Guwahati: The North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) administration has responded to the demands of the protesting group at the University and clarified on the charter of demands and issues raised by the groups.
In a statement, NEHU Vice Chancellor Prabha Shankar Shukla stated that he had clarified the position on the appointment of Rohit Prasad during the press conference held last week.
He further added that the interviews for the posts of Statutory Officers and University Engineer have been slotted for 20th and 22nd November 2023 and the preparation for the same is ongoing.
Speaking about the other demands of the JAC, the Vice-Chancellor added that appropriate steps have been taken concerning the university Health centre, and the required purchases have been started from the portal as per the mandate of Central Government .
For the purchases and procurements in different academic departments and sections of the university, GeM portal is adopted and three trainings-cum-exposure sessions have already been conducted to sensitize the staff on the purchases through GeM.
The university has listed and registered more than 50 secondary users and more are in the process with a statutory officer of the university registered as a primary user in the GeM portal.
Regarding the demand on the relieving of the teaching and technical staff from ministerial duties, the Vice-Chancellor stated that the Teaching staffs performing additional duty in the administration is for smooth transaction of routine work of the university so that university functioning does not get delayed and the teachers will be automatically relieved once the posts are filled up for which the requisite advertisement and recruitment process is ongoing.
He also added that the teaching faculty with their consent only are requested to undertake additional responsibilities and the university is grateful to them for their cooperation in helping with the administrative work.
He also clarified on other demands stating that the University teachers are the main stakeholders of the Academic Council where the discussion on issues related to Marking System, Inclusion of Elected Members of Students as representatives in the Academic Council, Admission process along with weightages given in admission are discussed and policy decisions are taken as deemed fit and beneficial for all concerned.
He further exhorted that the university during the current period is in the peak of academic activities with syllabus coverage and examinations scheduled during the first part of December and disruptions in the form of indefinite strikes and protest without verifying the facts will hamper these activities affecting the academic atmosphere of the university.
The University appealed to the concerned to come across the table, discuss and verify on the status of the points raised and the steps taken by the university rather than going out and protesting without updating on the same as the protesting groups are also part of the university and are aware of the progress and steps taken by the university on the charter of demands.
The University also appealed to the students and their parents to not get panicked by the misinformation being spread by the protesting groups and to continue with their academic activities as per the schedule.
The University administration said that it is committed to addressing the genuine concerns of all stakeholders and is working towards creating a conducive academic environment for all students.