Minister Okendro to tribals:: Stop underestimating, be one with the rest
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, November 09, 2013:
Calling upon the tribal people of Manipur to nurture in their hearts a sense of oneness and brotherhood at par with the other communities of the state, Minister of Education and CAF & PD, M Okendro today urged them to stop underestimating themselves and contribute their mite towards maintaining peace in the State.
The Minister was speaking as chief guest of the fourth academic programme of All Tribal Students' Union Manipur (ATSUM) called 'Caucus 2013' held under the theme, "Endeavouring for a peaceful society" at the conference hall of Hotel Imphal, here today.
He said that people should follow the 'forgive and forget' policy and stop blaming one another for uninvited crimes happening in and around us.
Okendro assured that being the Minister of education of the state, he will look into issues like shortage of teachers and regularization of contract teachers in the hill districts at par with the adhoc employees mentioned by ATSUM.
He also gave the assurance of establishing colleges in four districts, namely Tamei in Tamenglong district, Tipaimukh in Churachandpur district, Phungyar in Ukhrul district and Sugnu in Thoubal district and completion of B.Ed colleges in all the nine districts of the state by March 31, 2014. The Minister then disclosed about the Central Government's approval for setting up of government polytechnic colleges in the state and appealed to the tribal students' organisation to keep calm and avoid violence in their agitations and try to pursue them with certain negotiations with the government.
This will show a sense of integration and belongingness among the community, he added.
The academic programme observed as a biannual event started in 2005 and is focused mainly on education and students related issues.
With a vision to bring peace to the state, ATSUM has coined this year's theme of the academic program as "Endeavoring for a peaceful society" and the programme was hosted by Kuki Students' Organisation (KSO).
Dr.Jangkhongam Doungel, HOD Political Science, Mizoram University; Dr.John Pulamte, former President ATSUM and Dr.Leban Serto, Co-ordinator, Peace Studies were the resource persons who spoke on various issues related to tribal people's needs.
Dr.Doungel, who spoke on 'Autonomy and power devolution in the hill areas of Manipur', said that if tribal people are not given their inherent rights, then, it will lead to failure of state integration.
Former Member of Parliament (MP) BD Behring, who was also present on the occasion, as a panel brought to light the issues of eviction faced by some tribal people in the state and urged the government to give certain alternatives for the victims.
He highlighted that hill districts are deprived of certain privileges which the valley people enjoy.
As such, there is no development in the hill sector with only 20% of the central fund allocation granted to them.
Instead of looking after the developmental activities of the hill sector, the government is only interested in funding for areas like sports and construction of mini secretariat, he added.
He also called upon the Nagas and the Kukis to unite in their pursuit of demands with a common slogan to achieve their target instead of fragmenting in their ideology to make their end meet.
SK Victor, consultant of MACS, Dr.Lamalu Thaimei, Assistant Professor, MU, BD.
Thumdal Anal, Principal United College Lambung, Chandel, Joyson Mazamo, state in charge NPMHR and Dr.S Chongloi were present as panelists of the programme attended by many social activists, students and academicians.
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