Guwahati: Students and research scholars of Tezpur University (TU) have approached the Union Ministry of Education seeking clarity on the status of a statutory enquiry into alleged financial and administrative irregularities during the tenure of Vice-Chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh, who has remained away from the campus since September 22, 2025.
In a fresh representation to the Secretary, Department of Higher Education, the students said the Enquiry Committee constituted by the Visitor under Section 9 of the Tezpur University Act, 1993, through an Office Memorandum dated December 31, 2025, was directed to submit its findings within three months.
The three-member panel comprised Manipur University Vice-Chancellor N. Lokendra Singh as chairperson, with Nagaland University Vice-Chancellor Jagadish Kumar Patnaik and UGC Secretary Manish R. Joshi as members.
According to the students, the committee completed its proceedings and submitted its report. However, its findings and any consequential action remain undisclosed more than six months after the stipulated deadline of March 31, 2026.
“The question before the Department is no longer whether our concerns were heard, but what conclusion has been reached and what action will follow,” the representation states.
The students said their grievances had already been examined at several levels, including a magisterial enquiry ordered by the Sonitpur district administration, a Fact-Finding Committee constituted by the Governor that visited the campus in October 2025, two separate Ministry of Education teams, and the Visitorial Enquiry Committee, which visited the university on January 20, 2026.
The students credited Pro-Vice-Chancellor Amarendra Kumar Das, appointed by the Ministry and who assumed charge on January 7 following sustained protests, with restoring normal functioning on the campus. At the same time, they cautioned that “continuity of administration must not be conflated with accountability.”
The representation lists several unresolved issues, including the alleged diversion of funds for renovation of the Vice-Chancellor’s residence and guest house while student welfare activities went unfunded, overcrowded hostel rooms with non-functional water purification systems, felling of bamboo groves without forest department clearance and pollution of campus water bodies.
It also flags the continued non-disbursal of grants due from the Ministry, the UGC and other funding agencies.
Another major grievance relates to the university’s Convocation. Originally scheduled for December 2025, it was rescheduled to March 2026 and subsequently cancelled without an announced new date for the 2025 graduating batch. The students said the prospects of the 2026 batch also remained uncertain.
They have asked the Ministry whether the delay amounts to “retaliation” against the institution for resisting corruption.
The students warned that, in the absence of a response, they may resort to a “complete shutdown” of university functioning, release documentary evidence already submitted to official enquiry teams and constitute an independent public enquiry panel comprising retired judges, educationists and rights defenders.
They said the proposal for an independent panel was reportedly endorsed at a Citizens’ Convention held in Guwahati on December 19, 2025.
Referring to the university’s founding history, the representation noted that Tezpur University was established in the aftermath of the Assam Accord of 1985. It urged the Ministry “to remain sensitive to regional sentiment” while concluding the matter.
Separately, the Tezpur University Teachers’ Association (TUTA) has questioned the statutory basis for the continued payment of full salary to VC Singh during his prolonged absence. Its president pointed out that the leave admissible to a Vice-Chancellor is limited.