RONO HILLS, 22 May: The Arunachal Sociological Forum (ASF) on Saturday said it would pursue the state government to establish sociology as a discipline in the government colleges in Arunachal.
In a press release, the forum said that Chief Minister Pema Khandu had given consent for the same in the presence of the then union MoS for Home Kiren Rijiju on 15 February, 2018, during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Itanagar.
“It, however, has not seen much progress yet,” the ASF said.
“The priority activity for the ASF is to closely follow up the said file and matter in processing at appropriate levels of the state government offices and to trace out the representations already submitted earlier for introducing sociology in government colleges to the education minister and the education secretary,” it said.
The forum said that, although a representation was submitted “with prior discussion with the present education minister, unfortunately, due to the pandemic situation, proper follow-up could not be carried out.”
“Seeing the growing social problems in the society, the ASF has decided to take up similar efforts in submitting memorandum and initiate discussion with the state government for introducing sociology subject in schools as well as in 10+2 level in the government schools,” the forum said.
It also said it plans to conduct seminars and workshops “to sensitize and orient the importance of sociology and its relevance in various competitive examinations through the platform of ASF.”
The ASF said it has also decided to “gather and compile data of the students of sociology passed out of various colleges and universities, and also of such data of the students who are serving in various jobs and are engaged in different fields.”
Rajiv Gandhi University’s sociology department faculty member Dr Padi Hana informed that “among native Arunachalees, there are five PhD holders, eight MPhil holders, 13 UGC-JRF holders, 66 UGC-NET holders and four SLET holders in sociology among many others not cumulated. Most of them are yet to be utilized by the society. Their social skills and academic potentials can go a long way in enhancing our academia and welfare of the community.”
Today, there are as many as 2,400 graduates and master degree holders in sociology in Arunachal who have studied from various colleges and universities of the country, and this number is growing every academic year, he said.
