Meghalaya: NEHUTA’s annual grant withheld for 2018 boycott call
SHILLONG | SEPTEMBER 15, 2020
The North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) has informed that the annual grant for the NEHU Teachers' Association (NEHUTA) for the year 2018-19 and 2019-20 was withheld because of the boycott call made by the latter concerning the XXV Convocation on November 28, 2018.
A statement issued by NEHU Public Relations Officer (PRO), G Umdor, said that NEHUTA, being an Employees' Association established under the Statute 44 of the NEHU Acts & Statutes, has violated Statute 44 (3), by giving the Convocation boycott call.
"The NEHU Ordinance OC-10 on Convocation procedure has been violated by the Teachers' Association as the Academic Council members are required to be present and walk-in procession during Convocation," read the statement.
The Chief Minister of Meghalaya attended the XXV Convocation on November 28 along with the governor.
The statement also pointed out that NEHUTA has not submitted the list of members who had given the boycott call, despite several reminders which are required by the University authorities before they can take any decision regarding the annual grant keeping in mind the NEHU statutes and rules.
"It is evident that the NEHUTA has been indulging in activities which have deeply hurt the image of a premier institution like NEHU and in complete violation of NEHU Statute 44 (3) that states that no association shall act in any manner which may bring down the image of the University and which may be detrimental to the achievements of the objectives of the University laid down under the North-Eastern Hill University Act, 1973," the statement added.
Acting as per the NEHU Acts and Statutes, the administration said, "it provides for de-recognition of Association if they act in any manner which may bring down the image of the University."
Meanwhile, a source from NEHUTA informed that the annual grant has been stopped since 2018.
Explaining the reason behind the call for a boycott, the source said, "We had requested to call for the University Court's meeting which is supposed to be held annually but despite constant reminders, the Vice-Chancellor went ahead with the convocation without holding the meeting."
"He reiterated that we are the violators. But he was the one who violated the statutes of NEHU by not calling for the University Court's meeting. He is very vindictive and just because we raised our voices against him, he cut off our annual grant to silence us," the source added.
Responding to a question, the source said that at present, the General Body has not discussed the decision to withhold the grant.
"We have to sit and discuss (and) if the need arises, we will go to court," the source said.
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