Army struggles to rescue 300 villagers trapped by Arunachal's flood

By Tejang Chakma

Published by Merinews.com, 28 June 2012

"The government and the Army failed to rescue about 300 Chakma villagers who are left stranded due to the flood fury in Arunachal Pradesh. Only about 150 villagers have been rescued and sheltered in relief camps so far."

AT LEAST 300 Chakma villagers trapped in flash flood water in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh could not be rescued till the morning of June 27. The villagers have been left stranded after their village was tore apart by the swollen Noa-Dehing river due to incessant rains in the intervening night of 23-24 June. Their conditions remained unknown.

On Monday, about 150 villagers were rescued by 100-odd country boats. However, majority of the people remained trapped as the Army’s mechanized motorboats failed to sail through turbulent flow and bad weather. The failure of the Army to rescue the remaining villagers prompted the local administration to press for the helicopter services. The state’s Chief Minister Nabam Tuki who has been personally monitoring the grave situation gave a go-ahead signal for deploying helicopters to rescue the villagers.

Nabam Tuki also sounded a red alert across the state in view of the devastating effect caused by incessant rains in the last several days. The Chief Minister has also sanctioned Rs 10 lakh to each of the Deputy Commissioners and Rs 5 lakh to each of Additional Deputy Commissioners.

The State’s Chief Secretary has also issued instructions to all administrative officers, including Deputy Commissioners and police in the districts, to remain alert and assess the situation immediately and submit their reports. Similar instructions were also issued to the District Disaster Management Departments to alert all the relief and rehabilitation officers. The medical department has further been alerted to keep medicines in sufficient stock, while the civil supplies department has been asked to keep in stock sufficient foodgrains to meet any eventuality.

The steps taken by the government are commendable. However, the failure to rescue the remaining villagers even after three days indicates lack of preparedness and prompt activation of the emergency response plan. The approach at best has been reactive-responding to disasters after they occur. This is despite the fact that, for instance, the Deputy Commissioner, Changlang has reviewed the preparedness to tackle the monsoon fury with the HoDs, Assam Rifles and CRPF last month.

It is important to save the lives of the stranded villagers at the earliest but at the same time this should be an important lesson to be learnt.

Anti-Torture Day: India's record on torture continues to be grim

By Tejang Chakma

Publish in Merinews.com, 26 June 2012

"Custodial torture continues to be reported at regular interval in India. The government failed to enact the anti-torture law so far. As a result, torture is not regarded as a crime and continues to be part and parcel of law enforcement."

EVERY YEAR, June 26 is observed as International Day in Support of victims of torture. On this day in 1987, the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment came into effect.

There is nothing to cheer about in India on this occasion. India has failed to address torture and its record on torture continues to be grim.

Cases of custodial torture are reported at regular intervals. India is yet to ratify the UN Convention Against Torture after the treaty was signed way back in 1997. In April 2008, the UN Human Rights Council recommended India to expedite ratification of the Convention against Torture during India’s human rights records examination under Universal Periodic Review. India accepted the recommendation and stated that the ratification of the Convention is under process.

Four years later, in May 2012, India was again asked by the member states of the UN to expedite ratification of the Convention during India’s second review under the UPR. It failed to honour its commitment. The Prevention of Torture Bill continues to be stuck in the Parliament. India also failed to extend invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture whose request to visit the country has been pending since 1993.

In its report Torture in India 2011, Asian Centre for Human Rights, a prominent human rights organization in the country, states that “there has been no reduction in incidents of torture in India which remains endemic, institutionalised and central to the administration of justice and counter-terrorism measures.”

As per the report, 14,231 persons died in police and judicial custody in India from 2001-2010. Of these, 1504 deaths occurred in police custody. About 99.99% of deaths in police custody can be ascribed to torture and occur within 48 hours of the victims being taken into custody, the report underlined.

The report further added that “these deaths were often passed off as suicides, sudden medical complications, self-inflicted injuries and natural deaths.”

Many of the victims were lucky to have survived custodial torture. According to National Human Rights Commission a total of 2681 persons were tortured in police custody, which has not resulted in deaths, during 2008-2011. This figure is far from accurate. Many of the cases are not reported at all out of fear or some other reasons. Moreover, it is not mandatory for the police or the administration to inform the NHRC about cases of custodial torture not resulting in deaths like the cases of death in custody.

