The Joint Action Committee (JAC) in North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) today staged a protest in front of the Vice Chancellor’s office to demand the immediate removal of a technical officer and senior consultant, Rohit Prasad.
The JAC which comprises of the North Eastern Hill University Teachers Association (NEHUTA), North Eastern Hill University Non-teaching Staff Association (NEHUNSA), and North Eastern Hill University Students’ Union (NEHUSU) asserted that Vice Chancellor Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla should publicly release the termination letter of Prasad and ensure the recovery of his salary for the last ten months from the VC’s own remuneration.
“His (Prasad’s) salary amounting to Rs. 75, 040 plus 8 per cent DA (dearness allowance) should be paid from the VC’s pocket since the money belongs to NEHU which was misutilised by him,” JAC chairman Prof Lakhon Kma told reporters.
The committee issued a 10-day ultimatum to fulfill their demands, warning of intensified agitation from November 13 should their stipulations remain unaddressed.
Prof Kma said that if their demands are not met there will come a time when the JAC would have to ask for Shukla’s ouster.
According to him, it seems the VC does not want to solve the issues taken up the JAC.
The JAC chairman said that Shukla can remove Prasad in 30 minutes but he does not want to do so because the truth that he was in the wrong will come out.
The JAC also alleged that the Vice Chancellor had deliberately removed all acts, ordinance, rules and regulations of NEHU from the university’s official website, prompting further discontent among the university’s faculty, staff, and student body.
Kma said that the reason why these were removed is because the VC does not want the stakeholders of the university to know about the statutes and ordinances of NEHU.
According to the JAC chairman, the explanation given by the VC for removal of the acts, ordinance, rules and regulations was because the university wanted these to be updated first and it will be uploaded again in the website.
However, he said that Shukla is scared that the university’s stakeholders might use the acts, ordinance, rules and regulations and target him. “Maybe he is used to functioning without acts. Therefore, he thinks that if we quote the statues of NEHU he knows he will lose,” Kma added.
Earlier, the protestors under the aegis of JAC shouted slogans demanding the VC to come out of his office and meet them.
Initially, Shukla through his staff sent a message to the protestors giving in to their demands to come out and meet them, but with a condition that he should not be booed while addressing them.
The JAC refused to this condition and also wanted Shukla to come out of his office with the termination letter of Prasad in hand.
