[ Bengia Ajum ]

ITANAGAR, 9 Jun: The Students’ Union of NERIST (SUN), which launched an indefinite hunger strike on Monday over the alleged forced resignation of NERIST Director Prof Narendranath S, has withdrawn its strike after receiving a positive response.

Ever since the director resigned due to pressure from outside elements, there has been turmoil in the state’s premier technical institute.

Talking to this daily, SUN president Tadar Demo informed that they have received a positive response, due to which they have discontinued the strike. “We have been told that the resignation will be withdrawn and will not be accepted by the Education Ministry. After getting this assurance, we have decided not to continue the hunger strike,” he said.

Earlier, in a letter to the NERIST Board of Management (BoM) chairman on Sunday, the SUN had said that it had been compelled to launch the strike until its demands were met as it had received no response from the Ministry of Education, the NERIST BoM chairman, or the state government to its 3 June letter regarding Prof Narendranath’s resignation.

The SUN’s demands are that the Education Ministry reject the resignation and allow Prof Narendranath to complete his full five-year tenure as director, and releasing of the 29 May CCTV footage from the director’s chamber, recorded during the incident that allegedly led to the compelled resignation.

It is alleged that Prof Narendranath was forced to resign after a group of people barged into his office. His resignation had come just a day after suspension orders were issued to NERIST Registrar Mai Kuru Camder and Assistant Registrar Boge Kamduk on 29 May in connection with alleged irregularities and manipulation of Recruitment Rules  2022 for non-teaching staffers of the institute.