SHILLONG, June 19: Governor Phagu Chauhan inaugurated the five-day NSS North-East Festival at the North-Eastern Hill University here on Monday. The festival is jointly organised by the NSS Cell NEHU, Shillong, and the office of the State NSS Cell in collaboration with the Regional Directorate NSS, North-East Region, Guwahati.
Speaking on the occasion, the Governor acknowledged the role of the NSS volunteers in community service through activities such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, nutrition programme, environment enrichment activities and awareness campaign.
The Governor exhorted the student-volunteers to strive ahead for the betterment of the nation.
Addressing the gathering as the guest of honour, Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma stressed on the role of NSS volunteers in bridging the broken bonds that exist in the Northeastern region.
NEHU Vice Chancellor, Prof PS Shukla, on the other hand, dissected an Indian word of greeting ‘NAMASTE’ and presented it as an acronym for names of all North-Eastern States. He said N stands for Nagaland, A stands for Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, M stands for the states of Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, S stands for Sikkim, T stands for Tripura; and while the first letter N stands for North, the ending letter E stands for East. In his short speech, he stressed on the leadership qualities of the NSS volunteers, who can play a constructive role in healing the strife in the region, especially the prevailing situation in Manipur which had prevented the volunteers of the state from participating in the festival.
The Introductory note for the Festival was given by Regional Director NSS, North Eastern Region, Dipak Kumar, who highlighted the various programmes and activities related to the five-day festival. He also expressed joy that the number of NSS volunteers has increased from 40,000 in 1969 to 39 lakh at present.
Others who were present include Advisor to the Education department, HM Shangpliang, State NSS Officer, Meghalaya, FR Rumnong, and Programme Coordinator, NSS Cell, NEHU, Dr Marbhador Khymdeit.