The teachers of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) under the banner of NEHU Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA) and Meghalaya Tribal Teachers Association (MeTTA) today met Meghalaya Governor C H Vijayashankar to apprise him of the situation in the university after students went on an indefinite hunger strike demanding the resignation of Vice Chancellor Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla, Registrar Omkar Singh and Deputy Registrar Amit Gupta.
Speaking to media persons after meeting the Governor, NEHUTA president Lakhon Kma said that they had a fruitful discussion.
Kma said that the teachers and the Governor had a long discussion on each and every issue that has culminated into this agitation spearheaded by NEHUSU and KSU NEHU unit with the teachers supporting them.
“I think the Governor is aware because he has been reading newspaper and media reports on a daily basis,” he said.
The NEHUTA president informed that the teachers appreciated the seriousness that the Governor has as a Chief Rector of the university.
According to Kma, the Governor assured the teachers that he would take all possible measures to restore normalcy in the university.
The NEHUTA president said that the Governor will be out of station and would return on November 12 and in the meantime the teachers would prepare all solutions to the many problems that have led to this agitation.
“So we will come with our own suggestions and how best we can resolve all the issues,” he said.
Kma said that the Governor’s main concern, like all the others, was about the health of the students who are on hunger strike.
“It is sad because ultimately the university is meant for them. If they are not there, we teachers are not there, nobody is there. People, vice chancellors, teachers, non-teaching staff may come and go but the university must stay for the student community of this beautiful state of Meghalaya, the entire region and of course the whole country,” the NEHUTA president said.
He also said that the teachers are happy because, for a change, they see that there is somebody occupying this Governor’s chair who understands how things are going.
“He as a Chief Rector is taking it very, very seriously because we all know this vice chancellor has not shown any sign of empathy as such and he showed total lack of concern for the students who are agitating, who are on hunger strike,” Kma added.
The NEHUTA president said that the priority now is to end the hunger strike so that students can go back to their classes and at the same time, to look at both the short term solutions and long term solutions.
The teachers’ association was critical of the vice chancellor for not doing anything to end the hunger strike.
“At least he should have shown some sense of caring about the students. Now, you are the head of the institute and under you, right outside your office, young kids are there on hunger strike. When they have brought the grievances (before him), he should have immediately reacted,” Kma added.
The NEHUTA president said that the vice chancellor is in trouble because of the fact that he never assesses the gravity of the situation.
Kma also said that the Registrar and the Deputy Registrar are incapable. “There is no doubt about it. They are incompetent. The vice chancellor didn’t do anything to address the concern of the students and teachers.”
