Scheduled Tribe students demand their due scholarship from govt.

(Kohima Correspondent)

Following the failure of the Nagaland government in releasing scholarship for two years, 329 Scheduled Tribe students studying outside Nagaland in various colleges, gathered in Kohima town on Friday to protest against the apathy at the Secretariat Plaza.

The students assembled at the Secretariat Plaza and later proceeded to the directorate of Higher and Technical Education and submitted a memorandum to its director.

The affected Naga students represent three universities and one college, namely the Diviya Jyoti Group of Institutions, Mewar University, and IGI.

In the six-point memorandum, the students demanded that the scholarship for the year 2015-2016 be released in full at the earliest for the benefit of the students who are pursing various courses of studies in various institutions.

“The government of India has been implementing the post-matric scholarship scheme through the Ministry of Tribal Affairs which students of other states are enjoying. The same facility may be made available for the students of Nagaland including our group,” the representation stated.

The recommendation of the State Level Committee for Scholarship must be implemented at the earliest ‘with favorable amount’ as being enjoyed by students of other states, the students demanded.

The students also highlighted that the institutions where they were studying had been pressurizing them to pay all the necessary fees at the earliest, in order for them to continue their studies without any hindrance.

Further, the scholarship for postgraduate students who had been affected by the “non-payment” of the said scholarship through the ministry be reimbursed fully in order for them to receive their pass certificates and mark sheets.

The representation was signed by T Thomas Konyak and A. Jaitok Konyak on behalf of the affected students.

A policeman in riot gear stands guard during the students’ sit-in in Kohima town on Friday, July 22. Although representations and continued appeals have been made to the Nagaland government demanding release of their two-year-pending scholarships, the government had allegedly shirked from redress. ‘Agitations are now the only way to catch their attention,’ a student had said yesterday. 

Another point of demand also sought that a special package of financial assistance be granted to bail out the affected students ‘as most of them belong to families who are economically poor.’

Some of the students told the Eastern Mirror said that the matte continues to be a ‘big embarrassment’ for them as the government failed to pay their due scholarships for two years.

Informing about their meeting with the additional director of Higher Education, one of their representatives, Thomas Konyak, said that the government has assured to take up the matter ‘with all seriousness.’

“We will wait for some time and if the government fails to respond to our demand, we will initiate our own course agitation again until our demand is granted to the fullest,” he said maintaining that they were ready to take the issue even to the ‘national level.’

When asked if the Nagaland government was entirely responsible for the mess, one of the students, who did not wished to be named, felt that the Eastern Naga Students Union of Dimapur (ENSUD) should also take the responsibility in pressurizing the government.

“We were sent outside the state to pursue our course through the initiative of the ENSUD, so I feel they should not remain adamant to this issue,” the student said informing that other ST students of the same category from Jammu & Kashmir and Manipur have received Rs. 1 lakh scholarship in time.

“Though some of us have completed our studies, yet, it is going to be an embarrassment for the rest to get back to the colleges if the government fails to release the scholarship,” he said.

Apart from some of the MBA students who have received Rs. 8,100 as scholarship as first installment, none of the students have received any during for two years.

It was informed that Friday’s agitation was also organized by the affected students’ body in collaboration with the Parents’ Forum Association (of the students).

The students informed that they have submitted various representations to the chief minister of Nagaland, the principal secretary of Tribal Welfare department, and the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee seeking scholarships for the 2014-2015 academic session. They met with the secretary of Higher Education yesterday too.

The affected students were enrolled as ST students outside the State under the education initiative committee of the ENSUD, with assurance of giving them scholarship under the Tribal Affairs.

(Al Ngullie, July 22, 2016; Eastern Mirror)

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