Minister In-charge of Education, Meghalaya, Lahkmen Rymbui questioned who is running the North Eastern Hill University and said the institution is now functioning in “auto pilot mode,” as the Vice Chancellor PS Shukla has remained out of station for over 400 days, the Shillong campus has no Pro Vice Chancellor, and the post of Registrar continues to remain vacant, pushing the premier central university into administrative paralysis. Alarmed by the deepening crisis and its impact on students, results, wages, scholarships and affiliated colleges across Meghalaya, Rymbui has written to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan while simultaneously directing his officers to initiate dialogue with the Pro Vice Chancellor of the Tura campus, stressing that the state government’s intent is to ensure that the student community is not affected, as any disruption at NEHU directly affects the entire state.
Talking to Media persons, Rymbui said, “So we have to find a solution and I have informed my officers to arrange a meeting with the PRO VC of Tura to see what is her view, so that government made intension is that the student community should not be at all affected in NEHU because if they are affected in NEHU means it affects the whole state because many colleges are affiliated to NEHU. Even the scholarship of students also will be affected.”
Questioning the absence of administrative leadership, he said, “As of now there is no registrar, is totally… I myself I don’t know who runs the NEHU, how they could run NEHU,” adding, “now it is in ‘auto pilot mode’.”
He also confirmed writing to the Union Education Minister seeking urgent intervention for a permanent solution, pointing out that under the NEHU statute an Acting Vice Chancellor can only take charge if the incumbent Vice Chancellor resigns, leaving the university trapped in a leadership vacuum with no immediate statutory workaround.
