August 19
Solung Football Trophy -
PASIGHAT, Aug 18: The Solung Trophy -
The Inter-
MLA Moyong on the occasion conveyed his “Krishna Janmashtami greetings” to the people and prayed the Solung goddess for bumper harvest, peace, prosperity and good health. Moyong advised the youths to show their best skills through discipline and sportsman spirit to foster deeper understanding and friendship throughout the tournament. The MLA while conveying his gratitude to the state’s CM Nabam Tuki informed that 40 Cr. has been sanctioned for construction of a modern Stadium to promote sports activities. He also threw lights on upcoming developments of Pasighat on the occasion.
Earlier, Er. T R Pertin who is also the President of CSFCC, 2014 informed that in
this year’s edition, 23 teams are participating and the winner (champion) and runners-
In the first half both the teams failed open their accounts. Tanu Taki of Takilalung registered the first goal at 54 minutes which was equalized after a minute by Onyok Pajing of Mongku team. The second goal (at 68 minutes) of Tanii Tamuk of Takilalung led the team to win in the opening match. DIPRO
TTMB tournament will starts from August 21
Staff reporter
ITANAGAR, Aug 18: The third edition of Tamulang Taloh Memorial Volley Ball Tournament will be start from August 21 and the final will be played on August 26 at Solung Mopin ground, Itanagar.
Altogether, defending champion Moying Raseng, Secretary XI, President XI, Réngam
Dité Yameng, Dongin-
The tie draw was held under the supervision of Itanagar Solung Festival Sports Secretary Tarok Lomtung in present of representatives from various participating team here today.
11 KV power line to Mebo restored
PASIGHAT, Aug 18: The 11 KV transmission line power supply to Mebo Sub-
Union alleges dept of indulging in ‘internal arrangement’
ITANAGAR, Aug 18: The Tribal Labour Union Arunachal Pradesh has alleged power (electrical department) of indulging in internal arrangements of posts. In this regard, the union has written a complaint letter to the secretary power.
Claiming that Electrical Divisions Bomdila, Dirang, Sagalee, Tawang and Daporijo are practicing the illegal act undermining the established seniority hierarchy in the organization, it sought enquiry into the allegation and on the disproportionate assets of the officials involved.
It further demanded the officials involved to be suspended.
Election petition filed in High Court
ITANAGAR, Aug 18: Thaji Gichak Kiogi has filed an election petition in the Gauhati
High Court Itanagar permanent bench challenging the validity of the election of Markio
Tado of INC as MLA to the 20-
While accepting the petition, Justice M R Pathak issued a notice on August 11 last “calling upon the respondent to show cause as to why the rule should not be issued as prayed for; and/or why such further or other order(s) should not be passed as this court may deem fit and proper.”
The Notice is made returnable by 10th of the September, 2014.
“By filing this election petition under Section 80-
Relief sought
ITANAGAR, Aug 18: Claiming that flood triggered by heavy rainfall has extensively
damaged the roads, residential houses and other standing properties at Kolma village
under 2-
In its letter written to the Capital DC, while saying that Kolma village is located very close to Capital Complex with no road connectivity, it further asked for intervention into protecting the area from future damage.
Meanwhile, the Anchal Chairperson, VIII Mengio CD Block, Papum Pare district has urged the chief minister and Doimukh MLA for immediate relief for the villagers of Silsango and Mengioo circle claiming that the villagers lost agriculture and horticulture cultivation in the flood.
It also informed that the PWD road from Sagalee to Ambam villager via Parang circle was totally cut and that RWD road from Sakiang to Kullung was also damaged.
Free medical camp conducted by Borgang Catholic Hospital
ITANAGAR, Aug 18: Catholic Hospital Borgang in collaboration with IDEA organized a free medical camp at Holy Trinity Church, Banderdewa today.
The health camp provided free health check up, sugar test, ECG by a team of specialist doctors. Patients suffering from minor ailments were provided medicines free of cost while some were referred to Borgang Hospital for further treatment.
