Editor,
In the last couple of days we have seen reports and write-ups on NEP 2020 in the Shillong Times. On Dec 9, 2025 the Shillong Times published an article titled “UG teachers views on 4-year undergraduate program.” The following day we read a letter to the editor with the prescription, “Needed a holistic perspective to education.” Yesterday’s front page had a news item titled, “Kharlukhi slams ‘chaotic’ NEP rollout in state”.
All the authors and commenters are respected and knowledgeable individuals and their thoughts demonstrate a well-intentioned commitment to the cause of higher education in the state. These critiques, however, convey a despairing tone, citing a mountain of reasons as to why the Four-Year-Undergraduate-Program (FYUP) is difficult to implement.
The recently published State Education Commission Report 2025, has a chapter on higher education in the state. A reading of this chapter will show many dismal aspects of the higher education scenario in NEHU and its affiliated colleges. Two examples stand out: the skew towards arts degrees and the apparently high dropout. These have been elaborated in a recent article in The Shillong Times.
If there is no attempt to change the status quo, higher education in Meghalaya will continue to languish in its present doldrums. The main victims of this struggling system are the students. Failure to bring in change will consign another generation of youth to an uncertain future: most likely continued unemployability and denial of their aspirations.
NEP 2020 offers the best opportunity for change. Most educationists seem to welcome the enlightened principles and provisions of the policy. After all, the FYUP is a proven success in other countries and a liberal arts approach is the recommended education for an undergraduate who is still in the developmental stage of cognitive, emotional, social, and moral formation.
The main difficulty is the implementation, and this is where we see the main opposition. Apart from this, there may be some sections of academia who are generally resistant to change, even in the face of convincing evidence, or who wish to guard some personal interest. This is a well-known malady in academic circles. Incidentally, I have been a life-long academician, except for a few years in mission service.
I can attest to the fact that the changeover to FYUP is practically manageable in a low-cost manner. Of course, it is not a painless transition. Changing mindsets is the most difficult step. The other hurdles are re-arrangement of subjects and schedules for majors, minors etc. Briefing and planning sessions with departments and faculty are time-consuming because details have to be brainstormed over and slotted into place. The entire process from orientation to implementation took about three years in our institution.
Martin Luther Christan University has fully implemented the FYUP in all respects and the alignment of the postgraduate degree courses with NEP 2020 has also been completed. A detailed report on compliance with NEP was presented to our Board of Governors and approved by them. The report is being submitted to the Meghalaya Private Universities Regulatory Board (MPURB) shortly.
We would be happy to share our experiences in any formal manner with other institutions. I am sure that if all higher education institutions in the state come together on the common platform of NEP 2020, it will be a great contribution towards a better future for our youth.
Yours etc.,
Glenn Kharkongor,
Via email
Exposing Violations in Weights and Measures
Editor,
Sometimes a minister should not hold back from speaking out his displeasure. Displeasure expressed for the right cause brings meaningful outcomes. Yes, I was more than excited to read in a daily that the minister of metrology, Sanbor Shullai, has finally put his foot down, giving the department a strict 60-day ultimatum to submit a full enforcement report. This comes after uncovering shocking violations in weights and measures that have gone “unchecked” since 1972. Imagine, 5-decade of failed enforcement and sheer laxity. All this while, countless ordinary citizens must have been cheated and taken for a ride in broad daylight. It is truly disgraceful.
This reminds me of a couple of incidents from about fifteen years ago shared with me by a few concerned friends. They had spotted the blatant practice of selling merchandise underweight in the market by manipulating the weighing machine and so on. The situation worsened when traders transitioned from traditional weighing scales to electronic weighing machines.
It was not just about commonly used groceries being sold underweight, but also iron rods, pipes, metal sheets and various other construction materials that were supplied in quantities far less than what customers paid for. This fact deeply pained me. I realized how the unsuspecting poor customers had been looted all through. I made a discreet and consistent complaint to the concerned departments/police a number of times. Consequently, certain hardware dealers from marketplaces were caught red-handed and penalized. Those few raids proved that cheating was very “rampant.” What I fervently wished then was for frequent surprise checks. The complete absence of raids and the lack of fear of being caught have given those fraudulent merchants the freedom to chop the pound of flesh from poor customers.
Let me recount another sad story of the Covid-19 pandemic. I was startled to see how “some” Fair Price Shop dealers heartlessly issued underweight rice to their gullible consumers. Instead of the allotted 35 kilograms, consumers often received 2 to 9 kilograms less. In some cases, dal supplied by the government for free distribution was not issued at all. What is most disturbing is that these dealers did not even bother to weigh the ration properly. They just scooped rice with baskets and tins without any measurement and poured it into the bags of the BPL/APL consumers, a practice that has continued for ages without fear of punishment. One wonders why the state watchdogs of laws and rules prefer to sleep on their duty!
Well, when enforcement is lax, corruption tends to take deeper root. As emphasized by the outspoken Sanbor Shullai, regular surprise raids, strict penalties, and visible enforcement are the only ways to break this chain of deceit. If this 60-day ultimatum is followed by appropriate action, it will certainly mark the beginning of a new chapter, and the minister will receive the heartfelt “blessings” of the poor. Come what may, the government must always ensure that the plight of the unsuspecting consumer is never underweighted in this marketplace of deception.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong
