After the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) crisis seems like it has subsided, the students of the North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy (NEIAH) are on hunger strike. According to The Shillong Times, eight post-graduate (PG) students of the NEIAH at Mawdiangdiang have been on an indefinite hunger strike to protest the failure of the administration to address their grievances.
On November 26, the NEIAH's students strike began, six days after their NEHU counterparts suspended their indefinite fast to press for the removal of controversial Vice-Chancellor Prabha Shankar Shukla.
It is learnt that the first batch of MD (Homoeopathy) students at NEIAH have three grievances –
1. Non-disbursement of stipends for the past year
2. Non-affiliation of their three-year PG courses with NEHU, and
3. Failure to provide them with a guide in accordance with the norms of the National Commission for Homeopathy (NCH)
The eight students on hunger strike said they would continue with their protest until the institute’s authorities gave a written assurance that their stipends would be released and the NEHU affiliation would be obtained.
On November 28, one of the agitating students said that they had not received their stipends despite working in the hospital for the past year. The student further said that they have been raising their demands with the administration since April. However, in September, the director in charge assured them that their stipends would be released in two weeks and the affiliation would be completed in two months, though no progress has been made.
“The administration’s inaction forced us to resume our agitation,” she told The Shillong Times.
Further, she also said the first batch of MD (homoeopathy) students are unsure about their future as the institute has not initiated the admission for the second batch.
Saurabh Singh, a fourth-year student of BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery), said the administration should resolve the grievances of the MD (homoeopathy) students as soon as possible. “Both the director in charge and the deputy director are in Delhi when the institute is in a crisis. We haven’t had a full-fledged director since August, when the former director retired,” he said, adding that their hunger strike for three days has not moved the authorities yet.
Singh said the MD (homoeopathy) classes started in December 2023, and, according to the NCH, the PG courses needed to be affiliated with the NEHU within three months.
“It is also mandatory for the institute to provide a guide for the PG students within six months after the commencement of classes. This has not been done and the students are suffering due to the mistake of the administration,” he said, reported The Shillong Times.
The BAMS and Bachelor of Homoeopathy Medicine and Surgery students are holding a sit-in demonstration in support of the MD (Homoeopathy) students.
