Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 1 Apr: Seeking its share of the budget allocation for the education sector, the Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF) on Thursday demanded that the state government allocate fund for Christian missionary schools on the same line with missionary schools like the Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalayas and the Ramakrishna Mission schools.
The state government has announced in its budget that it will continue to support the VKVs and the RK Mission schools in the education sector in a collaborative mode to strengthen their infrastructure.
In a press conference held at the Arunachal Press Club here on Thursday, ACF president Toko Teki said that the Christian missionary schools are equally contributing to the state’s education sector in providing quality education.
“Today our Christian missionaries are running more than 100 schools and four colleges, imparting quality education to more than 50,000 students every year in the state. Every year, these four Christian mission colleges are producing the toppers among the students in colleges affiliated with Rajiv Gandhi University,” the ACF president claimed.
Teki said it was surprising to see that there was no mention of Christian mission
schools and institutes in the budget document with regard to improvement of the education sector.
He informed that, after being called on by ACF members, Chief Minister Pema Khandu has assured to provide grant-in-aid to the Christian missionary schools.
The ACF also appealed to the government to involve it in the pre-budget consultative meetings, stating that representatives from the Christian community were not invited to this year’s pre-budget consultative meetings. He stated that, since the community is contributing in major sectors like health and education, it is imperative that the government consult with it.
Teki further informed that “the ACF is ready to work with the indigenous faith and culture to promote communal and religious harmony in the state.”
ACF general secretary Tarh Miri informed that the forum’s members have called on Sports Minister Mama Natung, who is the chairman of the three-member committee on the Tawang church issue, requesting him to submit the report on the Tawang church land issue early.
The ACF further informed that the community has donated money to the fire victims of Longliang village in Tirap district.
