About

On May 26, 1973, the President of India ratified the North-Eastern Hill University Act (24 of 1973), which had been approved by both Houses of Parliament. On May 26, 1973, it was published in the Extraordinary Gazette of India together with the First Schedule of the Act, which included the University's Statutes.

The goals of the institution, as stated in the law, are "to disseminate and advance knowledge by providing instructional and research facilities in such branches of learning as it may deem fit; to pay special attention to the improvement of the social and economic conditions and welfare of the people of the hill areas of the North-eastern region, and in particular, the intellectual, academic and cultural advancement" .

Originally, the University's jurisdiction included the former Union Territories of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, as well as the states of Meghalaya and Nagaland. The authority of NEHU over Nagaland ended on September 6, 1994, with the founding of the Nagaland University. Similarly, once the Mizoram University was established, NEHU's authority over Mizoram ended in June 2001. There is a university in Arunachal Pradesh. NEHU is connected to the Arunachal Pradesh-based North-Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology, though.

The University at Shillong's academic divisions and administrative offices were first housed in rented premises. Nevertheless, NEHU quickly came into possession of two valuable properties in the city, one owned by the Rani of Bijni and the other by the erstwhile Maharaja of Mayurbhanj. After that, the academic departments relocated to these two locations. Meanwhile, the University of Meghalaya received a large piece of land (about 1225 acres) in Umshing, which is a bit beyond the city limits, from the Government of Meghalaya in order to establish its permanent campus. The Government of Meghalaya gifted this gorgeous property, which is heavily forested and gently undulating, making it an ideal site for the University. During the VI Five Year Plan, the land survey and the university master plan were finished.Even small building efforts got underway during the VII Plan era. When the construction of a number of faculty residence halls, men's and women's hostels, a ring road, a state-of-the-art workshop for the University Scientific Instruction Center, a structure for the Regional Sophisticated Instrumentation Center, and the Guest House-cum-Seminar Complex—a collection of buildings housing the science departments—was completed in 1991, the campus began to resemble a desirable university in the making.

_The objectives of the University, as laid down in the act, are "to disseminate and advance knowledge by providing instructional and research facilities in such branches of learning as it may deem fit; to pay special attention to the improvement of the social and economic conditions and welfare of the people of the hill areas of the North-eastern region, and in particular, the intellectual, academic and cultural advancement".