NEHUTA Criticizes NEHU Vice Chancellor Over Misconduct and Nepotism

SHILLONG: North-Eastern Hill University Teachers' Association (NEHUTA) has condemned Vice Chancellor Prabha Shankar Shukla in strong words for his statement blaming professors of the university for the unrest in NEHU.

NEHUTA President Lakhon Kma on Wednesday accused Shukla of promoting "personal agendas" and dared him to a showdown over issues of the university.

Kma accused Shukla of breaching various rules, such as the Government of India leave rules, UGC Regulations 2018, Model Cadre Recruitment rules, and NEHU's own Act, Statutes, and Ordinances. He asserted that the Vice Chancellor's three-and-a-half-year incumbency has been characterized by breaches of rules, nepotism, and ineptness.

Shukla, as per Kma, appointed unqualified persons to important posts like Registrar, Deputy Registrars, and faculty members, including retired teachers, and bypassed deserving local candidates from Meghalaya and the Northeast.

Besides this, Kma blamed Shukla for slowing down the promotions of eligible researches and lecturers, hence causing NEHU to drop its ranking. According to him, Shukla also disregarded proposals from NEHUTA and other teacher associations, refused to hold meeting with teachers to discuss crucial issues, and constructed non-statutory administrative posts like the Campus Director for Tura, which NEHU or the UGC regulation has no sanction.

Emphasizing the dearth of leadership at NEHU, Kma noted that the university at the moment does not have a regular Controller of Examinations, Finance Officer, Registrar, or Vice Chancellor. He faulted Shukla for not going ahead with recruitment for non-teaching positions, even though advertisements were issued, resulting in demands for refunds of application fees.

The controversy over Shukla got even more intensified when the Mawlai Town Dorbar banned him as a persona non grata, restricting his entry to the larger area of Mawlai because of his so-called anti-local behavior. Kma further stated that the Ministry of Education is presently scrutinizing a report of the inquiry into Shukla's misconduct.

Further, Kma accused Shukla of trying to whitewash himself at a time when investigations were still going on. He divulged that Shukla has been on leave for the past 130 days and has failed to turn up at the NEHU headquarters in Shillong. NEHUTA reaffirmed its allegiance to NEHU's welfare and asked the public to judge the Vice Chancellor's actions, which they argue have destabilized the institution.

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