Staff of the examination department of North Eastern Hill University under the banner of NEHU Non-Teaching Staff Association (NEHUNSA) will hold an indefinite strike in the examination department from tomorrow in protest against the sad state of affairs in the department.
The staff said that the reason that they have decided to hold this protest was because of the various deficiencies in the examination department of the university.
“After learning about the shortcomings and serious implications it would have upon the university as a whole and the students in particular, as stakeholders we are deeply concerned as to which direction the university is heading under the present incumbent (OSD),” the staff said.
According to them, printing of mark-sheets could not be done due to the unavailability of consumables such as undergraduate mark-sheet papers, stickers and mark lists.
They also said that the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in-charge of NEHU examination department was informed of the matter but no action was taken from his end about the problems for the last three months.
Further, the staff said that the papers having the necessary security features for printing certificates such as migration certificates, degree certificates, provisional certificates, etc for the passed out students since convocation are not available. They also said that no action has been taken by the OSD till date.
“Most of the printers in the Post Graduate Section and Certificate Cell are outdated and most are out of order. The concerned officer in the Purchase and Store (P&S) Section has inquired whether there is a need to replace the heavy duty printer, but no comments were given by the OSD on the concerned file,” the staff said.
The staff also said that despite the students making the required payments for postage charges involving their transcripts, MPhil/PhD theses, important letters, etc, the examination department was not in a position to post these documents due to non-availability of funds as the OSD never initiated the process of getting the funds allocated to the department.
They were also informed that the required maintenance fees to a software vendor for undergraduate computer software, upgradation of the server/network were not taken up for the last three years.
“This is a very critical issue since all the examination department’s data is stored in this database,” the staff said.
They also said that the current OSD retired as Controller of Examinations on December 31, 2020 and was extended in the post as OSD from then till date.
Stating that the future of the students of NEHU as well as those in the affiliated colleges is at stake if the current OSD is allowed to continue, the staff said that in the general body meeting held by NEHUNSA today, it was resolved that the examination department would go on strike from tomorrow until further notice.