In spite of landslide and road blockage over five hundred patients from the adjacent places of Banderdwa and from Naharlagun have benfitted from the health camp.
Fr.Soby SVD the parish priest along with the Sisters and other parishioners made all the arrangement to conduct the camp.
Deputy Director of IDEA along with her coordinators dedicated their whole hearted service during the camp.
Sr.Ancy the administrator of the hospital took care of the smooth running of the program. Five sisters from the Catholic hospital along with five nursing students were present to conduct the medical camp.
Krishna Janmastami celebrated
ITANAGAR, Aug 18: Kristi Kendra (KK) Naharlagun has celebrated the Shri Krishna Janmastami on August 17 with religious programmes.
About 250 devotees from Assamese community residing in Capital Complex gathered at the Kristi Kendra, Naharlagun, offered puja and sought blessing of God.
Earlier, the programme started with ‘Nam Prasang’ followed by ‘Diha nam’, ‘Krishna nam’, ‘Nagara nam’ etc.
It is worth mentioning that Shri Krishna Janmastrami’ has been celebrated by Kristi Kendra since 1974.
News Impact
Itanagar-
ITANAGAR, Aug 18: Road communication between Nirjuli and Banderdewa will be re-
However, it will take atleast a month to restore the road for movement of heavy vehicles, Appa said.
Road communication to Itanagar from Banderdewa via Karsiangsa remained cut off for
fourth day today due to washing away of road and culverts at infamous sinking zone
near Karsingsa by Dikrong River. The district administration has diverted traffic
to Nirjuli-
The PWD Minister today inspected all the roads in Capital Complex from Itanagar to Banderdewa, including the block point at Karsinga where a good portion of the road has been eroded by Dikrong River snapping road communication to Itanagar via Karsingsa since August 15.
The PWD Minister asked the accompanying team of engineers, including Chief Engineers Appa, Executive Engineer, PWD, Capital Division Ratu Techi, Executive Engineer, PWD, Doimukh Division A Gamya Padu and all AEs and JEs to complete the restoration work as soon as possible.
The minister also inspected the worsening road condition from Bage Tinali to Gumto gate and the minister was assured by the accompanying engineers that they will undertake minor repairing works from tomorrow onwards and major repairing works after monsoon is over.
Earlier, Gadi inspected the deplorable Dera Natung Government College road and instructed the engineers concerned to complete the work within no time. The minister was given assurance that the work will start tomorrow.
Gadi assures to improve Aalo township road
AALO, Aug 18: PWD Minister Gojen Gadi visited Aalo and held interactive meetings with public leaders/senior citizens and HoDs of West Siang district separately to discuss growing problems of Aalo township that need immediate attention of the Govt. during his recent visit here.
Addressing the two important meetings, Gadi said that the objective behind the interactive meeting is to meet the senior citizen and HoDs of Aalo and hear the problems of the town sitting across the table and look into it at his level as the Minister representing the district.
Responding to the grievances of the people and problems faced by the officers, he said that Aalo township road is in bad shape and assured to bring visible changes through two available packages by the beginning of 2015. The township area has grown congested due to mushrooming of private houses and occupation of Govt. lands by private individuals. He also disclosed that WRD division with full strength has been sanctioned at Aalo.
Administration and police alone cannot take up the mess the town has fallen in and any step that needs to be taken up by the district administration should get the support of the public leaders and senior citizens of the town. The District Hospital will be converted to General Hospital soon to make it a Referral Hospital and Gynaecologist, child and Anaesthesia Specialists will be posted here within a month or two. The Trans Arunachal Highway is being taken up in war footing to get it completed by 2019 as per the MoU signed with the company and directives to all departments associated with it to give timely clearances within a time frame. Compensation packages worked out up front should no doubt accommodate the interest of the people but it should not be over calculated at the cost of road and its development. The district administration along with department of Mines and Mineral should initiate to take control of all quarries negotiating lump sum payment to the owners to meet up the needs materials for road construction in future. Efforts are being to boost up marginal farmers to take up agriculture, horticulture and rubber plantation and Govt. Officers should constantly monitor and assist to help them out. The Minister insisted on inclusion cost of bridges on any road proposals under PMGSY and check revenue leakages stating that departments with good revenue generation will be recognised by the Govt.
