In a welcome initiative, the state government has named various important public institutions in the state in memory of former ministers and pioneers who have contributed immensely for the cause of the state. The interstate bus terminus in Lekhi near here has been named Nabam Runghi interstate bus terminal. Runghi was instrumental in the establishment of the state capital. The stadium and the government polytechnic college in Namsai district, the district hospital in Upper Subansiri and the primary health centres (PHC) in Dadam in Tirap district have all been named after local leaders who contributed for the development of their respective areas.
The state government deserves appreciation for naming these important government institutions in the memory of local tribal leaders. This practice should be continued in the future too. Instead of recognizing leaders from mainland India, it is important to first recognize those local tribal people who have massively contributed towards the development of the state. Also, its time the state government corrected the past mistake and started renaming the places with their original names. There are many towns, villages and areas whose names were changed when the NEFA administration first started governing. The tribal names were overlooked and a new name familiar to officials posted during the NEFA era was given. Ganga Lake, located in Itanagar, whose original name is Gyekir Sinyi, is one of the best examples. There are several other such examples and they need to be corrected.