North-East paradox: Why the historical glory is suffering!

PART-III

Priyanku rayan Baruah

It is very difficult to answer whether the politicians and bureaucrats have been aware of the proper implementation of millennium development goal in case of India like other developing countries. TMF Global Monitoring Report 2011 highlighted as “The number of people living on less than 1.25 a day is projected to be 883 million in 2015, compared with 1.4 billion 2005 and 1.8 billion in 1990. On the contrary the existing picture shows progress is very slow and targets are missed. Among developing countries 45% are far from meeting the target on access to sanitation, 39% and 38% are far from the materl and child mortality targets respectively. Same is the case all over the world in most of the developing countries; socio-economic imbalance revealed the gradual inconsistency under such consequences. The educatiol goal under MDG 2000, September is also proved to be a very tough challenge to fulfill. How can the millennium development goal likes fulfillment of universal primary education and Gender equality maintence on high and higher education can be implemented in actual sense? The higher education MDG is emphasized on the end of gender disparity within 2015 from the education sector. The question that arises here is that-is it possible to achieve the MDG in educatiol sectors in Assam and North-East region? The answer to this question is not an easy task to deliver in indicating a positive direction!

 If we look from theoretical perspective it can be revealed that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are an intertiolly agreed set of goals for human development, drawn from the 2000 Millennium Declaration. The 2015 deadline for the achievement of the MDGs is looming, but progress on some goals is far too slow. Let us have a look upon such questions in the context of Assam and North-East region. What are the barriers to progress? What are the policies, the approaches, the programs that will bring about the transformative, root and branch change that is needed to propel us towards the MDGs?

 The scerio in the context of the Northeastern States of India, despite the rich tural resources and central assistances, development is still a far cry; though the magnitude of funding from the Centre is ever increasing, corruption and mismagement are rampant adversely affecting development. Education is the backbone of tiol development and is widely accepted as an instrument of social change. India has been an active partner in the worldwide movement for education for all that began in 1990 followed by Millennium development goals. In the education system of the North-East several academic experiments have gone through the current session. It is important to create a platform first to introduce such changes in the present education system.

The North-East region is still striving with many socio-economic challenges. Superstitions, violations of human right, nepotism, social conflict, ethnic imbalance, frequently created disturbance to the region. Poverty health and sanitation crisis is continues. Around these loopholes, actual implementation of emerging education system demands a need based academic procedure and educatiol system in primary education as well as UGC guided semester system in the college level which seems to be challenging task!

It is easier to outline these problems than suggest what should be done about them. In a situation of mutual distrust, almost any solution will generate controversy. Partisan commul leaders and commul electoral mobilization should be exposed. Leadership - political, social and intellectual - has to work for this political reconstruction. Definitive resolution of problems may be inorditely difficult but substantial alleviation is not. So, it is the cry of the hour to establish good governce in India. Simultaneously the public should pay utmost effort to make themselves conscious politically. At a time when the India-Chi border dispute is hogging the limelight and causing unease in the Indian establishment, many festering inter-state border disputes in the Northeast that are sowing seeds of discord seem to elude the attention of policymakers at the Centre. As tensions mounted and relations deteriorated, the concerned states tried to resolve the issue by holding negotiations. Unfortutely, negotiations failed and third party intervention was sought to resolve the matter. For instance, in 2005, the Supreme Court had instructed the Central government to constitute a boundary commission to settle various inter-state boundary problems in the Northeast. The Centre had earlier constituted two commissions, the Sundaram Commission (1971) and the Shastri Commission (1985), to settle the Assam-galand border dispute. These commissions failed to resolve the matter as the concerned states did not accept their recommendations. In a significant move, galand, Assam and Meghalaya decided to co-operate with each other to solve their respective border disputes with Assam. They strongly favoured negotiations with Assam and opposed any third party intervention. However, given the track record of such talks, it is time the Centre took a bold initiative to facilitate a fair settlement of the festering border problems in the Northeast. Growing indiscipline and unrest among the student community may take the form of bandhs, lathicharges, gheraos and even stabbing by the crimil elements on the campus

It is time the Centre took a bold initiative to facilitate a fair settlement of the festering border problems in the Northeast. It can do so by either persuading the concerned states to come to the negotiating table and seek a solution or by constituting a boundary commission whose recommendations would be binding on the parties involved. Needless to say, a quick and speedy resolution of these border issues has become necessary given the Central government’s renewed emphasis on the overall development of the Northeast. This goal can only be achieved by purging strife and promoting greater co-operation among these states to usher in an era of peace and prosperity in the region. Above all, the government as well as people of the North East region should keep their mind with a vision of educatiol progress, riding over the obstacles of 21st century, the concerned government and public should try strive to get the blessings of the century and even follow the way of actual consciousness by implementing the educatiol policy and progressive scheme in a right direction, suitable to the millennium development goal.

We should dream of a time, when no students will have to go, in large numbers, to other States for their higher studies. Development should be holistic; there should be an integration of education, social, economic aspects of development along with sufficient allocation of funds for infrastructure building. This is especially essential for the North Eastern states of India.

(Priyanku rayan Baruah. Lecturer, R.D college, Digboi can be reached at Ph#.8811836885 & E-mail:alwayspriyanku @gmail.com.)

(Concluded)