Presiding over the meetings, West Siang Deputy Commissioner Pige Ligu said HoDs will always assist the Govt. in their every endeavour as a team and appealed public leaders and senior citizen to keep in touch with him on development and welfare fronts and give in writing on any issues with justification that to act upon by the administration. He disclosed that no more wine shops license will be given to any applicants. Road expansion from Paktu Tinali to Pakam will be taken up and LR Department has been asked to prepare list of allotted and unalloted land falling within it to clear road on this route and sought cooperation of all to carry out eviction drive if necessary. Mushrooming of organisations and unions in the district and demands on that line is not healthy. Working out a bus terminal in the outskirt of Aalo town is felt essential to avoid rush in the crowded place in the town and suggest availability of place to put the proposal to the Govt. The administrators from outside has no other interest than to serve the people here and coordinated effort is the need of the hour to take up welfare measures in the district.
Speaking on behalf of senior citizen, Doi Ado, Ex. Minister, Moji Bagra, public leader and President Arunachal Vikas Parishad, Kito Sora, Ex. MLA. Nyatum Bagra, Chairman West Siang Youth Welfare Association, Marbom Bagra, President West Siang Women Welfare Society, Jumken Doji Ete, Gedam Lollen, Gebin Loya, Tako Koje, Yomgi Ori, ZPM and Rayom Jini, senior citizen dwelt elaborately on problems and issues concerning the welfare of Aalo town and appealed the Minister to take the lead role in solving the problems. DIPRO
Workers urged to avail welfare schemes of workers’ board
From a Correspondent
AALO, Aug 18: Arunachal Pradesh Building & Other Constructions Workers’ Welfare Board (APBOCWWB) Chairman Nyamar Karbak called upon the labourers and construction workers of the state to avail the benefits and welfare schemes implemented by the state government for them.
Addressing a large gathering of workers and labourers at Tirbin under West Siang district today, the APB&OCWWB Chairman said that since no bank or person is willing to extend helping hands to poor labourers at the time of their need now a days, the APB&OCWW can fulfill their dreams of having their own house with housing loan being granted to labourers and construction workers of the state.
Some of the benefits extended by the Board to its registered workers are medical assistance, tools advance, maternity assistance, housing loans, death benefits, funeral assistance, free exercises books to the children of registered workers, education assistance for higher studies (Technical/Professional courses), old age pension for above 60 years, scholarships to children of registered workers etc, he informed.
He requested workers to register with the Board to avail these benefits.
PWD Minister Gojen Gadi hoped the Board under the chairmanship of Nyamar would undoubtedly go a long way in working for the betterment of construction workers of the state in days to come. He requested various departments and other construction agencies in the state to deposit 1 percent cess amount to the Board so that more workers welfare schemes could be introduced by the Board.
Labour Officer-
Solar lamps were distributed to around 700 registered workers on the occasion.
Sorry state of affairs of Aalo District Hospital: Bagra
ITANAGAR, Aug 18: Aalo West MLA Tumke Bagra on the eve of Independence day visited the District Hospital Aalo to gather first hand information of the condition of the hospital as it had been in the news for a quiet long time for its alleged poor upkeep and ill maintenance.
The MLA was left aghast after seeing the hospital which is in a shambles from all angles be it in infrastructure, patient care, doctors and other paramedical staff, cleanliness in and around the hospital, defunct machines, to name a few.
Bagra, though he is not the local MLA of the area, (as the Hospital falls under other constituency), felt that Aalo Hospital is a common asset and a common property of the general public and it should not be bracketed and segmented on the constituency basis. As it caters to the needs of the public, not only from the district but also from the peripheral towns and subdivisions, it is incumbent upon all the seven legislators of the district to work in tandem for the betterment of the hospital.
