Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, July 24: In a brief ceremony marked by the chanting of holy hymns and overwhelming enthusiasm among students, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh laid here today the foundation stone of the first – ever hostel for Northeast students in the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
Setting a timeline, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the hostel construction work will be complete by 2019. The hostel will have a capacity of 400 students, 200 each for boys and girls respectively, and 25% of the total strength will be allotted to students from other States of India, that is, States other than 8 North Eastern States, so that a healthy synergism of different cultures can be ensured for a broader exposure of these youngsters, he added.
Present on the occasion were Vice Chancellor JNU, Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar and several distinguished Members of Parliament from Northeast including P.D. Rai, Vincent H. Pala, Ninong Ering, Conrad Sangma and Rameswar Teli. Kiren Rijiju could not be present because of his preoccupation in Arunachal Pradesh due to floods. Secretary DoNER Naveen Verma, Secretary North Eastern Coucil Ram Muivah, members of JNU faculty and students in large numbers were also present.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh said, soon after he came into the Ministry of DoNER, he had decided to set up a hostel in the JNU campus considering the high strength of students from Northeast in this University. He said, very few people are aware that, on an average, each of the eight North-Eastern States has around 60-70 students studying in the JNU which is a number higher than the number of students in JNU from several other States in the rest of India.
Recalling the sequence of events, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it has taken over two years to get the plan implemented because there were issues of land clearance and acquisition which got delayed. He also complimented the immediate past Vice Chancellor Prof. S.K. Sopory, during whose tenure the plan had been conceptualized.
Dr Jitendra Singh disclosed that last year, the construction work for a similar hostel for Northeastern students had been initiated with a formal laying of foundation stone in the campus of Bangalore University. He said, soon, the Ministry may acquire a chunk of land in or around the Dwarka locality of Delhi to bring up a residential-cum-community complex for students and people from Northeast.
Northeast is faced with a huge exodus of youth going to different parts of the country in search of education or livelihood, said Dr Jitendra Singh and said, their issues have to be addressed at two levels, first by reinforcing the existing universities and education institutions in Northeastern region to improve their standards and second, at the same time, to create conditions conducive for the students studying in different universities in the rest of India.
Lauding the academic and intellectual attributes of the youth from Northeast, Dr Jitendra Singh pointed out that even a small State like Mizoram has literacy rate which was second only to Kerala. Not only this, he said, even in Delhi and other parts of the country, some of the most prestigious universities had the best faculty and the best scholars hailing from the Northeast.
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