Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla has taken over charge of the office of the Vice-Chancellor, North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) today afternoon.
Prof. Shukla took over the office of the Vice-Chancellor from the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Prof. S K Srivastava.
Prof. Shukla arrived at the NEHU campus in the afternoon and was received by the Registrar. Thereafter, he was felicitated by the outgoing Vice-Chancellor in the presence of staff of the Vice Chancellor office.
Meanwhile, the NEHU Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA) has alleged that despite the fact that the term of the outgoing Vice Chancellor Prof. Srivastava had ended on July 22 he conducted a meeting of the Executive Council of NEHU and passed several irregular decisions to further damage the university.
“The outgoing Vice Chancellor has decided through the Executive Council to appoint one Professor in the slot reserved for the senior most Professor as a member of the Council. The actual senior most Professor is arbitrarily denied the place and the list of seniority is grossly violated by the ex-Vice Chancellor,” NEHUTA said adding that the ex-Vice Chancellor neither has the statutory power to preside on the Executive Council nor does he have any power to manipulate the seniority list.
“When he is not entitled to conduct any recruitment, the Executive Council resolved to outsource recruitment processes for filling up 35 non-teaching posts. This is the wildest possible violation of university’s recruitment rules by a non-empowered outgoing Vice Chancellor through the Executive Council of NEHU,” the teachers’ body added.
NEHUTA also said that the ex-Vice Chancellor again through an Executive Council resolution decided to advertise the post of University Engineer on a deputation basis.
According to NEHUTA, the recruitment rules do not allow for filling up a permanent or term post without direct recruitment and only when direct recruitment cannot be done after due advertisement and procedures, recruitment on deputation could be done.
“This, we suspect, is done with an ulterior motive of keeping the post of University Engineer unfilled so that the Executive Engineer, who is now under CBI scanner, can remain a potential candidate for future filling up of the post on a regular basis. It is then amply clear that for narrow vested interests recruitment rules are flouted in the leadership of Prof. Srivastava.
“The already existing deeper malaise that ex Pro Vice Chancellor Professor H Lamin acted as Chief Vigilance Officer, as approver of tenders, as participant in procurement and recruitment in total violation of CVC rules and now feeder pillar case is under CBI scanner brings out the malaise of last near six years of mismanagement of the university,” NEHUTA alleged.
Further, NEHUTA alleged that Prof. Srivastava created a provision of university bearing his own legal expenses along with TA and DA, after his term is over, as he anticipated legal action on his purportedly illegal acts in the last controversial Executive Council meeting held after his term was over.
“It seems that the Executive Council has not been informed of facts about queries made from the President of India as the Visitor concerning correction of wrong dates of promotion given to some Professors of the University and drew a closure on the matter without any reason. The same EC under the chairmanship of ex-Vice Chancellor Srivastava earlier corrected dates of some Professors selectively. Srivastava shall remain liable for this violation of the Executive Council’s past line of action especially the malafide intent of not adhering to a directive from the Visitor becomes more glaring as those select ones who were benefited from correction of anomalous dates of promotion are not impacted, while in exactly similar cases, this betrayal and inconsistent denial impacts at least 12 more Professors,” NEHUTA said.
NEHUTA also demanded a high powered impartial enquiry by the Ministry of Education on all these alleged misdeeds of Prof. Srivastava “and his sycophants so that skeletons are out of the cupboard”.
