Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Gaurav Gogoi will raise in Parliament the issues facing the Northeast’s leading universities, which, he said, have recently been in the news for the “wrong reasons”.
Gogoi, who is also the deputy leader of the Opposition Congress in the Lok Sabha, said in a post on X that several top universities in the region have been drawing negative attention over their functioning.
He named Tezpur University and Gauhati University in Assam, and the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) in Shillong, Meghalaya. While Tezpur University and NEHU are central universities, Gauhati University is a state-run institution.
“Often it is the action of the vice-chancellor which has raised concerns. Once the centres of academic excellence, both students and teachers have expressed displeasure. This has affected the performance of the university and the rankings,” Gogoi wrote.
Tezpur University has been witnessing protests from teachers and students demanding the removal of vice-chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh over alleged “irregularities” in procurement.
He added: “I have written to the @PMOIndia about Tezpur University, but my concern is for the broader Northeast region. I will be raising this issue strongly in Parliament. I hope for a positive response from the Prime Minister’s Office.”
A joint delegation of teachers and students of Tezpur University, established under the 1985 Assam Accord, had recently met Gogoi seeking his intervention.
At NEHU, there has been a sustained demand for the removal of vice-chancellor P.S. Shukla since November last year. Following campus unrest, he has been on long leave and has been operating from Guwahati since March due to security concerns.
Gogoi’s post comes two days after Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accused him of being a Pakistani agent and dared him to file a defamation case.
Assam Congress leaders responded by asking why Gogoi was being allowed to roam free if he was indeed a Pakistan agent. Gogoi, in turn, described Sarma as “unfit” to be chief minister.