Oct 08, Kathmandu - Tribhuvan University (TU) held a Senate meeting attended by 12 people who had been invited but, they say, were never formally appointed as Senate members.

Four days before the meeting, TU sent attendance letters to representatives of faculty, staff and student organisations amid fears the Senate session might be postponed. The letters, dated October 16 and signed by Senate Secretary and Rector Prof. Anjana Maharjan Singh, asked recipients to attend but did not identify them as Senate members.

After arriving at Thursday’s meeting, several attendees said they realised they had not received formal appointment letters.

TU Staff Association President Chhatra Karki said he signed only the attendance register, not any document as a Senate member. “They did not give us an appointment letter. We are not Senate members; we were only invited to the meeting,” he told News of Nepal.

Karki said the government’s issuance of an ordinance had suspended the membership of some Senate representatives. He added that political-party-affiliated faculty, staff and student representatives had previously been excluded from the meeting, and that they were invited this time only to ensure the session went ahead. “The meeting is over. We are waiting to see whether they will give us letters now,” he said.

TU Professors’ Association President Basanta Dhakal, also described as a Senate member, said he too had not received an appointment letter. He called the university’s failure to provide one a serious breach of trust.

The invitation letter, issued by Singh, requested attendance at the university’s 67th annual-day meeting and an ordinary Senate meeting under provisions of TU’s Organisation and Academic Administration Regulations, 2050. It did not state that the recipients were Senate members.

The 12 invitees reportedly included representatives elected through a single transferable vote: two student union presidents, representatives from the Nepal Professors’ Association and TU staff and professors’ associations, two representatives from the Nepal Public Campus Association, and representatives from the TU Campus Association.

The meeting approved TU’s policy and programme and a budget of Rs 30 billion for fiscal year 2083/84. It also approved a summary of the 64th graduation list, presented by Registrar Dr. Rabindra Shivakoti. The list includes 95,540 students who obtained transcripts between June 15, 2025, and mid-July 2026, according to the report. Of those students, 15 percent were in technical programmes and 84 percent in general programmes.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister and TU Chancellor Balendra Shah.