Naga Hoho members on Friday called on Nagaland Governor, P.B. Acharya and expressed concern over various issues with regard to quality education in the state including “appointment” of the vice chancellors (VC) and “irregularities in Nagaland University (NU)”. A representation submitted to the governor, signed by NH president P. Chuba Ozukum and secretary (Adm) Chitho Nyosou, stated that “from the beginning a poor choice was made in appointing the Vice Chancellor and it still continues”.
The hoho said, while appointing VCs, 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,” NH said.
NH said, ever since its inception in 1994 NU had seen many ups and downs in spite of its remoteness and other political instabilities and issues, the people of Nagaland have extended all its possible co-operation.
However, even after 22 years, NH lamented that NU was unable to attain its height as a Central University at par with other progressive Central Universities, coupled with several 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.
It also reminded governor that NU had experienced years CBI inquiry, even as some cases were still pending, while some officials had been removed and some retired.
The hoho also expressed concern over the “sub-standard infrastructural development” in the three campuses. NH said in spite of the huge potential of NU, the university was yet to have a strong academic foundation/environment.
NH further expressed surprised to learn that NU, for the past four-five years, had been surrendering plan money allocated for development of the under-developed university. It said the latest was the Rs. 1.69 cores surrendered during the August 9, 2016 Finance committee meeting. Such speaks volumes of incompetency on the part of the university, when most of the colleges in the state had better infrastructure than NU, the hoho stated.
While raising the issue of the maximum employment in NU from other states particularly Manipur and Assam, NH said such practise was an obvious sidelining of the hundreds of local qualified unemployed youth in the state.
NH said in the past there were VCs who failed to understand the mentality of the people of the region, thereby affecting the academic and the overall development of the university.
In this regard, the hoho said one of the most important factors, to raise a good university, was the appointment of the VC. Being the head he can make or unmake a university, NH added.
To this, the hoho urged the governor, who is also the chief rector of NU, to intervene and salvage the university at par with other progressive universities in the country and to appoint the new VC “without any bias and political interventions”.
NH said it was optimistic that the governor would intervene and help the only Central University in Nagaland, to become a progressive quality developmental University.