Later, in a meeting in the MS’ office, he informed the doctors that the demand for an immediate posting of Gynaecologist has been placed before the Govt and the Health Minister Kaliko Pul has assured him personally to post a Gynae soon. Also the posting of an anaesthetics and a paediatrician was discussed.
The MLA was deeply saddened by the fact that the hospital which was established way back in the 1950s has been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent over the years due to continuous negligence on the part of the government and step motherly treatment meted out to it by the consecutive congress govt. It should have grown and should have been upgraded to a full fledged General Hospital by now, he opined.
This is the only hospital which is located centrally and ideally, catering to the needs of the patients from places like Mechuka, Monigong, Basar, Tirbin, Liromoba, Daporijo and also major parts of East and Upper Siang districts like Pangin, Yinkiong etc, and is ideal for the Zonal Hospital as well, but despite getting such a voluminous rate of patient intake, the hospital is in such a ‘sorry state of affairs’.
He expressed the hope that all the seven legislators of the district would come together on this issue of Aalo hospital, shunning egoism and mutual differences and work in unison for the revival of its lost glory.
The MLA informed that he had already written to the West Siang DC in this regard seeking for a status report on the exact land availability and the scope for the acquisition of land for future hospital expansion. He strongly expressed the view that the trend of constructing a building by any execution department lacking the sound knowledge and technical ‘know how’ should be done away with, because a hospital construction is an altogether different subject and construction should be such that it should involve a multi disciplinary approach in terms of its structural and architectural design, so that all the medical aspects are incorporated in it and the building is also patient friendly..
Construction should not be done arbitrarily and approach should be to create a permanent
asset out of it to be used by the future generation as well. Profit motivated construction
should be de-
As the health and education is the thrust area of the present govt, Bagra hoped that the govt. would look into this genuine needs and demand of the West Siang people which is long overdue.
Aalo is devoid of a good hospital despite being rated as a forward and developed district in other terms and the time has come to ask for our right, he said.
For years everybody has been just talking about it but no initiative has been taken in this regard which is really unfortunate, the MLA lamented.
On being informed by the DMO and MS that National Human Rights commission-
Despite being an opponent MLA, he assured the hospital authority of all possible help from his side for the welfare and betterment of the District Hospital Aalo, which is the only health care facility in the entire district.
Earlier, the DMO and Medical Superintendent briefed the MLA about the myriad of problems faced by the hospital.
SIRDA conducts ToT for building capacity of PRI leaders
ITANAGAR, Aug 18: A five day Training of Trainers to build capacity of Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) members and Block Development Officers under Rajiv Gandhi Sashaktikaran Abhiyaan(RGPSA) got underway at State Institute of Rural Development (SIRDA) conference hall here today.
Addressing the trainees, RD & Panchayat Secretary BR Babu asked all the participants to take the training seriously for effective implementation of welfare schemes for the benefit of the rural people. He called for a participatory approach for development and strengthening democratic power to the people.
SIRDA director Nyabin Ete dwelt upon the importance of RGPSA for strengthening Panchayati Raj Institution for development of rural people. He urged all the participants to extract maximum benefit from this training by understanding the basic guidelines of various schemes of Govt. of India.
Deputy Director (RE & Pamord) SIRDA & course director Likha Kiran Kabak, explained the importance of PRIs and RD Schemes She explained in details about Gram Sabha which is the foundation of local self Goverments. She also conducted Mock Gram Sabha with the participants.
SIRDA Deputy Director (RM) Dr. Rakesh Srivastava highlighted about the importance of building capcity of panchayat leaders for successful implementation of welfare schemes meant for rural people.
Coordination meeting held at Seppa
SEPPA, Aug 18: A coordination meeting of all elected representatives, PRI members and HoDs of East Kameng was held at Kameng Hall, Seppa yesterday to discuss and address various issues related to the district.
During the meeting, RWD Minister Kumar Waii said that coordination meeting is the right platform so as to retrospect as to why we couldn’t achieve target and progressing at a desired pace and set the wrong into right by raising issues, problems etc. He urged the elected representatives and PRI members to put as much more energy and strength for development of the area and added that nobody will count what you have earned rather you will be remembered what you contributes and done good works for society.
