Meghalaya students' union seeks CM Sangma's intervention in the alleged attempt to 'misinterpret' NEHU ordinance

The Khasi Students' Union (KSU) and the North Eastern Hills University Students' Union (NEHUSU) are requesting Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad K Sangma to intervene in the matter of an alleged attempt to "misinterpret" the NEHU Ordinance by arguing that a weighting of 10 marks will be added instead of 10% to students applying for admission to universities.

The two student organizations wrote to Sangma to express their disagreement about how much weightage (marks) should be given to applicants for admission to North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) as the admissions process is now underway.

They also voiced their vehement opposition to the idea of misinterpreting the aforementioned Ordinance, claiming that it would severely hinder aspirant students from the State and colleges associated with NEHU.

They claim that they would vehemently oppose any revisions made to the same by the Academic Council, which will meet on October 20.

The weightage to be provided to graduates from NEHU-associated colleges and graduates who are from Universities other than NEHU but who are Meghalaya residents would be 10%, the NEHUSU and KSU stated in accordance with clause 5 of RC-1 under the ordinance OC-1 of the North Eastern Hill University.

The letter said, “We hereby, request your office to kindly intervene in this matter and that the NEHU Administration should not try to make any changes or misinterpret the said Ordinance. The weightage to be provided to the students seeking admission should be added in terms of percentage as per the Ordinance and not in marks. Your necessary intervention in this urgent and most important issue would be highly appreciated by the students’ community as a whole.”

Recently, the UGC made CUET mandatory for admission in all Central Universities, and therefore admission to NEHU is based on the CUET score.

They claimed that the weightage should be added to the CUET score in accordance with NEHU Ordinance and claimed that there was an attempt to misinterpret the regulations by claiming that a weightage of 10 marks rather than 10% as required by the Ordinance would be imposed.

On October 18, the University's Central Admission Committee met to discuss how to interpret the aforementioned ordinance. The letter stated that despite their best efforts, they were unable to resolve their disagreements constructively.