NEHUSU protests, VC assures

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG, APR 28: Students of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) today staged a protest against the failure of university’s authority to address the 11-point demand, leaving many vehicles en-route to the Convocation hall stranded for nearly an hour.

Leaders and members of the North Eastern Hill University Students’ Union (NEHUSU) demonstrated in the middle of the road just an hour before the commencement of the XXIVth Convocation, which was attended by NITI Aayog member Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat.

Some of the placards which reflected the main demands of the union read as – “Don’t play politics with Convocation”, “Degree certificate should be given to students within 2 months after the result,” “NEHU should buy new buses to meet the needs of the students”.

The Vice Chancellor Prof SK Srivastava, Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Henry Lamin and others were seen reaching the venue after movement of vehicles and convocation goers was disrupted due to the surprised protest.

Appealing to the students to call off their strike, Prof Srivastava assured that all the demands will be looked into and an immediate meeting will be convened for discussion with the NEHUSU leaders in the evening.

“I assure that the issues will be discussed with sincerity and open mind and we will address them to the best of our abilities,” he told the union leaders, who had reiterated their protest against the adamant attitude of NEHU authority despite meetings held on several occasions.

Informing that the NEHU recently got the approval of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) which was pending for past 7 years, the VC also assured that he would also ensure that NEHU will meet all ministers for establishment of CSIR NET Centre in the campus.

Denying the allegation of playing politics with the University’s Convocation, Prof Srivastava assured the union that there will be no more delay in holding the Convocation from this year onwards.

Earlier, one of the students’ leader said that delay in holding the Convocation and issuing of degree certificate by over a year has to a great extent affected the job prospect of thousand of students passing out from the university.

“They (NEHU) are playing with the future of the students just because they don’t get a chief guest of their choice,” he alleged.

The union has also demanded for immediate purchase of new buses as at present there were only 16 buses which are not enough to cater to the need of over 5000 students studying in the university.

On this, the vice chancellor informed that after the UGC refused to grant fund for new buses, the NEHU had approach the SBI, which has recently released Rs 21 lakh for purchasing of 1 bus.

On the assurance of the vice chancellor, the student protestors agreed to pave way for the vehicles. However later during the Convocation before the address by the NITI Aayog member, again the students, who arrived outside the hall, started shouting slogans “We want Justice”.