The Constitution of India, the courts and the National Human Rights Commission prohibit torture. However, the security forces disregard these institutions. Torture is still not a crime as it is treated as an inevitable part of investigation.

Torture will continue to be reported in the country as long as India fails to take measures to address it. It is high time the government enacts the legislation criminalizing torture at the earliest and honour its commitment made in 2008 during the UPR examination.

75 families trapped in flash flood water in Arunachal Pradesh

By Tejang Chakma


Published on Merinews.com, 25 June 2012

"Hundreds of Chakma villagers in Arunachal Pradesh's Changlang district have been rendered homeless and are at risk of being washed away by flash floods caused due to incessant rains in the last few days. 59 houses have been inundated and 16 others have been washed away."

FLASH FLOOD caused by incessant rains in the past few days in Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district has rendered 75 Chakma families homeless. The swollen Noa-Dehing river caused extensive damages to two Chakma villages of Vijaypur-I and Vijaypur-II under Bordumsa circle.

At about 12.30 am on June 24, the turbulent river breached the anti-erosion protection wall built by the Water Resource Department (WRD) in 2010-11 on the left bank and tore apart the area between Vijaypur-I and Vijapur-II. 59 houses have been inundated and 16 others washed away. As the two villages are ripped apart, the right side remained inaccessible and 75 families, including women, children and aged, remained trapped because of the flood water.

Rescue work remained hampered due to the strong currents of the river and couldn't be started till the morning of June 25. These families are at risk of being washed away anytime. Actual situation will be known once the area is accessible. It is feared that many could have been drowned.

In addition, standing crops, road, livestock, etc were washed away, while an under construction PMGSY bridge was completely damaged. The affected Chakma villagers also lost important official documents in the deluge.

Many families are also affected in the left side. The Vijaypur middle school has been declared as a temporary relief camp till the situation improves by the local administration. Relief items including rice, kerosene oil, drinking water, fruits, etc are distributed by the local administration and an NGO among the hapless people. A medical camp has reportedly been set up. The local administration has announced Rs. 2,000 each as immediate relief for those whose houses were completely washed away.

There was no report of casualty in the affected area in the left side. But, a sick villager died in a hospital in Assam due to delay caused by the flood in providing treatment.

Flood due to incessant rains is not new in the area. However, the current flood has been described as a “never-seen-before phenomenon” by the affected people. Large area, including agricultural lands has been washed away or remained submerged.

The combined population of the two villages is over 3000. There is already scarcity of land among the Chakmas due to loss of land in the past floods. The situation will only exacerbate.

Afghan refugee family denied space in India

By Tejang Chakma

Published by Merinews.com, 24 June 2012

"Last year an Afghan woman with her six family members was refused refugee status by UN Refugee Agency in its office in Delhi. The family had fled Afghanistan following threats to their lives. But their problems aggravated after arrival in Delhi, as they had to face threats of detention and deportation."

WORLD REFUGEE Day is celebrated every year on June 20. First held in 2001, the day is marked to highlight the plight of the millions of refugees worldwide who are forced to flee their homes.

The day reminded me of meeting a woman wearing a burqa in my office. I don’t exactly remember the day, but it was October last. Someone referred the name of the organization I am associated with to her for assistance. The woman, aged about 40 years, was running from pillar to post after her application for grant of refugee status was rejected by the UNHCR, Delhi for the second time.

She was from Afghanistan. Like many, she fled her country and came to India in 2008 to save her life. She was not alone. There were six others - five children and one sister. Out of the five children, four were daughters, aged between 15 and 20. The youngest was the son of five years. While her sister was 19-years-old.

I was taken aback to hear her story. Prior to arrival in India, she was living somewhere in Kabul. The death of her husband in a car accident in 2006 forced her to work as a teacher to take care of her children. However, the money she was earning was not adequate. Soon she started running a beauty parlour, a risky venture in Afghanistan, to support her five children. Troubles started since then. She was repeatedly threatened by some elements suspected to be the Taliban who wanted her to close down the beauty parlour – the only one in her locality. She approached the local Afghan Police but got no protection.

After the death of her father-in-law in 2008, the threats intensified each day. According to her, one day, two persons physically assaulted one of her daughters. Few days later, the same persons threatened to kidnap her daughters.

