R.S. Mooshahary

Shillong, May 24: CMJ University’s woes got only worse today, as Meghalaya governor R.S. Mooshahary said the private institution’s actions invited enactment of provisions in the CMJ University Act, 2009, relating to its “dissolution”.

The governor conveyed this in a strongly worded letter sent to CMJ Foundation, the university’s sponsoring body, through his principal secretary M.S. Rao, listing the directives it should follow and comply with.

The foundation had lashed out yesterday at Mooshahary, who is also the university’s visitor, through an open letter to state chief minister Mukul Sangma, requesting the latter to intervene into the seemingly “prejudiced” action by the governor against the university that had hampered its operation.

On April 30, Rao had asked CMJ Foundation chairman Chandra Mohan Jha, who is also the university’s chancellor, to comply with the directives issued by the visitor within May 21. The foundation, however, reportedly did not send the compliance report within the stipulated time, citing various reasons, including the ongoing police probe.

“The grounds for non-compliance with the orders issued are specious and without merit. There is absolutely no justification for non-compliance of the orders and it is obvious that it is only a recourse to dilatory surgery instead of adopting corrective measures,” Rao said in the letter to Jha.

He said additional irregularities of the university had been observed over and above those listed in the April 30 letter.

PhD degrees: Rao said the university had awarded PhD degrees to more individuals in addition to the 434 mentioned in the list furnished to the visitor’s office. He today mentioned the names of 19 more individuals from Punjab, Maharashtra and Assam, who had been awarded PhD degrees by the university.

At the same time, he said the list of PhD guides provided to the visitor’s office was “misleading”. Initially, he stated, a list of 346 guides, approved by the university’s faculty research committee, was provided, and subsequently, when addresses of guides for students who had been awarded PhDs were requested, a fresh list of 85 guides was sent.

He said information had also been received that some guides in the second list had denied having given their consent.

Off-campus: The university, Rao said, was running several off-campus centres outside Meghalaya, which was not permissible under UGC norms. He said the university was offering distance education programmes outside the boundaries of the state and even India.

“These actions are in gross violation of UGC regulations and guidelines and are also contrary to provisions of the Meghalaya Private Universities (Regulation of Establishment and Maintenance of Standards) Act, 2012,” Rao said.

Annual Accounts: The principal secretary said the university had also not furnished its annual accounts, balance sheets and audit report to the visitor in accordance with Section 46 (4) of the CMJ University Act, 2009.

Convocation: The foundation has also been told that it cannot hold any convocation without a legally appointed chancellor. The university had planned to hold the convocation in August this year.

While stating that it was unfortunate that the foundation had launched a vitriolic attack on Mooshahary, Rao said, “Problems do not disappear by denial nor can they be resolved by misrepresentations. They have to be addressed with sincerity.”

He also bluntly pointed out that the activities of the university had brought “discredit” to institutions of higher learning and lowered the image of the state, besides putting the future of students at stake.

“These irregularities and violations clearly amount to mismanagement, mal-administration and failure in the accomplishment of the objectives of the university, which attract the provisions of Section 48 of the CMJ University Act, 2009, relating to dissolution of the university,” Rao said.

According to the fresh directives, the university has been asked, among others, to refund, with interest, the fees charged from students who wish to withdraw from the university, within 15 days of the students’ intimation of the decision.

The compliance report has to be furnished within June 10, failing which, Rao said, “it shall be construed that the university has no ability to correct the deficiencies.”