By Felix Anthony
Namsai, Nov 18, 2019: The National Press Day in Arunachal Pradesh was observed with a debate competition on the implication of the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir on northeastern India.
The finalists of the state level debate competitions presented their views on November 17 in the presence of state Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, Lok Sabha member Tapir Gao, legislators Zigno Namchoom, Jummum Deori, and Kariko Kiri among others.
The debate topic was ‘The House believes that revocation of Article 370 from J&K will have long-term impact on NE states.”
The National Press Day celebrations at the newly inaugurated Multipurpose Cultural Hall in Namsai, concluded with the launch of arunachalfarmers.org, a website that will enable the farmers to showcase and sell their products online directly.
Namsai, a district headquarters situated near the Dihing river, is some 320 km northeast of Itanagar, the state capital.
The students from St. Claret College, Ziro, retained the Rolling Chief Minister’s Trophy by winning the competition for the third consecutive year.
Chief Minister Khandu appreciated the organizer of the competition, Arunachal Press Club (APC) and the Department of Information and Public Relation, for taking up a relevant topic to mark the National Press Day celebrations.
Arunachal is a unique state with wide variety of diversity. Media can play a huge role in harnessing this diversity to effect positive changes to the state, the chief minister said.
Impressed with the quality of the debate, Khandu requested the APC to organize another debate to give the government an objective opinion to decide if the upcoming Panchayat (local body) elections should be party based. “This will give the voters freedom to elect their local leaders” he opined.
Deputy Chief Minister Mein said the government has allotted 200,000 rupees each for 20 students from the state to pursue media studies.
Member of Parliament, Arunachal East constituency Tapir Gao also spoke on the occasion. He asked the media fraternity in the state to be bold and impartial in their reporting and to organize more such debates to make the general public aware of the relevant issues affecting the people.
Amar Sangno, the president of the Arunachal Pradesh Working Union of Working Journalists, congratulated the winners of the debate competition and wished Happy National Press Day to the media fraternity in the state.