vowing to undo the administrative paralysis of the recent past, NEHU’s new Vice-Chancellor and long-time insider Prof SK Barik on Monday signaled a departure from the controversial ‘Shukla era’ by promising to scrutinise past decisions and immediately restart stalled recruitments.
On his first day in office, Prof Barik held separate meetings with representatives of the North-Eastern Hill University Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA), North-Eastern Hill University Students’ Union, North-Eastern Hill University Non-Teaching Staff Association and other stakeholders. They submitted memorandums to him highlighting long-pending issues that remained unresolved during the prolonged administrative crisis in the university.
Later, Prof Barik told reporters that his immediate priority would be to remove the administrative bottlenecks, which hampered the university’s functioning, and create an environment where academics, research and student welfare receive the attention they deserve.
He said the university must address the root causes of its problems to regain the position it once enjoyed among the country’s leading institutions.
“Our objective is to resolve these issues permanently so that NEHU regains its lost glory. Once these issues are settled, we can focus on academics, research, innovation and community engagement,” Prof Barik said.
He stressed that rebuilding confidence among teachers, students, employees and the administration would be crucial to restore the university’s reputation.
Stating that dialogue will remain the cornerstone of his administration, he said decisions would be taken after consulting all stakeholders.
“I believe in working collectively. Whether they are teachers, students, employees or civil society, discussions are important because solutions evolved together are always more sustainable,” the VC said.
Acknowledging the challenges confronting the university, Prof Barik pointed to shortages of manpower, inadequate infrastructure and financial constraints. He said recruitment had remained stalled for a considerable period, leaving several sanctioned posts vacant and forcing the university to depend heavily on contractual and outsourced employees.
He further stated that the process of recruiting non-teaching staff would be restarted after obtaining necessary approvals from the Ministry of Education.
“We will strictly follow the recruitment rules and ensure that appointments are made purely on merit,” he said.
Prof Barik placed the timely conduct of examinations, completion of academic sessions and regular convocation among his immediate priorities.
Describing these as the basic responsibilities of any university, he expressed confidence that NEHU would be able to hold its convocation before the end of the year.
On the demands raised by NEHUTA regarding promotions of faculty members and appointment of deans, the VC said the issues would be examined by the Executive Council after considering the representations submitted by teachers and other stakeholders.
He assured that the appointments of the Registrar and Finance Officer would be taken up on priority, stating that the university required experienced administrators capable of ensuring efficient governance.
Regarding the appointment of the Director of the ICSSR North Eastern Regional Centre, Prof Barik said the process would be initiated shortly and the selection would be based strictly on merit.
He indicated that his administration would examine several decisions taken during the tenure of his predecessor Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla, including matters relating to the Tura campus construction project.
He said that the memorandums submitted by various stakeholders would be carefully examined and that decisions would be taken strictly within the framework of the NEHU Act, Statutes and Ordinances.
Appealing for cooperation, Prof Barik urged teachers, students and employees to work together to rebuild the institution.
An eminent botanist, Prof Barik has been associated with NEHU for decades as a student, researcher and teacher. He is currently the Dean of the School of Life Sciences and has served as Professor of Botany since 2006.
Before taking over as the VC, he served as the Director of the CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Director of the CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, and the CSIR Theme Director for Agriculture, Nutrition and Biotechnology.
With more than 38 years of research experience and three decades of postgraduate teaching, Prof Barik has published over 140 papers in international journals, supervised 26 Ph.D. scholars and led several nationally and internationally funded research projects.
