Meghalaya: NEHU teachers body slams VC Shukla for 'malafide intention' to defame faculty

The President of North-Eastern Hill University Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA), Prof. Lakhon Kma slammed Vice-Chancellor Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla for blaming the association, as well as NEHU Students' Union (NEHUSU), the Khasi Students' Union (KSU), the Meghalaya government, and state police for the ongoing crisis at the university. 

In a response addressed to the Secretary of Higher Education, Government of India, the NEHUTA President accused the VC of placing the blame on others instead of taking accountability himself.

The statement condemned VC Shukla's statements with a 'malafide intention to defame the NEHUTA',  stakeholders of the university and Meghalaya.

The remarks come just after VC Shukla Shukla, who has been on 'leave,' requested the Central government to provide security to facilitate his return to the campus on December 2, stating that he does not feel safe. 

He had also urged the Centre to address the escalating unrest at the university.

In his statement, Kma said, “It is pertinent to state how Prof. P. S. Shukla was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor by keeping aside much more qualified shortlisted candidates. He was a pure political appointee. As he implored upon ongoing performance of every faculty, it is indeed necessary to appraise in the public domain what are his academic and research contributions, publications and other such research related works that are noteworthy. To our utter dismay, while Prof. P. S. Shukla does not have any, he keeps undermining and decrying contributions of NEHU faculty.”

Professor Kma also said in the statement, "On the one hand he claimed credit for QS ranking and on the other he keeps downgrading faculty research and contributions. Indeed, in more than three years of his tenure as a VC, he has neither invested any resource to promote academics and research not brought any funds except paying lip service to research and academics in the University. A political appointee VC like Prof. P. S. Shukla has seriously let down every section of the university community and every aspect of its academic, research, financial and administrative responsibilities leading to huge mess for which students, teachers and non-teaching and larger Meghalaya public had to resort of protests and agitations declaring him as persona non grata, who is no longer welcome to step into NEHU and Meghalaya. He is totally oblivious of NEHU, Meghalaya and the North-Eastern region’s socio-cultural ethos and ecosystems. It is because of his non-understanding and mishandling of the situation as reflected in his careless statements of blaming faculty and others for slide of rank in NIRF and his non-response to students’ demands for immediate removal of erring officials like Registrar and Deputy Registrar that hunger strike happened with all its consequential deleterious effect on health of students, for which he alone remains responsible."

Furthermore, the NEHUTA president slammed VC Shukla for his "adamant and arrogant non response that the situation escalated to this level and to hide his own incompetence he is indulging into a game of blame by shifting and targeting teachers, students and non-teaching employees and their associations and Unions, which are important statutory bodies of elected representatives under NEHU Act which was duly passed by the honorable Parliament."

He also attributed the falling NIRF ranking of NEHU to the mismanagement under Shukla, whose entire tenure, Kma said is "marked by propagation of mediocracy and murder of meritocracy."

The NEHUTA president also noted that the VC jumped the gun by expressing his sweet will to return in the middle of due process of inquiry when the Committee appointed by the Ministry is seized with issues of NEHU and going to submit its report.

He also noted, “While we are all eagerly waiting for the report, his proclamation that he would like to join NEHU on 2/12/2024 while his conduct as a VC is under investigation by the Inquiry Committee shows that Prof. Shukla ridiculed the Ministry and perhaps, thinks that he is above it. Moreover, as a habitual liar, he tried to misled everyone by falsely claiming that the NEHU Inquiry Report was prepared under the Chairmanship of Prof. Lakhon Kma to tarnish the reputation of NEHUTA and its members and the Acting VC Prof. N. Saha (Annexure 5)."

Prof. Kma also accused VC Shukla of making provocative and baseless statements to create division and chaos within the university. He criticised Shukla for fueling communal tensions by falsely claiming non-tribal teachers were threatened during the agitation.