By Our Special Correspondent
Shillong: Denying the charge that although NEHU has been in existence for over three decades it has not made significant contributions to the life of the community and failed to influence policy decisions in important sectors like Education, helping to develop social development indices and assist in need based research for the State, NEHU VC, Prof AN Rai said the charges are misplaced.
“We have a very competent team of environmental scientists who can conduct environmental impact assessments for different development projects but the State Government has to extend its hand to us in a spirit of collaboration,” Prof Rai said, adding that many of the scholars from the Social Sciences and Humanities are on Government committees to assist in research and monitoring of projects.
He, however admitted that there is scope for more collaboration with the State Government in various sectors.
The NEHU VC also informed that as a spin-off of the Administrative Reforms Commission which looked at the potential and existing conflicts in the region, the Group of Ministers of the Central Government had in Jan 2011, proposed that a Centre for Advanced Studies in Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities be set up within NEHU. An amount of Rs 65 crore has been set aside for the Centre.
This proposal will however have to be put up by the North Eastern Council, which is in the process of doing so.