While stressing on the need of Govt. servants to stay at their posting place, he asked the PRI members and GBs to support the Govt. staffs at their respective places. Regarding law and order problems, he asked the HoDs to lodge complaint to police in case of threatening and extortions and those creating law & order problems should be punished. He reiterated on the need to maintain cleanliness in Seppa township and assured to support for every good move for the purpose and directed DC to hold a meeting with president and secretaries of respective colonies in this regard.
Responding to problems raised by the concerned HoDs, he assured to take up and informed that installation of 132 KV transmission line to Seppa is in the offing, Rs 350 crore earmarks for Panchayat Raj etc. Further, he said that education & health being the priority areas, the state Govt. is having zero tolerance on transfer and posting.
Tax & Excise Parliamentary Secretary Tapuk Taku asked the Agriculture and Horticulture
Department to conduct village-
ICDS Parliamentary Secretary, Karya Bagang said that progress and development will certainly comes if everyone will perform their assigned duties with dedication and in positive way. He asked the police department to unearth the cause of fire incidents of Govt. Hr. Sec. School, Seppa.
Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mama Natung said that Govt. offices are the strong wheel of the Govt. So schemes/projects should be implemented properly by maintaining accountability and transparency. He suggested the officers for monthly inspection of the projects. He also urged the HoDs to conduct awareness programme on Agriculture, Horticulture, and Fisheries etc.
Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumar Singh initiating the discussion invited the HoDs to present their problems and issues to legislators of the district.
ADC P Jain, HoDs and ZPMs were also spokes on the occasion. DIPRO
Leaders highlight Govt.’s performance on I-
ITANAGAR, Aug 18: Reports of celebration of Independence Day are still pouring in from our correspondents and various sources from nook and corner of the state.
At Ruksin, the Independence Day was celebrated with various in a befitting manner with various programmes.
Unfurling the national tricolour, local MLA Tatung Jamoh highlighted the various developmental initiatives initiated by the state government. He requested the people to maintain unity and peace for development.
I-
At Koyu EAC HQ, the Tri-
In his speech, Dabii recalled the contribution of forefathers of Koyu community, who had donated land for development of the township.
A large number of people from the area enthusiastically participated in the celebration.
At Basar, the students and volunteers of National Service Scheme (NSS) of Tomi Polytechnic College took out a procession as part of the Independence Day celebration followed by hoisting of national flag at the college by Second Commandant of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) deployed at Basar T Ranjeet Singh.
T. Migo Basar, Chairman of the Polytechnic College spoke about the importance of unity and national integration on the occasion.
The students and NSS volunteers also conducted various cultural programmes as part of the celebration.
Later, Singh distributed prizes to winners of speech and singing competition.
Earlier, Singh was presented a memento by Principal of the Polytechnic S. Vinayagan.
The entire programme was presided over by vice principal cum NSS programme officer V. Arul Kumar.
Meanwhile, the Government Secondary School, Pachin, Naharlagun celebrated 68th Independence Day on 15th August 2014 in a befitting manner. Chairman, School Development Management Committee (SDMC) and President Pachin Welfare committee Tadar Tania while hoisting the national flag amid presence of teaching staff and students, recalled the contributions of great freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Subash Chandra Bose, Chandra Shekar Azad who sacrificed their lives for the country. He asked the students to follow the principles of those great leaders and uphold the national integration. He further advised them to maintain discipline and dedicate themselves in their study for better future.
The 68th Independence Day was jointly celebrated by Govt ME School Rai Balo and Govt Girls Residential School at Gangte circle in Kurung Kumey district.
Literary competition, games and sports competition and cultural competition were organized to mark the occasion.
On August 14 last, mass social service was conducted to construct fencing around the girl’s hostel.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Health is not merely absence of disease. Health is being established in the Self.