In order to protect herself and daughters, she decided to take shelter in Tajikistan. All of them applied for Tajik visas, which were issued. However, the people close to the Taliban came to know about it and threatened her telephonically in her mobile phone that they will follow them to Tajikistan and kill them there, she alleged.

Out of fear, she decided to abort the plan of going to Tajikistan and further decided to come to India. They applied for Indian visas and reached Delhi.

After arrival in India, she along with her family members applied for the grant of refugee status from the UNCHR, Delhi. Unfortunately, the UNCHR rejected her application on the grounds that it did not qualify for recognition as a refugee under UNCHR Mandate.

She argued that the UNCHR rejected her application, as the translator she was provided with was unable to put her case (problems she was facing in her country) convincingly before the UNCHR due to language problem during the interview. Her translator speaks Persian while she speaks Dari language. There is a big difference in the language. Yet, she was provided the same translator during the second interview.

As her application was rejected the dejection on her face was palpable. She was more concerned about her children and younger sister. She had no place to go. They could not go back to Afghanistan due to threats to their lives. While in India they were living under constant threats of deportation and detention.

This is not the one-off case. There are many refugees who have been denied protection for one reason or the other. They are forced to live in extreme situations and are highly vulnerable to abuse. Situation is worst for this Afghan woman with daughters for reasons, which require no explanation.

NHRC to the rescue of deprived Chakma families of Assam

By Tejang Chakma

Published by Merinews.com, 23 June 2012

"Right to development is a human right. But the condition of about 30 Buddhist Chakma families of Bonkokha village in Cachar district of Assam remains dismal. No development ever reaches this remote village in the last 40 years."

THE NATIONAL Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in a recent order asked the District Magistrate (DM) of Cachar, Assam to file an action taken report over the continued suffering and deprivation of basic facilities to the tribal Chakma families in a remote village in the district.

Acting on a petition filed by Asian Centre for Human Rights, a prominent human rights organization, the NHRC directed the DM to file the report returnable within one month.

Right to development is a human right. However, the condition of about 30 Buddhist Chakma families of Bonkokha village under Lakhipur sub-division in Cachar district remained dismal over the last four decades.

No development and welfare schemes have ever reached these families living in the far-flung area in the upper reaches of the Barak Valley bordering Assam and Manipur. Their cry for development always goes unnoticed by the authorities.

The village is without any basic amenities. There is not a single primary school, no primary or subsidiary health care centre, no electricity and employment opportunities. Nor there is any fair-price shop to get the benefit of the public distribution system.

There is no provision of safe drinking water. The lack of drinking water facilities forced the villagers to drink water from river, stream or hilly rivulet. As a result, cases of stomach disorder are not uncommon.

There is no road connectivity and the village virtually remained cut off from the mainland. The situation turns worst in times of medical emergencies. The only way out to the villagers is to shift the patients to Fulertal or Lakhipur, a time-consuming and costly affair.

The villagers are not covered under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme of the Government of India. They depend on natural resources, work as daily wage earners and jhum cultivation.

The Centre's development and welfare schemes are non-existent. The Multi-Sectoral Development Programme (MsDP), a programme for the welfare and development of religious minorities, is not reaching these Buddhist minorities. As a Buddhists, the villagers should have been provided various welfare schemes such as health centre, dispensary, schools including anganwadis etc. Not only MsDP, even tribal development schemes do not reach these tribals.

Lack of development forced the tribals to abandon their village. The village was home to over 50 families some years back. At least 20 families move to other places in search of livelihood opportunities. The remaining families are also planning to move out.

Situation Vacant for President: Tribals Not Eligible!

Who will be the next President of India? Is it Pranab Mukherjee or Hamid Ansari! PA Sangma, sorry tribals are not eligible for the post.

As APJ Abdul Kalam pulled out of the Presidential race, it looks certain that Pranab Mukherjee is all set to become the 13^th President of India. Given the lack of supports Hamid Ansari has little prospect. The last date for filing nomination is still few days away. Anything can happen in a political situation which is characterized by the “expect the unexpected” syndrome. We have already witnessed the political drama that unfolded few days ago surrounding the presidential candidature.

However, what looks certain is that there shall be no President from the tribal communities of India. Former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma although reiterated that he is still in the fray as a tribal candidate, it is highly unlikely for him that his candidature will be backed. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar had already asked Sangma to withdraw his candidature. There is no indication of support from other political parties so far except Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The BJP is still undecided.

