ITANAGAR, Jul 2: A delegation of the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) met with Chief Minister Pema Khandu here on Tuesday and placed a memorandum seeking the government’s attention to various issues concerning the state, especially the law and order situation in the Tirap, Changlang and Longding (TCL) region.
While the union focused on the education, health, and law and order scenario in the state, it took serious note of the massacre of MLA Tirong Aboh and 10 others on 21 May in Tirap district, and urged the state and central governments to “demonstrate strong political will to resolve the turmoil in the TCL region once for all.”
It also demanded that the investigation being conducted by the National Investigation Agency be fast-tracked.
“Though the government had announced immediate operations in the area, no success has been seen to nab the perpetrators of the heinous crime,” the memorandum stated, and demanded “stringent steps by the government to expel insurgent groups and secure the TCL region.”
Continuing its protest against the settlement and granting of citizenship rights to the Chakma and Hajong refugees, the union reiterated its demand for deletion of the names of the refugees from the state’s electoral rolls.
“The Chakmas and Hajongs have encroached on the Namdapha National Park (in Changlang district) and started usurping local indigenous community land. They have started their own underground groups that are engaged in heinous crimes,” the AAPSU said.
It also said the election commission here should not entertain fresh applications for enrollment, adding that it is “a complete violation of the constitution of India when the matter of granting citizenship rights is still pending in the Supreme Court.”
Appealing for attaching the refugee issue to the border affairs department, the union urged the government to show “strong political will” to avoid repeated incidences of violence along the boundaries between Arunachal and other states and countries.
The AAPSU also apprised Khandu of the state level consultative meeting it had held with all community-based organisations, student unions, NGOs, civil society organisations and political parties on 15 September, 2018, during which the house had presented “strong opinion to adopt necessary steps on legislation for offspring issue in Arunachal Pradesh.”
“It is the need of the hour that the government initiates legislation on marriage, customary laws, etc, to protect the indigenous people of the state,” it said, and also sought a blanket ban on issuing domicile certificates to non-APSTs and outsiders.
The union also called for a water treaty with regard to all the rivers originating in China, besides a special fund package for containing flood in the Siang river.
Inviting the chief minister’s attention to the state’s education sector, the AAPSU delegation demanded regular disbursement of the SSA/RMSA teachers’ salaries, besides timely disbursement of stipends and scholarships to students.
Also apprising Khandu of the limited intake capacity of Rajiv Gandhi University, the union sought a one-time budgetary allocation for “the full-fledged establishment of Arunachal University in Pasighat.”
“The university is yet to get its regular pro-vice chancellor, registrar, controller of examination, etc, and the annual paltry sum allocated by the state government for its upkeep is not sufficient to sustain a state university in the long run,” it said.
Noting that the state does not have a government-established school for children with special needs, the AAPSU demanded that the state government keep a budget for establishing a school for children with special needs.
“There are a large number of students who are in need of special attention, care and conducive environment for enabling as well as enhancing their learning process,” it said.
Based on reports from district student unions regarding the neglected condition of educational institutes in the state, and the frequent “disastrous results” in the CBSE Class 10 and 12 exams, the union sought a one-time grant for overall infrastructure development of the educational institutes in the state.
Among other demands in the education sector, the AAPSU sought immediate recall of all teachers serving on deputation in various departments; establishing a CBSE sub-regional branch office in the state; and appointing experienced DDSEs, principals and headmasters “without any political interference in the system.”
Highlighting the inadequacy of manpower in the health sector, the union demanded a moratorium on the creation of new health institutes and on upgrading the existing health institutes “without creation or sanction of adequate posts for the same.”
Citing the instances of the district hospitals in Ziro, Aalo and Tezu, which were upgraded to the status of general hospitals, the union said there has been “no physical improvements witnessed in these hospitals since then.”
It also demanded immediately calling back all doctors serving on deputation in various departments.
