On April 25, Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad K Sangma, had met Minister of Education and Skill Development, Dharmendra Pradhan, with a request to exclude the colleges affiliated to North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) in Meghalaya from following the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admissions. Now, the Union Minister has agreed to it.
On a positive note, Pradhan has written a letter to Meghalaya's Chief Minister stating that, considering the geographical conditions, far-flung locations, limited digital connectivity and infrastructure, an exemption was given for this academic year. In the letter, Pradhan mentioned, "The affiliated colleges of NEHU will continue with the existing practice for admission instead of CUET."
Sangma expressed gratitude to Pradhan for the exemption.
"On behalf of the students of my State, I would like to express my gratitude to Hon'ble Minister @dpradhanbjp ji (Dharmendra Pradhan) for allowing colleges affiliated to NEHU to continue with existing practice for admission instead of #CUET (sic)," he tweeted.
It was back on May 2 that the Chief Minister announced that the Centre has agreed "that there will be certain areas in which they (the Centre) will try to exempt some of our colleges, which are not necessarily centrally-funded...these will not have to appear for the exam." He had also added that they are still waiting for an official confirmation on this from the Union government.
CUET scores were made mandatory for admission to UG courses offered by the 45 centrally-funded universities in the country from Academic Session 2022-2023 onwards.
