Terming the BJP regime in Manipur "dark period" for the education sector, National Students' Union of India (NSUI) appealed to the people of the state to vote for Congress party to bring change in this section.
During a press conference at Congress Bhawan on Tuesday, NSUI National President Neeraj Kundan alleged that the BJP government at the Centre and in Manipur have ruined the education sector of the state over the last 5 years. The energy and effort which Congress party had spent in building infrastructure for educational sector is also being destroyed, he alleged.
The union government had reduced the funding for pre-metric scholarship to zero which was 773 lakh in 2018. Only three out of 21 sanctioned Eklyavya Residential Schools are functional. There is sharp decline in the enrollment of students in government schools. It was 1.1 per cent in 2017 has rose to 15.5 per cent at present, he added.
He also criticised the BJP for not taking up any particular policy and programmes for students community during COVID-19 pandemic. Students of Manipur studying outside the state suffered at the pandemic while trying to return home. But central government didn't pay attention. Besides this many economically deprived students unable to attend online classes for unaffordable, he said.
While rebuking BJP for false promises, their assurance to give 5 lakh jobs to unemployed youth of state by BJP was hollow as it is impractical. However, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi promised to provide 50,000 during his visit to Manipur can surely translate into action. As such youth of the state voted for Congress party would surely bring change in the society, the NSUI President said.
NSUI will go from door to door in every district to connect with students to seek support election and will also enquire about their needs and suggestion to bring more development in education sector, he added while recalling that Congress party took every youth as a valuable asset. With this view, Congress party brought NIT to Manipur, Indira Gandhi Tribal University was set up in 2007 and 13 new government colleges between 2002 to 2016.
The press conference was also attended by NSUI Manipur Unit president, Kabir Ahmed and general secretary in charge, Anushesh Sharma.
