‘There is no guarantee whether the university will continue to function after two years’
From Our Special Correspondent
GUWAHATI, Aug 1: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday alleged that “the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM), a private institution located in Ri-Bhoi along the interstate border near Guwahati, had been built in a forest reserve of Meghalaya.”
“The Supreme Court committee has recently observed that the university exists in a reserved forest of Meghalaya. So, the university has been constructed in a forest reserve, and hence, there is no guarantee whether the university will continue to function after two years,” Sarma told the press here.
Asked whether an eviction drive would be conducted there, he said, “The university exists in Meghalaya, so the government of Assam has no jurisdiction over it, and therefore cannot carry out any eviction drive. So, it is up to the Meghalaya government if at all it plans to take any action.”
“Personally, I hope and pray that the university complex gets razed, because this is not an educational institution, but an institution that commercialises education. Had the university been on Assam soil, I would have settled things by now,” the chief minister asserted.
When requested for a response on the Assam chief minister’s allegation of the institution existing on forest land, an official from USTM, quoting the chancellor, said the matter was at the discretion of the Meghalaya government as the university has been mandated by the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.
The website of USTM says that the “University has been established under the provisions of the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya Act (No.6 of 2008) enacted by Legislative Assembly of Meghalaya and notified vide Gazette Notification No LL(B)87/2008/21, dated December 2, 2008 of Government of Meghalaya.”
The Meghalaya government had, earlier this year, dismissed an allegation levelled by the Assam chief minister that the degrees conferred by USTM were “fake”.
“USTM is a state university. It is mandated by the State Legislative Assembly of Meghalaya. The degrees are recognised by the UGC. Therefore, there is no question of the degrees being fake. It is a genuine university, and it is supported by the Government of Meghalaya,” chief secretary DP Wahlang had stated.
The Assam chief minister had last year blamed the “hill cutting by USTM” for escalating the problem of flash floods in Guwahati.
