SHILLONG, NOV 4: Non-teaching staff of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) on Monday staged their indefinite cease work against the unprecedented delay in the promotion and recruitment process for the post(s) that were advertised on November 3, 2023.
Speaking to media persons, president of the NEHU Non-Teaching Staff Association (NEHUNSA) Dr WR Synrem said that the association has been compelled to stage the indefinite protest due to the fact that the strength of the non-teaching staff in both Shillong and Tura campuses has gone down tremendously.
He said that as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) norms, the ratio should be 1:1.1 which means the strength of the non-teaching staff should be at 512.
“Unfortunately, our present strength is around 250 including Tura campus and this year around 50 plus non-teaching staff have retired. Next year also, it (staff retiring) will be around the same number. So if recruitment doesn’t happen, we fear who will work in the university and how the university will function, especially non-teaching staff who are dealing with teachers and students so everything will get affected if the non-teaching staff are not there,” Dr Synrem stated.
“Therefore, we have decided to continue with our indefinite agitation till the authority gives us a proper answer as to when they are going to hold the recruitment process,” he added.
Asked, the president of the association said that as per reports, the authority will invite the association for discussion by tomorrow.
“We hope it will be a fruitful discussion as we also do not want people to suffer as people will suffer once we are on strike but we are forced to use this for the survival of the university,” he said.
When asked about the demands made by the NEHUTA and NEHUSU, Dr Synrem said, “We are not totally part of it but we have given our letter of support to the issues raised by them and beyond that no comment.”
On the style of functioning of the incumbent vice chancellor, the president of the association said, “As the head of the institution, he (VC) is expected to be in station but time and again he is out of station. We have talked with him but he said he has invitations from here and there he has to attend programmes and all and that has affected to a great extent.”