Guwahati: Key stakeholders of North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) have urged the Ministry of Education to immediately appoint an in-charge Vice-Chancellor to address what they described as a prolonged administrative breakdown at the university’s Shillong campus in Meghalaya.
In a joint memorandum submitted on Monday, various university bodies sought approval to allow the senior-most available professor to assume the duties of the Vice-Chancellor until a regular appointment is made. Citing NEHU Statute 2(A)(2), they proposed that Prof. Saroj Kanta Barik take charge on an interim basis.
The NEHU Students’ Union, the Teachers’ Association, the Non-Teaching Staff Association, the Meghalaya Tribal Teachers’ Association (NEHU unit) and the Khasi Students’ Union, NEHU unit jointly signed the representation.
The signatories said the university has been functioning without effective leadership, noting that Vice-Chancellor Prabha Shankar Shukla has remained away from the Shillong headquarters for the past 415 days. This absence, they said, has severely undermined governance and accountability.
“As a consequence, there is neither a functional Vice-Chancellor nor an Acting Vice-Chancellor at the NEHU headquarters,” the memorandum said.
The crisis has deepened with the absence of a Registrar at the Shillong campus, which stakeholders said has stalled both academic and administrative operations. They warned that delays in decision-making could jeopardise scholarships, fellowships and research projects funded by agencies such as the Department of Biotechnology due to missed deadlines.
The bodies also said that the Pro Vice-Chancellor post at the Shillong campus has remained vacant since December 15 after S. Umdor resigned, and that authorities have not issued any notification appointing an Acting Vice-Chancellor.
They said they had earlier requested the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Tura campus to operate from Shillong to ensure continuity, but she has not reported to the headquarters, leaving the situation unresolved.
Urging immediate intervention, the stakeholders called on the Ministry to authorise Prof. Barik to discharge the duties of Vice-Chancellor without delay, warning that continued inaction could further erode the functioning and credibility of the central university.