Meghalaya: NEHU students meet Governor, flag administrative and financial crisis

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: The NEHU Students Union on Monday met Meghalaya Governor C.H. Vijayashankar and submitted a memorandum highlighting four critical issues at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong — the Vice-Chancellor remaining “continuously absent from his headquarters and official duties at NEHU, Shillong, for 422 days as on date”, the resulting “complete vacuum in institutional leadership”, the non-submission of the Inquiry Committee report, and “serious financial stress” due to budgetary cuts — seeking urgent intervention to address what it termed a “grave and continuing administrative and financial crisis prevailing at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong”.

The memorandum, submitted jointly by the North-Eastern Hill University Students’ Union (NEHUSU) and the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), NEHU Unit, stated that the prolonged absence of Vice-Chancellor Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla has led to a situation where “Statutory bodies and committees have been unable to function effectively”, “Administrative and academic decision-making has been severely disrupted”, and “Students, faculty members, and non-teaching staff have faced serious hardship due to the absence of effective and accountable leadership”.

It further noted that following the resignation of the Pro Vice-Chancellor on “15 December 2025”, the University Headquarters has been functioning “without any academic or administrative head”, while the Inquiry Committee constituted by the Ministry of Education on “14 November 2024”, despite a “15-day extension” granted on “28 November 2024”, has not submitted or made public its report.

On the financial front, the students flagged that the non-salary budget allocation has been reduced “from 253 crore to 231 crore for the Financial Year 2025–26”, resulting in “Approximately 25% reduction in departmental budgets”, “Nearly 50% curtailment of seminars, conferences, academic programmes”, curtailment of “hostel maintenance, library resources, and essential student services”, and “Suspension of guest faculty appointments and honorarium payments”, and sought the Governor’s intervention to “restore administrative stability, accountability, and effective governance at North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong”.

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