Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu today objected to the 'resource-crunch state' tag which is often used to describe the state in official as well as normal jargon, terming it as "misleading".
"We always say, ours is a resource-crunch state. Let me tell you, it's a misnomer. See around us, we have abundant resources. Where we have failed is to tap these resources for our economic development," he explained while speaking at an award ceremony here organised by the Purvottar Janajati Shiksha Samiti, an affiliate of the Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan.
Khandu said the tag has been used so often that it has become a habit and it has come to an extent that people use it with pride.
"With bountiful resources, particularly in sectors like agriculture, horticulture, tourism, hydropower, mines and minerals, we would be insulting ourselves if we say we are resource-crunch," he said and appealed to all, especially senior leaders, thinkers, bureaucrats and academicians, to collectively evolve a sustainable policy to harness these resources.
He reiterated that the trend of complete dependence on the Centre to meet the state's requirements must be done away with.
"We cannot depend on the Centre forever. We have to harness and encash our own resources and remove the resource-crunch tag," Khandu said.
Talking about the education scenario of the state, the chief minister said the number of schools will have to be "rationalised".
He explained that the government has built too many schools and is now unable to meet their requirements.
"There are schools which do not have any student. We need to close down such schools and focus our energy on the schools that are running well," he pointed out while inviting NGOs and voluntary organisations engaged in imparting education to take over government-run schools wherever feasible.
The chief minister also expressed his reservation on the 'no-detention' clause in the Right to Education Act, claiming that it has "hurt the quality of education".
He pointed out that with the assurance that none would be detained at the primary level, students take it easy with studies and hence, get stuck at the higher levels.
"I have raised the issue with the Union HRD Minister who, in turn, revealed that similar complaints were coming from many states.
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