In light of the ongoing unrest surrounding the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Tuesday expressed serious concern over the situation and reiterated his government’s efforts to engage with the Centre to find a resolution. Speaking to reporters, the Chief Minister underscored that while the state government is not the competent authority to intervene directly in NEHU’s affairs, it remains actively engaged in facilitating dialogue among stakeholders to safeguard the interests of students.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said he is “engaging with Government of India. I speak to Honourable Education Minister on a time-to-time basis and update him and request, you can find a way to resolve so they’re doing the best.”
“We are, we are concerned about the issue in NEHU and mostly I [am] concerned about the students,” he stated. “There are issues from both sides. We’ve tried to understand those issues, try to reach out to the different stakeholders, either me directly or through somebody in the system — that means the government — and try to see how we could resolve the issues so that NEHU can function [in a] smooth manner.”
Explaining the limitations of state authority in the matter, Sangma said, “As I mentioned again earlier, NEHU is an autonomous [institution], directly functioning under the Education Ministry, Government of India, and appointments of the Chancellor are done from the President’s level. So, therefore, all these complications are there where [for] state government, it is difficult for us to openly intervene in the day-to-day functioning because there are already systems that are in place.”
He added, “Even though we may want to do it in certain ways, state government is not actually the competent authority to officially intervene in these matters. So we can do it at a certain level.”
Emphasising the government’s proactive role in facilitating communication, Sangma said, “So number one, as I said, are we concerned? We are very concerned. And are we intervening? We don’t directly intervene because we are not the competent authority to do that, but we are engaging — more engaging. We are talking to people. I have personally gone to meet the students.”
“But as I said, I cannot be there from a government perspective because technically, we don’t have the authority to directly intervene [in] the day-to-day functioning, but we can engage, as I said. And so my purpose was engagement and I’m concerned,” he continued.
The Chief Minister also noted that his engagement has extended beyond students to other informal discussions. “I engage with the students and [am] engaging unofficially and informally with certain staff and faculty. Other political leaders, as well as bureaucratic officials, are also engaging. So, we are finding a way, we’re trying to see how we could bring the different stakeholders together to resolve this issue. But as I said, we’re not very sure how things are moving forward.”
He reaffirmed, “I’m engaging with Government of India, I speak to Honourable Education Minister on a time-to-time basis and update him and request, you can find a way to resolve so they’re doing the best.”
In a final appeal, Sangma urged all concerned to prioritise collective problem-solving in the interest of the student community. “But I again urge everybody that yes, there could be complications, but we need to find a way to come together and resolve it in the larger interest of [the] student — the students of the state and especially of NEHU.”