NEHU students want tribal VC by October 8
Raju Das
SHILLONG, Oct 5 – Students of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) today rejected the appointment of AN Rai as the new Vice Chancellor and instead demanded a tribal VC for the University by October 8.
Rai, an eminent scientist and currently the VC of Mizoram University, was appointed to the post by the Union Human Resource Development through a notification on Monday. He was appointed in place of embattled NEHU VC, Pramod Tandon, whose ouster is being demanded by the students and staff of the University for sometimes now.
The Meghalaya Tribal Students’ Coordination Committee (MTSCC), a conglomerate of Khasi, Garo and other student bodies of the University decided in a meeting today that they would not accept the appointment of Rai and demanded that a tribal must be chosen for the post.
“We want the Central Government to appoint a tribal VC for the University,” MTSCC chairman, Kynpham Kharlyngdoh said after the meeting. The students have set October 8 as the deadline to accede to their demand.
Rai was a professor at NEHU before his appointment as the VC of Mizoram University. The University students here have, however, claimed that Rai was “thrown out by the Mizoram University” and was therefore being put here in NEHU.
The Central University has been in the news lately for the wrong reasons. Tandon whose tenure expired on September 9 and was hoping for an extension received a rude shock after his office was locked by faculty and staff of the University recently.
The faculty and staff fighting for Tandon’s removal under the banner of Joint Action Committee has alleged that Tandon was involved in irregularities while running the University.
There is a growing demand within the University to appoint senior professor of History department and a local, David R Syiemlieh as new VC. The University had in late Barrister Pakem as the only local VC since the University’s inception in 1973.
PTI adds: Alleging that Rai is a “tainted man”, the general assembly of the teaching and non-teaching staff unilaterally “appointed” the senior most professor of NEHU R P Bajpai as the VC.
“The assembly is shocked by the appointment of a tainted man in the prestigious NEHU and opined that it is not a dumping ground for adjusting discredited Rai as the new VC of NEHU,” chairman of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the teaching and non-teaching staff S B Prasad said.
Rai had earned a bad name after a turmoil at Mizoram University few months back over a recruitment row, he said.
Meghalaya Tribal Students Coordination Committee also refused to accept Rai as the vice-chancellor. “We will continue to protest unless a local professor is appointed,” the students body said.
Former vice-chancellor Pramod Tandon, whose term had expired on September 12 but was asked to continue, today relinquished his post officially. – PTI
Source: The Assam Tribune
