Meghalaya: NEHUSU, KSU oppose NEHU EC meeting in Delhi, call it unjustified
Guwahati: Growing discontent has erupted within Meghalaya's North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) after the administration announced plans to hold the 193rd Executive Council (EC) meeting in New Delhi on November 14 under Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof. P.S. Shukla’s chairmanship.
The North-Eastern Hill University Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA) and several student groups strongly objected to the decision and demanded that authorities hold the meeting on the Shillong campus in compliance with Ministry of Education (MoE) directives.
In a formal appeal to EC members, NEHUTA described the Delhi meeting as “illegitimate and financially imprudent”, urging them to boycott it.
The association stated that holding the EC meeting outside Shillong undermines institutional transparency and violates the MoE’s August 20, 2024, order, which requires all statutory body meetings of central universities to take place on their respective campuses.
The NEHU Students’ Union (NEHUSU) and the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) NEHU Unit echoed the teachers’ concerns in a joint letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The student bodies clarified that they do not oppose the EC meeting itself but object to what they described as “procedural and moral violations” in the way it is being convened.
They argued that at a time when NEHU is grappling with serious financial constraints, its non-salary budget reduced from Rs 53 crore to Rs 31 crore for FY 2025–26, the administration’s decision to hold the meeting in Delhi reflects poor judgment.
They said that with 25–50% budget cuts across departments, conferences, and maintenance, spending on travel and accommodation for an off-campus meeting is unjustifiable.
NEHUTA president Lakhon Kma further alleged that Vice-Chancellor Shukla, who has been on extended leave from his official duties at Shillong for nearly a year, continues to interfere in university affairs.
Kma stated that Pro-Vice-Chancellor Sumarbin Umdor currently manages NEHU’s daily operations and holds full authorization under Statute 2(A)(5)(i) to perform the VC’s duties in his absence.
According to NEHUTA, the decision to shift the EC meeting to Delhi not only breaches administrative protocol but also contradicts an earlier understanding reached during the MoE’s visit to NEHU in May 2024.
The ministry had reportedly agreed that Prof. Shukla would chair his final EC meeting on May 30 in Delhi, after which the Pro-VCs would assume responsibility for the university’s functioning.
The teachers’ body accused Prof. Shukla of deliberately omitting that agreement from the official minutes of the meeting and labeled him a “repeated violator of NEHU Statutes and UGC norms.”
“Someone absent from the university for nearly a year has no moral or administrative justification to call an EC meeting outside campus while the institution faces financial stress,” NEHUTA stated in its letter, questioning who would bear the travel and accommodation expenses of EC members in Delhi.
Reaffirming their stand, NEHUTA and the student unions urged the Pro-Vice-Chancellor not to endorse any meeting held outside Shillong.
They asserted that NEHU should allocate its limited funds to academic and infrastructural development rather than unnecessary administrative travel.
The association also criticized what it described as mismanagement, nepotism, and favoritism under the current VC, claiming that these issues had already led to widespread protests earlier this year and intervention by the Ministry of Education.
As NEHU prepares for its next Executive Council session, tensions continue to mount between the university community and the vice-chancellor’s office, with calls growing louder for adherence to institutional rules and responsible governance.