A total of 8,653 candidates were conferred degrees on the 25th convocation of North Eastern Hill University on Wednesday amid boycott by teachers of the university under the banner of North Eastern Hill University Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA).
Meghalaya governor, Tathagata Roy and Meghalaya chief minister, Conrad K. Sangma gave away certificates to the successful candidates in the presence of other dignitaries, students and parents at the university’s convocation hall, Mawlai Umshing here.
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The candidates who received their degrees include 6,653 in absentia,147 PhD, 38 MPhil, and 1,222 post graduate and 7,246 bachelor’s degrees.
The NEHUTA boycotted the convocation on the ground that there has been violation of important provisions of statutes and practices of the University, and court meetings have not been held for the last three years.
In a statement, the NEHUTA said that the University court is the highest statutory authority of the University, which is being bypassed by the present Vice Chancellor.
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Court meetings, as per section 19 (2) (a) and (b) of NEHU Act, 1973, are to be held for approval of annual accounts, budget and annual audit reports- which, then are to be submitted to the Parliament of India.
Stating that the NEHUTA general body meeting was held on November 22 where all these pending issues of teachers were discussed, which involve serious statutory violations, the statement said that at the meeting it was decided that a letter asking the Vice-Chancellor to fulfill long standing legitimate concerns of the teachers will be written.
“As per statutory provisions, four weeks before Convocation, the notification giving detailed programme for convocation has to be given to every member, as per Ordinance under OC-10 (3) (ii), which is not followed. Given these serious violations of the Act, statute and ordinances of the University, the NEHUTA sought a response from the Vice-Chancellor. Instead, the Pro-VC responded without explaining anything of the issues that were raised. In this context, NEHUTA appealed to the teachers to boycott the convocation,” the NEHUTA statement added.