NORTH-EASTERN STATES

The North East Indian states of Assam, Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya have begun an educational resurgence geared towards building a system that works not just for the people of India, but for anyone across the globe seeking the requisite skill and international exposure required to function in today’s world.

For the first time, Nagaland’s King Chilli ‘Raja Mircha’ was exported to London.

About Raja Mircha Chilli:

Nagaland King Chilli, or Raja Mircha belongs to the capsicum genus in the Solanaceae family

The Naga king chilli is widely regarded as the world’s hottest chilli and is consistently ranked among the top five hottest chilies in terms of Scoville Heat Units (SHUs).

Nagaland chillies are also known as Bhoot Jolokia and Ghost Pepper.

It received GI certification in 2008.

Concerned with the high dropout rate in Meghalaya, the state government on Tuesday signed an MoU with the National Institute of Open Schooling to facilitate the return of dropouts to educational institutions.

While Assam recorded the highest dropout rate in the country with 31 per cent of out-of-school students at the secondary level, Tripura with 29.8 per cent is ranked number 2, an official of the education department said.

Meghalaya with 27.9 per cent dropout rate in secondary level is ranked third followed closely by Madhya Pradesh (26.1 per cent) and Nagaland (24.4 per cent), he said.

At present Meghalaya has only 25 NIOS study centres in 5 out of 12 districts -East Khasi Hills, West Jaintia Hills, Ri-Bhoi, East Garo Hills and West Garo Hills districts.

Tembe urged the NIOS to increase the number of study centres to cover the remaining districts as well.

He said the state project office had already taken up the initiative for publicity through newspapers, FM Radio and organised road shows for generating awareness on the necessity of preventing drop-outs.

Those in the age group of 16-19 years who had dropped out of schools can enrol in educational institutions or NIOS study centres for completing their board exams in East Jaintia and Ri-Bhoi districts, he said.

Every sector is being expedited in the northeast to open up numerous opportunities of growth for the people.

The Central minister said that Assam Rifles has an unparalleled heritage of gallantry since 1835 and holds a distinction of having been bestowed the most number of gallantry awards.

Mobile internet service was restored in seven districts, including the state capital, on Monday after being suspended for almost a week. Life is also returning to normal with vehicles bearingAssamregistration numbers plying in the state.

Various political parties expressed concern and also suggested measures to thwart border conflicts, he said, adding that the state government will meet on Tuesday to finalise the list of border outposts (BOPs) of the police to be set up in sensitive areas.

The Indian Railways is creating the highest pier railway bridge in the world in Manipur.

Highlights:

The grand scheme of the Railways in Manipur is part of the Jiribam-Imphal railway line.

This will ultimately be part of a new broad gauge line being constructed to connect the northeastern state with the rest of the country.

The tallest pier bridge account is currently owned by a 139-metre high Mala-Rijeka viaduct built at Montenegro in Europe.

The bridge is being constructed at a height of 141 metres. The total length of the Manipur bridge will be 703 metres.

Once finished, the project will allow passengers to cover 111 km of distance in 2-2.5 hrs.

Mizoramhad the highest 70.9% ratio of female-to-male workers who were working as legislators, senior officials and managers and also the highest proportion of women occupying managerial jobs. Nearly all the northeastern states, barringNagaland, have strong double-digit representation in senior level jobs, according to the latest additional data in Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for July 2020-June 2021.

Sikkim with 48.2% and Manipur at 45.1% made up the top three states. Among the top five states in the category,Andhra Pradeshrecorded 43%. The other northeastern state among the top five was Meghalaya with 44.8%. Assam had 16.1% while Nagaland had a ratio of 9.1%. The all India ratio for females to male workers, working as legislators, senior officials and managers, was at 22.8%.

There were several states andUnion Territorieswhich had a sharply lower proportion. Among the larger states and Union Territories with a low ratio wereUttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Punjab and Andaman and Nicobar.Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu had the lowest ratio of 1.8%.

In terms of senior managerial jobs, Mizoram again topped the charts with 40.8%, followed by Sikkim with 32.5 and Meghalaya at 31%. Here again, Andhra Pradesh was among the top five with a ratio of 30.4%. Traditionally northeastern states have had a larger proportion of women in senior managerial jobs. But what is surprising is that Punjab, which had figured among the top states in this category in 2021, recorded a ratio of only 7.5%.

