Monday Musing
[ Junroi Mamai ]
Established in 1996, the Rang-Frah Government College (RFGC) was the lone government institute of higher education in the entire Changlang district till recently.
For many years, poor road connectivity was one of the nagging issues confronting the college students; however, the problem was resolved last year with the construction of the Trans-Arunachal Highway. But there are still a number of other issues confronting the RFGC which need the urgent attention of the authorities concerned.
The RFGC, which currently has over 200 students, lacks basic college infrastructure like boundary walls, adequate classrooms and teaching faculty, non-teaching staff, poor power supply, etc. The absence of a boundary wall currently poses a threat to the security of students staying in hostels, especially when there is no security staff or chowkidar to man the college campus.
Also, the college does not have adequate classrooms, no health facility, ambulance service or sports facilities, or even a proper sports ground. The college’s library lacks proper books and the power supply to the institute often remains irregular.
Moreover, there is a shortage of teaching faculty for science and commerce streams. Students of the RFGC cannot opt for their choice of subjects and are compelled to pursue the arts stream. Some students can afford to study in other colleges of the state or even outside of it, but sadly, the majority of them cannot.
Government colleges are the only option for students coming from economically weak backgrounds to obtain a higher education degree, but the apathetic attitude of the state government and the authorities makes it difficult for them to often receive the bare minimum.
Unfortunately, the condition of most of the government colleges in the state is more or less the same. A majority of them do not have adequate infrastructure facilities and face shortage of teaching and non-teaching staff. The same situation prevailed for years and has only worsened. How can we ensure better higher education for the state’s downtrodden and marginalized sections if this is the state of affairs?
The current principal of the RFGC has been running from pillar to post for three years, urging the authorities in the higher education department to look into the issues impeding the proper functioning of the lone government college of the district, but he has not witnessed any positive outcome so far.
The worried principal had also written to the authorities, seeking funds for taking up minor repairs in the college and for items like bulbs and water taps several times during his tenure but all his appeals and exhortations remain unheeded till now. His requests to the 5 MLAs of the district also went futile.
Our students’ future is at stake now. The state government and the Higher Education Department must consider these issues confronted by the students and faculty members of the RFGC as well as all other government colleges in the state, and take appropriate measures to address it.
