SHILLONG, Dec 6: Rajya Sabha MP and NPP State President, WR Kharlukhi informed today that all the three MPs of the state are pursuing the matter related to appointment of a “local” Vice Chancellor in the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) and a person who have been serving the institution for several years as Director of the North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS).
Informing this Dr Kharlukhi said that irrespective of the party affiliations the three MPs from the state stand together on issues concerning the state as they represent the people of Meghalaya.
“We are for a local candidate for the post of the Vice Chancellor of NEHU as it is almost 50 years of statehood and so far we have had only one local – Professor B. Pakem – as the VC and at least he has proved his worth. He was given a second nomination because of his performance,” said Dr Kharlukhi.
Stating that the people of the state are second to none, Dr Kharlukhi said, “The first example is Prof Pakem. Before him the university was operating in a rented building in Nongthymmai and it was Prof Pakem who shifted the university to the new site and you see what NEHU is today. That is the right record to prove that we are second to none”.
Talking about NEIGRIHMS, Dr Kharlukhi said, “For the post of NEIGRIHMS Director a person who has been serving the institution for several years is the right person”.
“We want a person who has been serving the institution for a long time as we believe that only a person who is from the institution will really be doing justice to the institution,” he added.
He informed that he and Congress MP Vincent Pala have already written to the Union Ministry of Education (formerly HRD Ministry) in this regard.
“We have spoken to the Minister of Education and all other officials who matter and we feel that they should listen to our suggestion as we are the local representative from the area,” he said.
He also said that Health Minister AL Hek has also taken up the issue with the Ministry and even Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has spoken to the Ministry of Education and PMO on the issue.