Meghalaya: The problem between Assam and Meghalaya started when the latter challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act of 1971, which gave Blocks I and II of the Mikir Hills or present-day Karbi Anglong district to Assam. Meghalaya contends that both these blocks formed part of the erstwhile United Khasi and Jaintia Hills district when it was notified in 1835. At present there are 12 points of dispute along the 733-km Assam-Meghalaya border.

Meghalaya bases its case on survey maps of 1872 and 1929 and certain notifications of 1878 and 1951 while Assam wants to go by the recommendations of the Churachand Committee which in turn has been rejected by Meghalaya. Joint surveys of the disputed border segments have been undertaken in part and the Chief Ministers of both the states are scheduled to meet again on August 6 at Guwahati to discuss ways to resolve the dispute.

Arunachal Pradesh: Arunachal’s grievance is that the re-organisation of North Eastern states, unilaterally transferred several forested tracts in the plains that had traditionally belonged to hill tribal chiefs and communities to Assam. After Arunachal Pradesh achieved statehood in 1987, a tripartite committee was appointed which recommended that certain territories be transferred from Assam to Arunachal. Assam contested this and the matter is before the Supreme Court.

Mizoram: Prior to 2020, though a border dispute existed, the situation along the Assam-Mizoram border had remained relatively calm, barring a few instances in 1994 and in 2007. Following a border incident 2007, Mizoram declared that it does not accept the present boundary with Assam and that the inner line of the Inner Line Reserved Forest as described in the 1875 notification under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) of 1873 should be the basis for delineating the border and not the 1933 district boundary demarcation which Assam wants to be enforced. Following recent violence in which seven people, including six policemen, were killed, Assam government has said that it will file a suit in the Supreme Court

Nagaland: The longest-running border dispute in the North East is between Assam and Nagaland, which began soon after Nagaland became a state in 1963. The Nagaland State Act of 1962 had defined the state’s borders according to a 1925 notification when Naga Hills and Tuensang Area (NHTA) were integrated into a new administrative unit. Nagaland, however, does not accept the boundary delineation and has demanded that the new state should also have all Naga- dominated area in North Cachar and Nagaon districts. Since Nagaland did not accept its notified borders, tensions between Assam and Nagaland flared up soon after the latter was formed, resulting in the first border clashes in 1965. This was followed by major clashes between the two states along the border in 1968, 1979, 1985, 2007 and 2014. The Assam government had filed a case in the Supreme to resolve the border dispute and for a permanent injunction restraining Nagaland from encroaching areas within the constitutional boundary of Assam. In 2005, the Supreme Court instructed the Central government to constitute a boundary commission to settle various inter-state boundary problems in the North East. The Centre had earlier constituted two commissions, the Sundaram Commission (1971) and the Shastri Commission (1985), to settle the Assam-Nagaland border dispute. These commissions, however, failed to resolve the matter as the concerned states did not accept their recommendations.

Assam-Arunachal Pradesh: 804.1 km bordering eight districts of Udalguri, Sonitpur, Biswanath, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Charaideo, Tinsukia and Dibrugarh. Assam-Mizoram: The two states share a 164.6-km border between the Assam’s districts of Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj, and Mizoram’s Kolasib, Mamit and Aizawl districts Assam-Nagaland: The two states share 512.1 km bordering four districts of Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat. Assam-Meghalaya: The two states share 884.9 km bordering West Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao, Morigaon, Kamrup Metro, Kamrup Rural, Goalpara, Dhubri and South Salmara.

Chief minister Conrad K Sangma visited theDon Bosco Technical School, Shillong, and distributed completion certificates and appointment letters to the students who passed, even as he said the government intends to create five lakh jobs.

He also said the government has a target of creating five lakh job opportunities in different sectors and assured that the government would partner with Don Bosco Technical School in a larger way to achieve this target.

Meghalayahas turned into a major transit point for drug trafficking because of its close proximity to the Golden Triangle, a fact that has put authorities on very high alert, the director general of state police,LR Bishnoi, has said. He added that the state has approximately 2.5 lakh users of drugs and psychotropic substances, including injectable drugs.

The police department has come out with a strategic plan by strengthening infrastructure and coordinating with all stakeholders, he said. In the past 15 days,Meghalaya Policehave conducted a record 142 drug awareness programmes in schools, colleges and other public places across the state reaching out to over 15,061 young people, he added.

Delivering his address on the theme Addressing Drug Challenges in Health and Humanitarian Crises, deputy chief ministerPrestone Tynsongexpressed concern on the increasing number of drug users among children and youth in the state and said children can easily succumb to pressure of their peers and friends to turn to these intoxicants for comfort.