IMPHAL, December 30: “The Chief Minister`s announcement of a new policy towards bringing about an equal development in hill and valley districts and an egalitarian development among all ethnic groups in Manipur, and to set up a body which will have representatives from all the ethnic communities including intellectuals and representatives from various fields on the occasion of the 127th Foundation Day of Indian National Congress on the 28th December 2012 at the Congress Bhavan, Imphal is truly a welcomed step. It is a historic announcement with a new vision for Manipur. It shall be a New Year`s Gift of 2013 of the SPF Government to the people of Manipur,” said the Council of Tribal Languages & Literature Societies, Manipur in a release.
The council further appealed Chief Minister and the state government to ensure that the state budget of the Education Department should not continue to be discriminatory. “There is no fund for tribal languages in the State Budget of Education Department, Board of Secondary Education, Manipur (BOSEM), Council of Higher Secondary Education, Manipur (COHSEM), etc. since the inception Manipur state. 10 tribal languages out of 34 were approved for introduction in the school without providing fund for them,” it said.