Meghalaya: NEHU crisis deepens as centre goes silent

Meghalaya government urges Prof Umdor to return

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: More than 400 days after North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) slid into administrative paralysis following the prolonged absence of Vice-Chancellor Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla, the Ministry of Education is increasingly being perceived as indifferent to a crisis that has crippled one of the region's premier central universities. Although the Ministry had initially stepped in, even sending a team to NEHU to assess the situation and probe a series of allegations, it has since gone silent, with no word on the inquiry's findings or any corrective action, even months later.

With uncertainty deepening, the Meghalaya government has stepped up pressure on New Delhi, warning that continued inaction could irreversibly damage the academic ecosystem of the Northeast. Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said the state government has formally taken up the issue with the Union government, urging swift intervention to end the impasse at the earliest.

In a decisive attempt to arrest the institutional drift, the state government has now appealed to Prof S Umdor to withdraw his resignation and immediately resume charge as Pro Vice-Chancellor. NEHU has been teetering on the brink of a management breakdown since Prof Umdor tendered his resignation on December 15, 2025. While the university has yet to formally accept it, the absence of an effective authority at the helm has created a power vacuum that has sent shockwaves across Meghalaya's education sector.

Breaking his silence, Rymbui warned that the crisis has triggered a cascading "domino effect", threatening not just NEHU but the functioning of more than 70 affiliated colleges. Examinations are facing critical delays, appointments and long-pending faculty promotions remain frozen, and funds for salaries and development projects are caught in bureaucratic gridlock. Describing the situation as sheer administrative "kynrum kynram", the Minister said the university's core machinery has virtually ground to a halt.

"I urge Prof S Umdor to return. Technically, his resignation has not been processed, and his immediate comeback is the only way to ensure the university's machinery starts running smoothly again," Rymbui said.

The Minister also revealed that the matter has been escalated to the Union Ministry of Education through the direct intervention of the Chief Minister, even as the state waits for a long-term resolution from New Delhi. Until then, the government believes Prof Umdor remains the only "steady hand" capable of steering NEHU through the turbulence.

Emphasizing that the issue goes far beyond administrative technicalities, Rymbui said the future of thousands of students and the legacy of NEHU are at stake, making decisive leadership indispensable at this critical juncture.

Also read: NEHU crisis: State can only act as mediator, says CM Conrad Sangma