Shillong, July 30: The Hynniewtrep Youths’ Council (HYC) on Thursday threatened to intensify its agitation over the appointment of North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) In-charge Vice-Chancellor Professor Saroj Kanta Barik, demanding that he resign on moral grounds and alleging that the University’s senior-most eligible professor was overlooked in violation of the institution’s statutory provisions.
The organisation staged a silent protest outside the office of the In-charge Vice-Chancellor and submitted a memorandum seeking his resignation. It also requested that the competent authority entrust the charge of the Vice-Chancellor to the senior-most Professor in accordance with the NEHU Statutes.
The HYC leaders said Professor Barik was not present during the protest as he had travelled to Kolkata and that they had sought an appointment with him on Monday. Warning of an escalation of its protest, the organisation stated, “Failing which we will be compelled to take other course of actions to ensure that our demands are fulfilled in the interests of our community and the Unversity as a whole.”
Speaking to reporters, HYC Education Secretary Enlang Sawian alleged, “The appointment here is illegitimate, there has been violation of statutory provision of the NEHU acts and regulation, because of this reason , the council we have come here to protest and if the matter is not being addressed or demand is not met, the council will be compelled to take action and would co opmpell the current VC to step down from his post.”
After submitting the memorandum submitted to the university, Sawian said, “Based on the issue we have submitted a formal representation to the office of Vice Chancellor Incharge NEHU, but since the VC is not available since he has gone to Kolkata, we have sought an appointment on Monday. Our demand is very clear that the current VC who has been occupying the post should resign, our demand is not against anybody, our demand is very legitimate.”
In its memorandum, the HYC said it was concerned over Professor Barik’s acceptance of the office of In-charge Vice-Chancellor, arguing that as a senior Professor who has served NEHU for many years, he was well acquainted with the provisions of the North-Eastern Hill University Act, Statutes, Ordinances and Regulations. It maintained that the office of the Vice-Chancellor is the highest statutory office in the University and that appointments must be made and accepted in strict accordance with the applicable Statutes.
The organisation alleged that “senior and eligible faculty member l.e., Prof. R. Khongsdier, have not been accorded due consideration in accordance with merit, seniority, and Gstablished institutional practice.” It said the continuation of the present arrangement could affect confidence in the University’s governance processes and administrative stability.
Urging Professor Barik to step down, the HYC said in its memorandum that resigning from the office of In-charge Vice-Chancellor on moral grounds “would be viewed as an affirmation of respect for statutory provisions and would help uphold the dignity of your long academic service.”