The country has never seen a tribal holding the office of President, Vice-President or the Prime Minister since independence. The time and setting has been the most perfect one for the political parties to go for a person from the tribal communities. There is no dearth of capable tribal leaders. Sangma is one the most fit tribal leaders at this time. The willingness shown by Sangma should have been an added advantage in view of the current indecisiveness over selection of candidature. More so, it was perhaps PA Sangma, among the tribals, who reached the farthest in terms of high political office in the country when he became the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

If a person from the Scheduled Castes and religious minorities can hold high offices, why not a tribal? Tribals are equally capable enough to hold high offices given a chance. Further, PA Sangma as the President would have been the most important stride in the backdrop of racial discrimination and alienation being faced by the people from the northeast India.

Lack of secondary education driving Chakma kids to child labour

By Tejang Chakma published by Merinews on 14 June 2012

“In Arunachal Pradesh, Chakma children have been dropping out of schools, and are being forced to engaged themselves as child labourers after the upper primary level in school. This is primarily due to lack of access to secondary education.”

INDIA IS home to the highest number of child labourers under the age of 14 in the world. As elsewhere, 12 June was observed as World Day Against Child Labour in India. Many new commitments were made to address the menace. However, the commitments remained only on paper. The figure of child labourers continues to increase every year.

As per the 2001 census, an estimated 12.6 million children below the age of 14 years are engaged as child labourers. The figure is much higher unofficially. Majority of these children are exposed to the worst forms of child labour.

The situation is no better in India’s northeast. The main causes of child labour include poverty, unemployment and lack of education, among others. The number of child labourers is increasing in the region each day due to poverty and unemployment. News of trafficking of children belonging to poor families to other states from the northeast is reported at regular intervals. 

In Arunachal Pradesh, the Chakma children are being driven to engage as child labourers due to lack of access to secondary education. The Chakma children have access to schools only up to upper primary level in two circles of Miao and Kharsang in Changlang district. There are no secondary schools for them. Admission to existing secondary schools is denied to them. In the absence of access to secondary schools, a good number of Chakma children are dropping out of schools every year. For instance, 91 students dropped out last year. More students are likely to be drop out this year.

Students who have the financial capacity take admission outside the state such as Assam and Delhi. But, the majority of them being poor have no option but to discontinue their studies. School drop-outs marry early, ends up as unskilled labourers, domestic servants and few even get involve in anti-social activities.

Every year, many of these drop-out children, including the girls, are going outside the state such as Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, etc., in search of petty jobs including domestic servants. They work in hostile conditions and remain extremely vulnerable to abuse.

However, these children are not recognized as child labourers as per the government definition. Therefore, no step is being taken by the government.

There is an urgent need to raise the age of children to 18 years for any form of labour for the existing 14 years by the government. While the state government of Arunachal Pradesh will have to urgently provide secondary schools to arrest the problem of child labours among the Chakma children.

Equality of educational opportunity is a myth in Arunachal Pradesh

By Tejang Chakma

Published by Merinews.com on 13 June 2012. The article has also been featured in the Merinews Picks section for the day.

“In 2011 five non-Chakma students of a middle school were given admission by a secondary school in Arunachal Pradesh's Changlang district. But, 20 Chakma students of the same middle school were denied admission, and this discrimination continues.”

IN 2011, as many as 91 children had to involuntarily drop out after being refused admission to secondary schools in Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district. These children, belonging to Buddhist Chakma community, who had passed Class 8 from four upper primary schools under Miao and Kharsang circles failed to get admission due to overcrowding and other related problems in the existing secondary schools.

There are only two secondary schools at Miao and Kharsang circles. These two schools are far from adequate due to increase in student population. Admission was not given by the school authorities despite interventions by the higher authorities to save one precious academic year of the students.

The grounds for refusing admission by the school authorities are facts. However, what was shocking is that some of the Chakma students were discriminated by one of the schools.

The school in question was Miao Higher Secondary school. During last academic session the school admitted five students (non Chakmas) who had passed their Class 8 examination from Government Middle School, Deban under Miao circle despite overcrowding. But 20 Chakma students who passed Class 8th from the same school were denied admission due to overcrowding and other pretexts. The non-Chakma students were preferred over the Chakmas. More importantly, out of the 20 Chakma students, 10 students were passed-outs of previous academic session of 2010-11. At least, these students should have been given priority as they have already lost one precious year. Is this not discrimination by the authority of Miao school?

