IMPHAL: Chief minister N Biren Singh on Sunday met Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar and held discussions on the ongoing crisis at Manipur University (MU).Biren, who along with a few legislators and party leaders is in New Delhi, met Javadekar and informed him about the ongoing impasse. The chief minister also told Javadekar that the MU community has not welcomed the probe panel set up by the HRD ministry to investigate the allegations against the VC. Javadekar has informed Biren that an emergency meeting would be convened to discuss the matter and eke out a solution to the ongoing crisis.Sunday's development comes a day after the students and other staff members had burned effigies of University Grant Commission (UGC) joint secretary JK Tripathy Tripathy, Union minister Prakash Javedkar and deputy secretary (central university division), HRD ministry, Surat Singh, at the main entrance gate of the university as a mark of protest. Manipur University Students' Union (MUSU), Manipur University Teachers' Association (MUTA) and Manipur University Staff Association (MUSA) have expressed their objection to the composition of the probe panel set up by the Centre. The protesters have refused to cooperate with the panel, terming the move as "a ploy to undermine democratic movement".The fact-finding committee was instituted by HRD on July 12, with JK Tripathy as the head and MU register-in-charge M Shyamkishore as a nodal officer. In a joint statement issued last night, MUSU, MUTA and MUSA protested the inclusion of Shyamkeshore in the panel, claiming that he is suspected to be complicit in the administrative and financial irregularities that have been allegedly committed by the VC.MUSU leaders claimed that Shyamkishore has never visited the varsity to resolve the issue. They further claimed that the university community cannot accept a 'simple enquiry committee' as the HRD ministry has already been on the side of the VC."We are deeply anguished and disheartened by the nature of the committee. The constitution of this committee is a ploy to undermine our democratic movement, an appeasement attempt to divert attention from the true nature of the demand," a MUSU functionary had said. The three bodies, in a meeting, resolved to intensify their agitation if an independent probe committee headed by a retired judge of a high court is not formed at the earliest.The varsity has been shut down by protests since June 6 with students accusing the VC of financial misappropriation, administrative negligence and failure to appoint members in important posts. MUTA and MUSA have extended their support to the movement, with six deans and 28 departmental heads having resigned as a mark of protest.

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