Dimapur, September 30 : The Naga Hoho has urged the intervention of Governor PB Acharya in addressing a number of issues namely ‘appointment of Vice Chancellor and irregularities in Nagaland University’ that are said to be plaguing the university. The Governor is the university’s chief rector.
In a representation to the Governor on Friday, the Naga Hoho said: “We are concerned about quality education with a sense of urgency. Unfortunately, right from the beginning a poor choice was made in appointing the vice chancellor and it still continues. In the appointment, personal loyalty got the better of more relevant considerations like competence, academic eminence and personal integrity. The result has been disastrous and till now we are paying for the consequences,” the representation stated.
Ever since the inception of Nagaland University in 1994, the organization stated, the institution has seen “many ups and downs inspite of its remoteness and other political instabilities and issues the people of Nagaland have extended all its possible co-operation.”
Even after 22 years of its existence “it is sad to note that the Nagaland University is unable to attain its height as a central university at par with other progressive central universities,” the representation lamented.
“For the past 10-15 years, the Nagaland University was pressed down with many unhealthy issues of financial misappropriation by the institutional heads resulting into series of agitation and removal of VC and officials of the University on corruption charges,” the Naga Hoho stated. ‘The university had experienced years of CBI inquiry and some other investigated cases are still pending while some officials have been removed, some have left after their tenure. It is also discouraging to see the sub-standard infrastructural development that the three campuses are with.’
The organization also expressed surprise to learn that for the past 4-5 years “NU has been surrendering plan money (yearly plan for university development) allocated for development in spite of underdevelopment of the university the latest being 1.69 cores surrendered during the 9th Aug 2016 Finance committee meeting.”
This, the Naga Hoho stated, “speaks volumes of incompetency on the part of the university.” Besides, the ‘current trend of heavy employment from other states particularly from Manipur and Assam in NU points to obvious sidelining of the hundreds of local qualified unemployed youth in the state,’ the organization stated.
The representation has called for university head who is ‘a person of high moral integrity, an eminent academician with reputed credentials, a non-political appointee, a person who understands and can work for the uplift of the Naga people and for their high quality educational development and social development in general.’