It is the dynamic expression of life. One can be said to be in a perfect state of
health when one is physically fit, mentally calm and emotionally steady. So how does
one achieve this state of all-
Know About Your Self
We need to know a little bit about the different layers of our existence -
Spend some time to learn about your Self. Take a week off one to two times a year and align yourself with nature. Wake up with sunrise, practice yoga, eat light food, and spend some time creatively.
Make Meditation a Part of Your Life
Meditation is a vital ingredient for personal development. It provides deep rest. The deeper one is able to rest, the more dynamic one will be in activity. For sustainable good health, meditation is key.
What is meditation? It can mean different things to different people. It is anything we can do to achieve a mind without agitation, hesitation, or anticipation. It can be a hundred times more refreshing than sleep because it helps us live in the present moment and frees us from anger about the past and worry about the future. It gives us depth and stability.
Spend 20 minutes in the morning and evening in meditation, and make it a part of everyday life.
Learn About the Breath
Our first act in this world is to take a deep breath in, and our last act will be
taking a deep breath out. Breathing is life. Yet, we are typically not taught -
Observe how you breathe. There are different patterns that relate to different emotions. Just as your mind influences the breath, you can influence the state of your mind through the breath as well. Breathing techniques like Pranayamas and Sudarshan Kriya can help us calm our minds and emotions. We can control negative emotions like anger and fear, and manage stress levels using the breath.
Eat Right
The type and amount of food that we consume has a direct impact on the state of our physical body, and consequently our mind. Observe what you eat. Fresh fruits and vegetables have more prana (life force), while frozen and canned foods have very little prana.
Eating the right types and amounts of food promotes all-
Make Time for Yourself
In this modern age, we all seem to be constantly engaged in gathering information, or performing some mental activity all the time. We seldom take time for ourselves to think and reflect. As a result, there is information overload, and we can feel dull and tired.
The moments of stillness in our mind are the moments of creativity and innovation. Silence heals and rejuvenates our minds. Sometime during the day, sit silently for a few minutes with your eyes closed and reflect upon the meaning and purpose of your life.
Learn about life at AoL
The Art of Living has announced a new batch of its workshop that teaches ways to
remain healthy. The six-
Designed by world renowned spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji, the workshop teaches
wisdom about life. By combining with powerful breathing techniques, it actually provides
us a tool to spontaneously integrate wisdom into our lives. The Sudarshan Kriya,
which is the centre-
Copyright © 2008, The Arunachal Times Publications Pvt. Ltd., Siang House, Sector
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All rights reserved.
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A praiseworthy initiative
Dear editor,
Through your esteemed daily, I would like to thank the organisers of 5th Donli Riba Gaming Quest organized on August 12th to 13th at Hotel Benjamin.
The tournament not only provides a platform to young people to show their talent but also serves as platform to take up awareness against the use of Tobacco, Gutkha, and Cigarette. The presentation through graphic images and visual presentation in a simple and precise way to the participants, parents and relatives was indeed very interesting and educative.
Here I would like to add that with spates of competitive examination being taken by the students in the recent years, there is extensive pressure on the mind of the children. At every step, kids are pressurised by parents to excel in studies which stresses the children. They are growing up like robots. By organizing such gaming quest, the children were given a chance to relax and refresh.
The future of our state depends on the strength and dynamism of its youths. In a fast changing world, accelerated by new advances in technology, only a dynamic exuberant generation can put our state on a strong footing.
Strong family ties and high moral coupled with awareness on drugs abuses can help wrench this evil out from our society.
The awareness campaign against the use of Tabacco, Gutkha and Cigarette by the organizers on self help basis without any support from the Govt. for the cause of the society is really a praiseworthy job.
Yours,
Nikong Pertin
D sector,
Naharlagun
We are starving
Dear Editor,
I would like to draw the attention of the concern authority towards problems being faced by the contractual staff working under NRHM.
The contractual staff working under NRHM are starving owing to non-
We have no other sources of income other than our salaries. Most of the contractual staff under NRHM belongs to BPL families and are also the lone bread earners of the respective families.
