NLU Meghalaya advertises 100% domicile-based faculty hiring amid resignations

A recent advertisement for faculty recruitments at National Law University, Meghalaya (NLU M) has sparked controversy, as it restricts all positions to State-domiciled candidates.

The notification invites online applications for 18 law faculty positions exclusively from those residing in Meghalaya, citing the State Reservation Policy as its basis.

Yogesh Mishra, a founding faculty member who is currently serving his notice period at NLU Meghalaya, spoke with Bar & Bench on the long-term implications of domicile-based hiring.

"Legal education thrives on plural perspectives, interdisciplinary scholarship and national-level exposure. Exclusionary policies such as this send the wrong signal both to the academic community and to the youth of the state, at a time when collaborative, inclusive and merit-driven development is the need of the hour," he said.

Mishra is one of 7 founding faculty members to have resigned since they were not offered permanent positions. The consequent faculty crunch is affecting students adversely.

"With classes re-opening from June 29 onwards, there are no faculties for multiple subjects," a student said.

Flawed reservation policy?

The notifications are for fifteen different schools. Eight of these - School of Industrial Process and Labour Law; School of Morality, Ethics, Law and Liability; School of Taxation Economics and Finance; School of International and Outer Space Law; School of Innovation and Intellectual Property; School of Sustainability Studies; School of Technology and Law; and School of Traditional, Customary and Indigenous Law - are hiring one law faculty each.

The School of Transactional Law and Dispute Resolution; and the School of Constitutional Governance and Public Policy are hiring for two law faculty members each.

The School of Corporate Laws and Business Management; and the School of Criminal Justice, Criminology and Victimology have vacancies for three law faculty each.

The School of Gender Studies is hiring for one sociology faculty, the School of Traditional, Customary and Indigenous Law, and the School of Constitutional Governance and Public Policy, and the School of Law and Language is hiring for one policy faculty each.

The School of Organisational Governance and Leadership, the School of Taxation Economics and Finance, and the School of Innovation and Intellectual Property is hiring for one management faculty each

The School of Industrial Process and Labour Law is hiring two faculty of policy.

The School of Technology and Law has vacancies for five faculty in the domain of technology.

Instead of applying the 85% reservation cap under the Meghalaya State Reservation Policy to a consolidated pool of faculty positions, the current structure provides for 100% State domicile reservation for each position in each school.

The National Law University of Meghalaya Act, 2022 provides that the reservation policy of the State government and norms followed by other National Law Universities (NLUs) must be adhered to when appointing teaching and non-teaching staff.

NLU Meghalaya currently reserves 50% of its student intake for residents of Meghalaya as per a press statement by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Indrajit Dube.

Attempts to reach the Vice-Chancellor of NLU Meghalaya for a comment remain unanswered at the time of publishing.

Recently, it was alleged that the appointment of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to the permanent post of Deputy Registrar was contrary to the Meghalaya State Reservation Policy. The policy has been made for posts and services, in connection with the affairs of Meghalaya.

The policy provides 40% reservation in favour of Khasis and Jaintias, 40% reservation in favour of Garos and 5% vacancies in favour of any Scheduled Tribes of Meghalaya and Assam.

Sandhu told Bar & Bench that he was offered the position for three years by the Vice-Chancellor verbally. However, owing to a Governing Council meeting that questioned the discretion of the Vice-Chancellor on appointing a non-domiciled Deputy Registrar, he decided to resign from the post.

The result of the hiring process was never notified by NLU M.

[Read NLU Meghalaya hiring notification]