STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: The prestigious Jesus and Mary College, for the first time in its long exchequered history, today held a Northeast Festival which was inaugurated by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh.
Dr Jitendra presented awards to young achievers of the college while a variety programme was staged to reflect the varied facets of culture, art and folk dance of eight different States of the region. The students also put up stalls displaying different products reflecting North Eastern flavor. Principal of Jesus & Mary College, Sister (Dr) Rosily, senior faculty member Sister (Dr) Molly and members of staff as well as students attended the programme in a large number.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Singh congratulated Jesus & Mary College for having taken the lead to hold an event like this and said that being a premier education institution of the country, today’s initiative will also inspire other leading institutions to follow suit and organize programmes exclusively devoted to the people of Northeast.
The event, he said, assumes special significance considering the fact that in each of the leading colleges and university departments in Delhi, not only there is a remarkably high strength of students from the Northeast, but they have also made their presence felt on the basis of their excelling performance both in academics as well as in sports.
Dr Singh said, acknowledgement and recognition of North-Eastern talent in the rest of the India will also enable people outside the region to learn the enormous good virtues and traits of the region which remain largely unknown to the outside world. For example, he said, the literacy rate in Mizoram is second only to Kerala even though it is a much smaller State and was born just about 30 years ago. Similarly, the sports aptitude and talent of the girls from Manipur and Tripura could be an inspiration for many of the other developed states of the country, he said.
The Principal and staff of Jesus & Mary College discussed a number of their upcoming projects with Dr Jitendra for which he offered to provide all feasible support and help.
The faculty members from different departments and the students also exchanged an informal interaction with Dr Singh on various topics of academic interest and research.