If we are not paid our salary on time, how can we feed ourselves?
At the same time, I would like to request the concern authority towards our long pending demand for enhancement of monthly salaries. The monthly salaries of contractual staffs working under NRHM have not been enhanced since the last four years.
Now a day’s prices of essential commodities are so high that our entire monthly remuneration is not enough.
Therefore, my humble request to our concern authority is to release and enhance our salaries at the earliest.
Yours,
Kipa Tanang
Computer Assistant
Koloriang
Thank you for the big support
Dear Editor,
I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Chief Minister Nabam Tuki for making Arunchal Film Festival an annual event. Making it as an annual event will surely inspire film makers of this State.
The government initiative to set up mechanism for a Film Finance Scheme to assist film makers of this State will help film makers to produce better quality films with broader outlook.
This step will also encourage young generation to opt for film making as their profession.
My long experience in this field has shown that this state has no dearth of talents.
Chief Minister Nabam Tuki also mentioned in his I-
This initiative will not only nurture creative talent but will also promote growth of film industry in Arunachal Pradesh as well as the North East.
Yours
Taro Chatung,
Film Maker, Itanagar
Politics of Sentiments
Dear Editor,
Recently huge condemnation has been pouring in from the media and concerned groups and individuals for the continued use of colonial term ‘Dafla’, to identify the Nyishi community of the state.
It has been argued that even after the constitutional amendment of the community name from ‘Dafla’ to ‘Nyishi’, the government still continues to refer to the colonial term, in this case more precisely the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the apex body responsible for text book and syllabus designing for all the public schools of India, has in one of its text book continued to use the colonial terms.
This has become an issue that hurts the sentiments of the community and various demands are being placed for rightful representation of the community.
Such demands have been frequent among the various hill communities and tribes of
India largely due to its colonial history. During the British rule, to establish
their authority in the hills, the British were engaged in surveying and listing communities
and ethnic groups in a manner which did not bother to register authentic community
or tribe names, many communities who were not in contact with the British were listed
according to the terms identified by their neighbouring groups, the names given to
a community by its neighbouring community usually were derogatory, as socio-
After independence these representations remained the same or even worse, as the government treated the colonial text as authentic source without any other secondary reference and never even felt the need to correct them unless when concerned communities themselves started demanded for correction.
While this is a welcomed effort for deconstructing colonial historicity and reconstruct rightful representation of their communities, one should notice the fact that such move to correction and rightful representation is privilege of few communities. The same demands by the marginal communities are unheard and chosen to be ignored.
Take for example the case of the Lisu community of the state, the government have misrepresented them as ‘Yobin’ in all its administrative catalogues, much like the ‘Dafla’ case Yobin is also a non Lisu term, disrespectful and derogatory to the community, the term was used by the traditional neighbouring communities of the Lisu to identify them. Like the other communities who have been victims of colonial historicity even the Lisu’s have been demanding for long to correct this misrepresentation. But their demands have been turned down both by the state government and the centre.
The misrepresentation of the Lisu’s have not only continued to hurt the sentiments of their community but also led to major misunderstandings of the community as ‘refugees’. This has further resulted in a series of dreadful events against the community where their voting rights, citizenship and Scheduled Tribe status (ST) had been revoked by the government. Persistent demands by the community have led to restoration of citizenship and voting rights but the Lisu’s are still addressed as ‘Yobin’ and scheduled tribe status not restored.
If the demands for rightful representation of other communities are accepted, the demands by more marginal communities should also be accepted at an equal footing by the government.
Yours,
Zilpha A Modi
Assistant professor
RGU
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Pakistan will have to change attitude towards India
India on Monday called off the foreign secretary-
The meeting had evoked sharp reaction from political quarters in India with the opposition Congress hitting out at the Centre for allowing the envoy to meet the Hurriyat leaders.
The Congress had accused the government of doublespeak questioning why the talks
had not been called off. Sujatha Singh was to travel to Islamabad on August 25 to
hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Chaudhry, nearly two years after
the India-