The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Concern of ‘Seven Sisters’ over insurgency

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Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Concern of ‘Seven Sisters’ over insurgency

Staff Reporter

Student delegation participates in an interaction programme

These programmes will go a long way in building bridges
They are the ‘ambassadors of goodwill’, says college correspondent

Kakinada: They are the Seven Sisters of India, abound in natural resources and whose people are industrious and no less intelligent than other citizens of the country. But, they lag behind in development and their woes are compounded by insurgency, which has been a major concern for the future generations of all the ‘Seven Sisters’, namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

This was what Kumo, a PG student from Nagaland, had to say about the plight of north eastern States, in an interaction program at the Ideal College of Arts and Sciences on Monday. He is the leader of a 38-member team of Naga students who are visiting different places in Andhra Pradesh as part of an Youth Exchange Programme organised by Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development.

Addressing the gathering, Kumo said that Nagaland is a tiny State having a population of 19 lakh plus and 16 tribes identified by their distinct cultures and food habits. All of them live in perfect harmony with nature, almost independent of the outside world. Of late, they are feeling the heat of insurgency which badly hampered development so much that the State has no medical or engineering college.

It is not only education but many other sectors are in a pathetic condition, requiring urgent remedial action. As such, Nagaland needs help of all other Indian States to get itself rid of the varied problems. Programmes like the present one, would go a long way in building bridges of friendship across the boundaries, Kumo opined.

Ideal College correspondent P. Chiranjeevini Kumari said the Seven Sisters constitute a sort of ‘safety belt’ that has been protecting India from external aggressions but they got nothing in return, except the sweet-talk of the powers that be. In fact, all the north eastern States are in need of help of other States to achieve real development. She described the visiting Naga students as ‘ambassadors of goodwill’ and promised to support similar programmes in the future.

NYK coordinator Manoranjan said that the Naga students stayed in Kakinada only for two days due to their tight schedule and he would try to bring more of the student community, especially from the north eastern States which remained neglected for a long time.

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