SHILLONG:
Meghalaya did produce a solo candidate who successfully cleared the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations but the question remains: Why aren’t our local boys and girls not able to crack the civil service examinations?
Notably, six candidates from Assam, four from Nagaland, four from Manipur, three from Arunachal Pradesh, and one each from Sikkim, Tripura and Meghalaya cracked the exams from North East.
However, for the last 13 years, Meghalaya has not been able to produce a successful candidate from among the tribal communities of the state.
Isawanda Laloo was the last tribal candidate from the state to clear the exam. She cracked the examination in 2013.
Education Minister Rakkam Sangma, on May 25, indirectly linked the absence of good coaching centres and standard of education to the inability of the state to produce local IAS and IPS officers.
“We tribal people have potential and are good in sports. But nobody could represent the state in the world cup – be it cricket or football – Why? Because we don’t have good playgrounds,” he said.
“Yes, this is a concern for the state. Maybe our standard of education is not up to the mark,” he said, adding that the government will review the matter and attempt to dissect the problem and then come up with solutions.
“To be frank, we are second to nobody but there are some gaps but at the same time, there are rooms for improvement. We will work out the modalities to improve the standard of education,” Sangma said.
Furthermore, the education minister also congratulated Swapnil Bhattacharya and the other 19 candidates from the other north eastern states for clearing the examination.
Meanwhile, Sangma also criticised the Voice of the People Party (VPP) over the issue and said, “Instead of playing politics, we should focus on how to bring up the standard of education and create more jobs. I would love to hear from our friends in the VPP; they should have demanded for filling up the vacant seats, instead they asked for recruitment to be put on hold, which is against the wish of the educated unemployed youth,” he sarcastically said.