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SHILLONG — The North East Students' Organisation (NESO) on Tuesday urged Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to intervene in the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) crisis and sack Vice-Chancellor P S Shukla as demanded by the students to protect the overall interests of the students of the NE region.
The NESO is a conglomeration of eight students' bodies from all NE states.
"We have formally written to the Union Education minister backing the demands of the students of the university to sack Vice Chancellor P S Shukla," NESO chairman Samuel B Jyrwa told PTI.
He said the intervention of the Union Education minister in this regard would ensure that the "quality of education in the region and the country is not compromised," he said.
Meanwhile, the ongoing indefinite hunger strike launched by the students of the university under the banner of the NEHU Students' Union (NEHUSU) and the KSU NEHU Unit continued which affected the functioning of NEHU.
The NESO blamed Shukla for the decline in the university's rankings. Prior to PS Shukla's term as VC, NEHU was consistently ranked within the top 60 universities nationally. However, under his leadership, the university's ranking has plummeted to range between 100-150, they claimed.
The VC on Monday convened a meeting of the university Executive Committee (EC) via virtual mode.
A source close to the VC said that the EC had formally okayed a proposal to probe into the appointment of registrar and deputy registrar whose "competence" was questioned by the students and the faculty.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has also briefed the Union Education minister on the imbroglio at NEHU.
"Briefed the Honble Minister Education @dpradhanbjp ji on the ongoing situation in NEHU and urged him to find an amicable solution to this issue," the chief minister had posted on X on November 10.