Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi speaks to the media during an all-party meeting ahead of the winter session of Parliament in New Delhi, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. | Photo credit: PTI
GUWAHATI
Assam Congress president and MP Gaurav Gogoi has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to end the long-running unrest at Tezpur University, a central institution that has been shut down indefinitely by its students, forcing the administration to cancel all final examinations.
The students have been agitating since September 22 against the university’s vice-chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh over alleged financial irregularities, mismanagement and lack of accountability. They shut down all campus services, including academic activities, from November 29.
The University Teachers and Non-Teaching Staff Association has extended its support to the student-led agitation under the Tezpur University United Forum.
In a letter to the Prime Minister published on Tuesday (December 2, 2025), Mr Gogoi highlighted the “widespread discontent” among students and faculty members of the university. He said the situation on the campus had escalated following Prof Singh’s alleged insensitive remarks on Assamese cultural icon Zubeen Garg and the university’s failure to observe the state mourning period.
The Sonitpur district administration subsequently conducted a judicial inquiry into the campus riots.
“The Tezpur University Teachers Association has reported several pressing issues, including administrative negligence where the Vice-Chancellor often (remains) absent from the campus without formal delegation of authority, leading to delays and administrative paralysis,” Mr Gogoi wrote.
“Academic Decline”
He said the university’s academic performance had plummeted, reflected in a significant drop in the National Institutional Ranking Framework due to faculty shortages, hiring freezes and insufficient research support.
“There are also allegations of financial and procurement irregularities such as unauthorized use of university property, excessive travel expenses, awarding of public contracts without tenders and involvement of agencies with lack of transparency. The appointments and extensions were allegedly made in violation of the law and Tezpur University constitution, including the tenure of the finance officer and ad hoc creation of contractual posts,” Mr. Gogoi challenged the Prime Minister.
He pointed out that there have also been concerns about the quality of the newly built infrastructure, with hostels and academic buildings already showing structural defects, indicating deficiencies in supervision and quality control.
“Tezpur University has long been a premier center of education in the Northeast and its current decline underscores the need for immediate intervention to restore academic standards and institutional integrity. I seek your urgent attention to the above issues and respectfully request that necessary steps be taken to address the issues facing the University,” Mr. Gogoi further wrote.
Published – 02 Dec 2025 22:06 IST
