Shillong, May 6: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) has once again reiterated its 10-point charter of demands to NEIGRIHMS during a follow-up meeting on Tuesday with the institute’s authorities, led by Director Prof. Nalin Mehta.
This meeting was a follow up of an earlier discussion chaired by Cabinet Minister Paul Lyngdoh held on Monday.
KSU General Secretary Donald V. Thabah, briefing on the deliberations, stated that discrepancies have been identified in NEIGRIHMS’s implementation of the Roster Reservation (RR) policy.
Thabah pointed out that the first irregularity concerns ten posts for Nursing Officers reserved under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category. Of these, seven have become vacant following the resignation of appointees.
“NEIGRIHMS will now have to determine whether these seven vacancies will be classified as backlog or fresh posts. However, it is confirmed that the remaining three posts are backlog vacancies,” he said.
He added that NEIGRIHMS has stated it will thoroughly examine the RR system before deciding the classification of these positions.
The KSU maintains that these vacancies should now be allocated to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.
Thabah also pointed out a vacancy for the post of Record Clerk reserved under EWS, which he said is a clear case of backlog.
He asserted that NEIGRIHMS cannot treat this as a fresh vacancy, citing instructions from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) which state that unfilled EWS vacancies should not be carried forward to subsequent recruitment years.
NEIGRIHMS has assured the KSU that it will provide a formal response after a thorough review of the concerns raised.
In a fresh written submission to the NEIGRIHMS Director, the KSU emphasized that issues which can be resolved internally should be addressed by the institute, while others requiring higher-level intervention should be placed before the Governing Council and the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
The Union reiterated its key demands, which include restoring the age limit of 35 years for Nursing Officer posts and maintaining previous age criteria for other posts, ensuring an 80:20 female-to-male ratio in Nursing Officer recruitment. removing the requirement for experience certificates exclusively from hospitals with at least 50 beds, holding recruitment examinations in Meghalaya through offline mode and reviewing the roster register and revoking EWS backlog vacancies.
The additional demands of the KSU include reinstating previous qualification criteria for the Store Keeper post, empowering NEIGRIHMS to conduct its own recruitment exams in the future, extending reservation policies to Group B posts and further consultations on amended recruitment rules with stakeholders and NEIGRIHMS associations to avoid complications.
The KSU finally urged NEIGRIHMS to initiate the process of convening an emergent meeting of the Governing Council to address pressing unresolved issues requiring immediate intervention.