This violates Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India, and India’s obligation under international human rights law such as United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (in particular, Article 28 of the CRC). Article 29(2) Constitution of India provides that none shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.

Education should be made accessible to all. Secondary education serves as a bridge between elementary and higher education and prepares children between the age group of 14-18 for entry into higher education.

The denial of secondary education to the children also results in the denial of several other human rights to these children.

Child Labour Day: Lack of access to secondary education driving Chakma kids in Arunchal to child labour

India is home to the highest number of child labourers under the age of 14 in the world. As elsewhere, 12 June is observed as World Day Against Child Labour in India. Many new commitments were made to address the menace. However, the commitments remained only on paper. The figure of child labourers continues to increase every year.

A common sight: A child begging in a street of Delhi

As per the 2001 census, an estimated 12.6 million children below the age of 14 years are engaged as child labourers. The figure is much higher unofficially. Majority of these children are exposed to the worst forms of child labour.

The situation is no better in India’s northeast. The main causes of child labour include poverty, unemployment and lack of education, among others. The number of child labourers is increasing in the region each day due to poverty and unemployment. News of trafficking of children belonging to poor families to other states from the northeast is reported at regular intervals.  

In Arunachal Pradesh, the Chakma children are being driven to engage as child labourers due to lack of access to secondary education. The Chakma children have access to schools only up to upper primary level in two circles of Miao and Kharsang in Changlang district. There are no secondary schools for them. Admission to existing secondary schools is denied to them. In the absence of access to secondary schools, a good number of Chakma children are dropping out of schools every year. For instance, 91 students dropped out last year. More students are likely to be drop out this year.

Students who have the financial capacity take admission outside the state such as Assam, Delhi, etc. But, the majority of them being poor have no option but to discontinue their studies. School drop-outs marry early, ends up as unskilled labourers, domestic servants and few even get involve in anti-social activities.

Every year, many of these drop-out children, including the girls, are going outside the state such as Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, etc in search of petty jobs including domestic servants. They work in hostile conditions and remain extremely vulnerable to abuse.

However, these children are not recognized as child labourers as per the government definition. Therefore, no step is being taken by the government.

There is an urgent need to raise the age of children to 18 years for any form of labour for the existing 14 years by the government. While the state government of Arunachal Pradesh will have to urgently provide secondary schools to arrest the problem of child labours among the Chakma children.

Lone secondary school for Chakmas lies in utter neglect

By Tejang Chakma published by Merinews on 9 June 2012

      “Govt. Secondary School, Diyun under Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh, is the       only secondary school for about 46000 Chakmas of the district. But, the school has no basic facilities. One teacher has to teach more than 100 students.”

THE CONDITIONS of most of the schools in Arunachal Pradesh are dismal. Lack of basic facilities is a common feature. In some schools, the children are even forced to sit on the floor due to lack of benches.  

Similar is the situation of the Diyun Government Secondary School under Diyun Circle in Changlang district which lies in utter government neglect. Diyun Township is the only secondary level school for a population of about 46,000 Chakmas of the district. In the absence of secondary school for the Chakmas, this school has to accommodate not only students from Diyun circle but also students passing out upper primary education from other circles every year. This results in overcrowding and affects the quality of education.

The authorities have not shown any interest to uplift the pathetic condition of the school. Many appeals went unheard. The school was initially constructed by the Chakmas on self-help basis. Except construction of a few pucca classrooms some years ago, no upgradation or renovation work has been undertaken since then.

As a result, the school lacks all the basic facilities. Overcrowding is a recurring issue. The total enrollment from Class I to X even touches 2000 at times. There were nearly 1400 students in the school last year. Overcrowding in upper primary level in the school has declined to some extent following the launch of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. However, overcrowding continues in the secondary level in the absence of secondary schools. Last year, 429 students were enrolled in Class IX. No less was the overcrowding in Class X. It is not difficult to comprehend the environment where these students study.

The lack of proper and adequate infrastructure adds to the problem of overcrowding. No additional classrooms have been constructed for the rising number of students. There are only nine classrooms in the schools. Some of the classrooms have no proper structure. In some classrooms, the students had to sit or stand due to lack of bench/desk. In a letter to the Deputy Commissioner, Changlang, D Riba (APCS), Extra-Assistant Commissioner (EAC) cum Chairman of School Management Committee, Diyun while highlighting the dismal condition of the school stated “The school is run without sufficient numbers of bench/desk as a result many students are settled to sit on the floor or stand.”

