New Delhi: DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh has urged the students from North East studying in Delhi to act as ambassadors of their respective states in the rest of the country but go back to the region after study to serve the people there.
Vice Chancellor JNU, Prof. S.K. Sopory and other senior faculty members were also present during an interactive seminar on North East. Singh said, the students had an advantage of serving as active ambassadors of NE in the rest of the country because at this age, they are endowed with energy, activism and urge to perform.
He advised them that after having completed their studies in JNU, they should prefer to go back to the region and enrich their native State with the knowledge and academic empowerment obtained from here. He said that it is for the young members of the community, and particularly students, to make an extra effort to highlight all the good work and good contribution being made by the NE community living in the Union Capital, so that the media is compelled to project Northeast only for good reasons and never otherwise.
Referring to Prime Minister’s special focus on NE region, Dr Singh mentioned about the allocation of Rs.2,362 Cr. made in the current budget presented in the Parliament and the announcement to setup a Film Production Institute and an AIIMS. “Both will go a long way in providing employment as well as better vocational avenues for youngsters in the Northeast without having to move out to other cities in the country,” he said.
The Union Minister called upon the student community to feel free to communicate with him. He said that after setting-up two hostels in the JNU and the Delhi University South Campus respectively, DoNER Ministry will work on identifying other places also for similar hostels.
Singh said that out of a total strength of over 8000 students in JNU, around 500 belong to North East, which accounts for nearly around 6% of the total student population in the campus. On an average, there could be 60 students each from each of the eight NE States studying in JNU.
This number is quite remarkable when compared to the students in JNU from other peripheral States like Jammu & Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh. He also said that the Centre has decided to promote Northeast Study Centre in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as a part of its initiative to obtain a better understanding of the peculiar characteristics of the region through institutionalized research based on evidence and data.
