KATHMANDU, May 7: The senate meeting of Tribhuvan Iniversity (TU), scheduled for Sunday, was postponed after Prime Minister and Chancellor of TU, KP Sharma Oli could not manage time for it.
According to TU, the date for senate meeting was fixed after approval from PM Oli. "The PM who is the chancellor decides the date of senate meeting after we call or propose to convene the meeting," said Prof Tirtha Raj Khaniya, vice-chancellor of TU. "The PM himself had scheduled the senate meeting for today. As we went to meet him yesterday, he was unavailable because of his busy schedule and health problems. That's why the senate meeting has been put off," he added.
However, Kundan Aryal, the prime minister's press advisor has dismissed TU's claim that the senate meeting was postponed due to the PM's poor health.
TU senate meeting postponed
VC Khaniya said that they had gone to the PM's residence at Baluwatar yesterday to remind him about Sunday's meeting. However, according to Khaniya, they couldn't meet the PM as he was sick. On behalf of the PM, Minister for Education, Giriraj Mani Pokhrel had urged Khaniya to postpone the meeting.
However, Aryal accused TU officials of twisting the matter. “He attended two programs yesterday and is busy with other programs today as well,” Aryal told Republica on Sunday. “PM Oli canceled the meeting as TU wasn't clear about the agenda.”
One of the agendas of today's senate meeting was to amend and repeal old rules. Other issues included addressing demands of TU teachers, employees and students and public procurement provisions.
Meanwhile, 607 days of attendance approval of Prof Yogendra Narayan Badbariya, president of TU Professors' Union was also proposed to be discussed in the senate meeting. Prof Badbariya is a teacher at Surya Narayan-Satya Narayan Marbaita Campus, Siraha. However, Badbariya, who is also one of the TU senate members, remained in Kathmandu for about two years after he was elected to the post more than four years ago.
"A committee was formed by TU Senate last year to study his absence from the campus," said VC Khaniya. "The committee had proposed tabling its report in the senate meeting for approval or rejection," he added.