In addition, there was serious shortage of teachers for the large number of students. The students-teachers should be 1: 40 as per government norms. However, the school was functioning with only 19 teachers last year. Thereby the school was short of at least 16 teachers.

The school had no drinking water facilities. The students were required to collect water from a distance for drinking. The existing water tape was non-functional.

Non-funcitonal girls'  toilets of Diyun school

One of the serious problems being faced by the students in particular girls was the lack of functional toilets in the school. The school has toilets including separate toilets for girls. However, toilets are non-functional/locked due to lack of water connection. Without this basic necessity, not only the school children, especially girls run the risk of illness. They refrain from drinking water during school hours to avoid going to the toilet and may suffer long-term kidney related complications.

The school also lacks other basic requirements such as library, sufficient reading material, computer, standard teacher-quarters, etc

These problems being faced by the students are known even to the authorities. But, no concrete step has been taken to address these problems. The authorities have even failed to utilize the fund approved by the Centre in 2010 for construction of buildings of the school so far.

On a brighter note, the school performed exceedingly well in the recently announced CBSE results for Class X despite of the appalling conditions. According to the CBSE results, 307 out of 315 students who had appeared for the Class X last academic session had passed the examination, reflecting over 97 pass percentage.

DSE orders school heads to admit Chakma students

By Tejang Chakma published in Merinews on 5 June 2012

ON MAY 30, 2012, the Director of Secondary Education (DSE) of Arunachal Pradesh ordered the Headmasters and Principals of secondary and higher secondary schools of Diyun, Miao and Kharsang circles in Changlang district to admit Chakma and Hajong students in the current academic session 2012-13.

Chakma students of 18 villages under Miao and Kharsang circles in Changlang district have been dropping out after upper primary level. Last year, at least 91 students, including 29 girls, had to involuntarily drop out of schools. 10 students dropped out during 2010-11 academic session.

There are no secondary schools in the 18 villages despite having substantial student population. There are two higher secondary schools in the circles but these schools are out of bound for the Chakmas since long. The school authorities refuse admission on the grounds of overcrowding, lack of infrastructure and teaching staff, etc. 


In the absence of secondary schools and denial of admission in the two schools, the Chakma students were forced to seek admission at far away schools in Diyun circle and studying there. However, since the academic session 2010-11, the schools under Diyun circle refuse to admit Chakma students of the 18 villages on the ground of outside of jurisdiction and overcrowding. This is one of the main reasons for the admission crisis among the Chakma students. 


The May 30 order of the DSE was issued following submission of memorandum by the village heads and guardians. 

Interestingly, similar order was issued last year by the DSE when the village heads/guardians approached him to allow admission of the Chakma students and to upgrade the existing middle schools in the Chakma areas. The DSE in a letter (Memo No.EDA.107/99-2000) dated October 21, 2011 through the Deputy Commissioner and Deputy Director of School Education, Changlang district directed the school heads of Miao, Innao, Diyun, Sompoi and Kharsang to admit 91 students in proportionate sharing basis and to forward the names of the admitted students to the Central Board of Secondary Education for registration to avoid loss.

However, in blatant non-compliance of the order the schools authorities refused to admit the students. Out of the 91 students, 10 students completed their upper primary education during 2010-11. They lost two years in a row.


The admission crisis has not been taken seriously by the state government. There is a proposal to upgrade some of the middle schools in the Chakma inhabited areas. For example, a government inspection team recommended upgradation of Ratnapur middle school but the school is yet to be upgraded. If upgraded at least half of the admission problem would have been resolved.


The situation demands urgent action but the authorities have done nothing despite being informed by the villagers. The situation will only turn worst if no immediate action is taken. The pressure on secondary education is increasing every year. For instance, over 100 Chakma students are awaiting admission to Class IX for the ensuing session apart from the drop out students. It has becomes extremely necessary to upgrade the existing schools due to increase in student population for secondary education.


It is unfortunate that at a time when the Centre has been taking measures to universalize secondary education of good quality available, accessible and affordable to all, the State Government has failed to make secondary education accessible to the Chakma students.