By Nurul Islam Laskar, MM News,
GUWAHATI, JUNE 23: Near about 200 workers representing over 100 NGOs mostly from central Assam converged in Hojai in Nagaon District of Assam on Sunday to participate in the National Workshop on ‘Programmes & Schemes of Ministry of Minority Affairs, Govt of India’. The Workshop held at the Newland Auditorium in Doctors’ Colony of Hojai was sponsored by Ajmal Foundation and supported by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Govt of India.
The Workshop started with recitation from the Holy Quran by Maulana Ziaur Rahman of Markaz Academy Hojai which was followed by an inaugural address by Khasrul Islam, Manager, Ajmal Foundation in which the latter explained the purpose of the programme being “educating the minority communities the ways and means for their socioeconomic and educational development.” The speaker of the first session, Prof Mohammed Akhtar Siddiqui, faculty of Education, Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi, said that education plays an important role in facilitating social and economic progress of a nation. He said, “The functional and analytical ability of children and youth improves only through proper education and training.”
Dr Halima Sadia Rizvi, Professor & Head, Department of Economics, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi deliberated on ‘Financial and Access Issues in Higher Education Today’ and exhorted the minority community to come out of the ‘minority syndrome’ and seek their rights as any other citizen which is well incorporated in the Indian Constitution.
Deliberating on the subject ‘Cognitive Development in Education’, Prof Lalit Mitra, Vice President, SAARC Society International Nagpur, informed the audience about the new software that have been developed to enable the teachers to teach the students better so that 100 per cent literacy could be attained in the country in the very near future.
Dr Raj V Siddiqui, Member NCMEI and PM’s 15 Pt Programme Committee, spoke on ‘Alleviation of poverty through management of Sustainable Resources’ and said that Assam is rich in natural resources and people in general could improve their living standards by using the cooperative movement for setting up enterprises that utilised these natural resources. He said, “In Maharashtra, there are cooperatives that are managing sugar mills, dairy corporations and mining industries today.”
Dr Anita Nuna, Faculty & Programme Coordinator, NCERT New Delhi, putting across her views on ‘Innovation efforts for universalisation of elementary education’ urged the teaching community to link education with knowledge, and said, this would bring power to the people.
“If there is hatred and mistrust in the society, this can be eradicated only by education,” was the viewpoint of Dr Shabistan Gaffar, Chairperson, Committee on Girls Education, NCMEI, Ministry of HRD, Govt of India. She gave a bird’s eye view of the different Central Government welfare schemes for the empowerment of girls in India.
Dr Aditya Langthasa, who is associated with the social welfare projects of the Ajmal Foundation for over last two decades, appealed to the members of the majority community to appreciate the problems of the minority communities and help them reach the status of the developed communities of the country.
While summing up the proceedings of the Workshop, Nurul Islam Laskar, eminent media and public relations consultant of the region, remarked, “Irrespective of whether one belongs to the majority or the minority community, all Indians have to join hands to enable the country emerge as a super power before the turn of the decade.” Dr MAH Azad of Ajmal Foundation offered the vote of thanks.
