JAC to meet NEHU VC tomorrow
Staff Reporter
Shillong, Nov 15: The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of NEHUTA, NEHUNSA and NEHUSU has agreed to meet the Vice Chancellor of the University Prof PS Shukla tomorrow to discuss its nine-point charter of demands.
The indefinite strike called by the JAC, which entered its third day, has disrupted the functioning of the NEHU administration and academic activities.
“The JAC will meet the VC tomorrow in the conference hall,” JAC chairman Prof Lakhon Kma informed today.
“There will also be a JAC general assembly outside the VC’s office after the meeting to share the outcome of the meeting with the members and to accordingly decide the future course of action,” he said.
Prof Kma also announced that the strike will continue tomorrow till further decision is taken.
The nine points of demands related to immediate removal of illegally appointed technical officer/senior consultant, immediate appointment of Statutory Officers and University Engineer, deteriorating condition of the University Health Centre, relieving of teaching and technical staffs from ministerial duties, re-upload of NEHU Act, Statutes and Ordinance in the NEHU official website, holding of regular convocation, marking system, inclusion of elected members of NEHUSU as representative in the Academic Council and review of Educationally Backward Area Quota from Block Level to Village Level.
NEHUTA agrees to NEP implementation from 2023-24 session
Staff Reporter
Shillong, Oct 26: The NEHU Teachers Association (NEHUTA) and Meghalaya College Teachers Association (MCTA) have agreed to the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 from the academic session of 2023-2024.
This announcement was made by NEHUTA president Prof. Lakhon Kma after the emergent meeting of the NEHU Academic Council (AC) which wascalled by NEHU Vice Chancellor, Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla after continuous demand by the MCTA and NEHUTA.
Speaking to media persons after the emergent meeting, Prof. Lakhon Kma said that the meeting was a success as the VC had agreed on his flaws to issue a notification on July 12 to all Principals of colleges to implement NEP from August 1 without the approval of the academic council.
Prof. Kma said that in the meeting the VC had agreed that the academic council is more supreme than the executive council of the VC when it comes to decisions related to academic policy matters of the university.
“We are happy with the outcome of the meeting and we have agreed to go ahead with the implementation of the NEP from the academic session 2023-2024 and this decision overrides the notification of the VC after the 110th meeting of the AC who had single-handedly tried to force the implementation of the NEP without the approval of the AC” said Prof. Kma.
On the decision to agree to the implementation of NEP from 2023-2024, Prof. Kma said that this decision was taken after good sense had prevailed to the VC who had regrets with his previous decision to override AC and also by taking into account the interest of the students and the colleges.
Prof. Kma claimed that good sense might have prevailed unto the VC after the university received direction from the President of India and the Governor of Meghalaya as the NEHUTA and MCTA had continuously written to this highest authority on the attitude of the VC.
Prof. Kma said that in the emergent meeting, a decision was also taken to convene an official meeting of the Academic Council of the university on October 31 and in this meeting, a deliberation on how to go ahead with the NEP will be discussed.
“Normally the examination of the first semesters would be held in the month of November but since for the last three month many teachers have boycotted the classes hence there is a need to extend the session to allow the AC to discuss and set the question paper according to the NEP” he added.
Court to decide on relocation from Sweepers’ Colony
Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Urban Affairs Sniawbhalang Dhar has informed that the state government has filed an affidavit before the Meghalaya High Court with regards to the proposal for relocating the 342 families of Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong.
Dhar told reporters today that now the matter is left to the court to decide.
The minister said that the government will also sit in a few days and take a call on the matter.
According to him, this was after the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) had rejected the government’s proposal to relocate the Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong to the existing land of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).
Dhar however said that the government will always welcome the HPC if they want to discuss the matter.
On April 24, the Meghalaya High Court had deferred the hearing on the issue to June 7.
The order was passed by the division bench based on the request made by the state government and the HPC during the hearing held here.
The government had come up with a blueprint after rejecting the April 25,2022-proposal of the HPC that 200 square meters of land be provided to each of the 342 families within the European ward besides bearing the cost of construction of their homes.
In its recent 6-page reply sent to the Deputy Secretary of the Government of Meghalaya and other concerned departments, the HPC had alleged that the government’s proposal was “incomplete, unsuitable, unprepared, unfair and undemocratic.”
The HPC had also stated in its reply that “There are serious lacunae, sweeping and undesirable conclusions in the approach and attitude of the High-Level Committee of the Meghalaya government.”
“We are absolutely devastated that since the formation of the new government, ministers, MLAs and certain groups have been making unnecessary remarks saying that the whole issue would be resolved within the month of April. What magical trick do they have up their sleeve to resolve the issue within days? The matter is sub-judice and they are only paying lip service to respect for the judiciary. We will not buckle under political duress,” it had also added.
HC asks Jowai Municipal Board how it is disposing garbage
The Meghalaya High Court today directed the Jowai Municipal Board to file an affidavit to indicate how the garbage is being disposed of at the moment in Jowai town.
Hearing a PIL filed by the Synjuk Ki Waheh Shnong Jowai, the division bench said that despite the Jowai Municipality’s assertion that a better schedule for garbage collection is now in place, the petitioner complained that collection takes place only several times a month, rather than several times a week.
Despite previous observations, both the Jowai Municipality and the State appear to be rather indifferent to the plight of the residents in Jowai, it said.
The Court said since the Municipality claims that a better schedule is in operation and seriously disputes the submission made on behalf of the petitioner, the relevant schedule should be disclosed by way of an affidavit when the matter appears a week hence.
“The schedule should indicate the localities where trucks are assigned, the registration numbers of the trucks and the duration that the trucks remain for collection of garbage at various localities. A map of Jowai should accompany the affidavit to indicate that the entirety of the town is covered by the garbage collection drive. The Municipality should also indicate how the garbage is being disposed of at the moment, even while the compost plant is being made ready,” it said in the order.
The next hearing will be held on April 27.