By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on May 25 said he had raised the “urgent need” for the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) during a meeting with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan amid continuing uncertainty and protests at the central university.
Sharing details of the meeting held in New Delhi on Monday, Sangma said discussions focused on key priorities related to strengthening higher education in Meghalaya and the Northeast.
The Chief Minister said he apprised the Union minister of the state government’s efforts to improve education outcomes and enhance Meghalaya’s Performance Grading Index (PGI) score.
According to Sangma, the measures include implementation of the Structured Pay Framework for ad hoc, SSA and Fourth Teachers, school rationalisation, infrastructure upgrades in government schools, improving SSLC and HSSLC results, support for school dropouts, and implementation of the Meghalaya Teacher Eligibility Test (MTET) to improve teacher quality.
He also sought the Centre’s support for the expansion of Captain Williamson Sangma State University through the PM-USHA MERU initiative and pushed for expedited implementation of pending PMJVK projects at the NEHU Tura campus.
“Raised the urgent need for the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor for NEHU,” Sangma said in a statement after the meeting.
The Centre had earlier initiated the process for appointing a new Vice-Chancellor for NEHU on May 20, with the Ministry of Education inviting online applications for the post till June 18.
According to the official notification, the Vice-Chancellor, as the academic and administrative head of the university, must possess “the highest level of competence, integrity, morals and institutional commitment”.
Eligible candidates should have at least 10 years of experience as a professor or possess equivalent academic and administrative experience.
The development comes amid months of unrest at the university. Current Vice-Chancellor Prabha Shankar Shukla has largely remained away from the campus since proceeding on leave in November 2024 following protests by students’ and teachers’ organisations over alleged administrative and governance issues.
Several organisations had also sought intervention from the Centre over the functioning of the university administration.