Meghalaya's Garo Students' Union demands 'urgent' appointment of Pro-VC at Tura campus

The Garo Students' Union (GSU) has written to the Vice-Chancellor of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Professor Prabha Shankar Shukla, demanding the appointment of a Pro Vice-Chancellor (Pro-VC) at the university's Tura campus. 

Additionally, the union has called for the immediate conduct of the PGSU elections, stating that students need an officially organised union to represent their grievances and effectively advocate the vital link between the student body and the administration.

In a letter to VC Shukla, the GSU said, “We put forth our request that the post of the Pro-VC be immediately recouped with sense of urgency and responsibility.”

The letter highlighted that the Tura campus has been without a Pro Vice-Chancellor (Pro-VC) since September 2021, limiting its functions. It further emphasised that with many qualified and experienced professors available, there should be no issue in appointing a competent Pro-VC to oversee the campus.

“This creates many problems for the ministerial staff and officers of NEHU in the day to day functioning of the campus. Without a Pro-VC, it is difficult to incur office expenses because of restricted financial powers. Is there none eligible in the NEHU establishment or could be spared to take the reins of the Tura NEHU Campus at present as full-fledged PVC,” the letter added.

The union further stated that the PGSU was dissolved without a proper meeting and without giving due consideration to the students' representatives.

It further questioned, “As per the incident, the official had an argument with the then President of the PGSU, but what was the reason for the dissolution of the whole union? Was the PGSU dissolved or disbanded? Because there must exist a procedure to dissolve the PGSU which may be necessary to solve a crisis on hand or is it plausible to connote that the role of PGSU in NEHU, Tura Campus is done away with and hence disbanded which will mean that PGSU is permanently deleted as an entity in the campus."

The GSU reiterated that the "Campus Director has only the authority to dissolve the current body of the PGSU for a short time till the issue is resolved which cannot be permanent because the NEHU, Tura Campus does not belong to the Campus Director, NEHU, Tura Campus which corroborates with the notion that the authority for disbandment does not lie with the incumbent,” it also stated.

The union also raised concerns about the contradiction in the situation, questioning how a budget allocation of Rs. 12 lakhs annually for the PGSU can exist if the union is not officially recognised. They further alleged that this amount had been withdrawn from NEHU’s accounts, suggesting that a PGSU account is still operational.

The union demanded answers, asking, “If this is true, who is using the funds allocated for the PGSU at NEHU, Tura Campus?” They also expressed concern over the management of these funds, asserting that funds meant for PGSU cannot be used by the NEHU faculty.