The controversy surrounding the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) has continued to rage with the BJP on Thursday asking the state government to declare if it is a private or government institute.
The party also asked the government to clarify why USTM has a higher fee structure compared to most other state-run institutions. The fresh controversy erupted after BJP leader and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accused USTM of issuing fake degrees. The Meghalaya government had rubbished his charge as has the university.
BJP’s Meghalaya general secretary Wankitbok Pohshna said, “The university’s definition, as written in its website, is that it is a state private university; meaning it was set up by an act of the State Legislative Assembly in the year 2008. It is run by the ERD Foundation Guwahati making it essentially private in nature. By definition, a state university is maintained by the state government and administered by a public authority and follows the UGC syllabus.”