SHILLONG, Nov 21: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has called upon youths to give due importance to Hindi and said those learning the language would be in an advantageous position
Conrad said this during the inauguration of a centre of the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan at Mawdiangdiang, New Shillong Township, in the presence of Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who inaugurated the centre.
Addressing the inaugural programme, he said many youths have taken to learning foreign languages such as Japanese, Italian or Spanish in hopes of getting attractive jobs in those countries.
“If similar importance is given to learning Hindi one will be at an advantageous position,” Conrad said.
The chief minister said that unless we break the language barrier it will be very difficult to provide employment to the youth, while adding that for anyone from the North East wishing to work in the other economically developed states of the country knowing Hindi language will be helpful. “I have studied in Delhi and learnt Hindi and could converse in the language when I go to Delhi and interact with ministers and officials. I find a different comfort level in communication,” he said.
Sangma expressed joy in having the institution in the state and urged the youth to give due importance to Hindi.
The chief minister also said that as per the New Education Policy, the local language should be encouraged in schools and colleges.
“The North East is rich in languages, culture and heritage and we need to preserve this rich cultural heritage which is the identity of the people and many languages have become extinct,” he said.
Sangma said that there is a need to use modern technology to preserve this cultural heritage besides preserving them in documents and books.
On the other hand, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Shillong Centre, will cater to the needs of students wishing to learn Hindi from the states of Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya.
He said that language cannot be imposed on anyone but learning any language other than one’s mother tongue is not harmful.
Talking about the National Education Policy, Pradhan said that NEP 2020 is a visionary approach to transform the education landscape of the country and to achieve the realistic goal and percolate its ripple effect to the grassroots.
One of most important salient features of NEP, the minister added, is that NEP-2020 emphasised on imparting education in mother tongue at the primary level and the government is striving to achieve the target within the stipulated time frame.
He emphasised that technology should be used extensively to preserve and enrich native languages so that people can utilise the internet in their native languages and make people from other parts of the world aware about their rich culture and tradition. These practices will encourage innovation and creativity among the youths and may show light to world about relevant issues concerning the people, he added.
Acknowledging the rich culture of this region, the minister said, “There are many things to learn from this region, it has a very rich heritage and is strong in natural resources. There have been many good educational institutions coming up in this region including IIM’s new campus.”
“I have been informed that Meghalaya has around the 3.5 lakh college-going students and it is the collective responsibility of everyone to build a conducive environment to ensure quality education, skilling, raising their employability capability and imbibing inside them the value of fundamental research. The first step towards this effort would be to simplify the process of learning languages”.
In days to come, Kendriya Hindi Sansthan and English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) will function as a Centre of Excellence and will work with the Government of Meghalaya to preserve and enrich Khasi, Garo and Jaintia languages with the help of technology, the minister added.
Pradhan was categorical when he said that language is a tool that connects people from across the world and the availability of applications in the internet to learn languages of this region will allow people from outside the state to learn about the rich culture and heritage of the region.
The Union minister also released two books during the programme- Samànvay Purvottar Sanchayan and Hindi-khasi-Garo-Jaintia-English Concise Dictionary. He appreciated the efforts for bringing out the Concise Dictionary and exclaimed that this will help in learning the languages.