The Vice-Chancellor, Shambhu Nath Singh, who has not been on campus through the course of these protests, was contacted by The Indian Express on Wednesday, but declined to comment.

An inquiry committee constituted by the Governor and led by IIT Guwahati Director Devendra Jalihal has visited the campus, as has a team from the Union Ministry of Education. In response to a question by Congress MP Pradyot Bordoloi in Parliament, Union Minister of State for Education Dr Sukanta Majumdar told the Lok Sabha Monday that the committee has submitted its report to the Governor.

Established in 1994, Tezpur University is a NAAC A+ accredited Central university, the only other Central university in the state apart from Assam University. Vice-Chancellor Singh took over in March 2023, having been V-C of Patna University and a professor at IGNOU before.

The students and staff accuse Singh of financial irregularities and prolonged absence from the university, leading to “administrative stagnation”, dilapidation of campus infrastructure, and disruption of academic processes.

In a memorandum to the Union Ministry of Education on November 18, the Tezpur University Teachers’ Association, which has joined students in their protests demanding Singh’s ouster, has cited “repeated extensions of the Finance Officer’s tenure, questionable faculty recruitments, preferential awarding of tenders, inflated project estimates, questionable procurement practices, substandard infrastructure works, and opaque financial decision-making”.

The association has calculated that Singh was not on campus for 388 days from April 2023 to September 2025, and said this has “exacerbated administrative stagnation and eroded confidence among stakeholders”. They say that because of this statutory bodies are not meeting as mandated, “delaying recruitment, promotions, and deteriorating research ecosystem, including critical research infrastructure. In several cases, research scholars and non-teaching staff have been assigned full teaching loads, violating academic norms”.

The teachers have also alleged non-payment of labour wages and vendor bills, affecting infrastructure and essential services.

A student, who is part of the Tezpur University Students’ Fraternity, said resentment had been simmering for a long time before protests broke out in September. “Simple events like the college freshers’ event in 2024, which is just a simple internal event, were cancelled as the administration did not approve the sanctioned money for it. In the last semester, students didn’t get a farewell. Even hostel-level events were shut down, and academic events affected. A conference that my department had been planning did not happen. Simple repairs in hostels are denied by the Engineering Department.”

The student said that even while they were seeing all this, “completely unnecessary works were undertaken, like the perimeter of the V-C bungalow on the campus being fenced with barbed wire”.

Teachers and students also complain that after the services of over 60 guest teachers were terminated earlier this year, the work had been transferred to PhD students. “They are teaching for a meagre amount of around Rs 6,000 per month, and even this money is pending,” said a student.

The tipping point for the protesters was the university’s apparent indifference towards the sentiments of students following the death of superstar singer Zubeen Garg on September 19, which drew a massive emotional response across the state.

“The V-C was not at the university then, and the student council elections scheduled for the day after his death continued, despite there being State mourning and our request that the polls be postponed as a mark of respect. Our requests for permission to hold a condolence meeting were also treated with insensitivity. Because we were all so shaken, it became a breaking point and students started protesting,” a student said, adding that after the teachers’ association extended support, and “informed us of all the irregularities that were happening”, the protests grew.

Earlier, in a response to the protests, V-C Singh’s office issued a “clarification” denying allegations of insensitivity and irregularities. “Every expenditure undergoes due process and audit scrutiny, and no funds are ever utilized for purposes beyond what is legitimately permitted,” the clarification said.

However, the fact that the V-C is not present on the campus has not helped matters. In his absence, the Registrar (in charge) Pritam Deb and some other functionaries have stepped down from their administrative positions.

“Since there have been no remedial measures taken so far, we have launched this shutdown with the demand that the V-C be sent on administrative leave while an impartial high-level inquiry is undertaken and an Acting V-C is appointed instead. We also demand that the report of the inquiry committee be shared with us,” a student said.