Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar has approved the MoU signed by the ministry and state government with the agitating bodies of Manipur University, HRD joint secretary G C Hosur intimated the varsity on Monday. The development comes two days after the agitating community of teachers and students, seeking the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Professor A P Pandey, had announced to revoke their stand on the suspension of protests, alleging the ministry of breaching the agreement. In a statement, the registrar in-charge of Manipur Univerity confirmed that all the clauses of the MoU, including the issue pertaining to Pandey's leave during the period of inquiry, had been approved by the HRD Minister. Pandey will be on leave until follow-up action is taken after the inquiry period of 15 days, it said. On August 16, the agitators had agreed to suspend protests temporarily after the agreement was signed. As per the agreement, the agitation was to be suspended after an official order was issued by the authority concerned, incorporating all the terms mentioned in the accord. Subsequently, on August 17, the HRD ministry issued an order reconstituting a two-member inquiry committee to probe the allegations against the V-C. The panel is being headed by former acting Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court T Nandakumar and has former vice-chancellor of Tezpur University M K Choudhary as one of its members. The committee will submit its report within a month. The agitating group, however, was of the opinion that the HRD ministry had violated the agreement. They alleged that the HRD Ministry had not only dropped the term ‘independent’ in the reconstituted two-member committee but also completely left out the issue regarding Pandey's leave, which was the most “contentious” one. The Manipur University Student Union (MUSU) launched its protest demanding the removal of the V-C on May 30, alleging the latter of committing administrative and financial irregularities in the campus. The V-C, however, refuted all the charges levelled against him as baseless. The teachers association later joined the protest.
