Guwahati, June 14: A problem bigger than militancy?

Gauhati University’s articulate vice-chancellor Amarjyoti Choudhury can see it coming, and it has more to do with brain than brawn.

“It pains me deeply to see thousands of talented Assamese students contributing to the development and prosperity of other states. Money being spent on sending students outside for studies could have been invested in the state’s development . What is more alarming is the fact that the students, even after completing their studies, do not come back to the state because there are no avenues,” he said, appropriately at a function to felicitate matric, Madrassa and higher secondary toppers.

Choudhury, who has a PhD from Oxford and is a visiting professor at institutions like Florence University in Italy and the University of Bucharest in Romania, urged the toppers to contribute to the growth and prosperity of the state.

The felicitation was organised by the All Assam Students’ Union.

Bhupati Kumar Das, the managing director of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd, said talented Assamese students should contribute to the development of the state and compete at the national level instead of choosing conventional career options like medical and engineering.

“In 2004, the Union Public Service Commission invited me to become a member of the Indian Civil Services interview panel. I found the Assamese students on a par with their counterparts from other states. Brilliant students from the state should compete in the civil services and become administrators to help Assam,” he added.

Samujjal Bhattacharyya, the AASU adviser, lambasted the government for not being able to create a conducive academic atmosphere. He said students were leaving the state because of the lack of proper infrastructure and facilities at schools and colleges.

“The government criticises the AASU for taking up agitation programmes. The students’ organisation is ready to quit agitation if the government assures us that the ills affecting the education sector would be solved within a specific time frame,” he said.

As many as 125 toppers in the HSLC, High Madrassa and HS examinations from 90 different schools and colleges were felicitated at the function.

Farhana Anjumon Hassan from Don Bosco High School, Jorhat, who secured the first position in the HSLC examination, said she would “serve the state in the best possible manner”.

Another matric topper, Tanmoy Sharma from Axam Jatiya Vidyalaya, Guwahati, said it was a wrong notion that students of Assamese-medium schools could not fare well in examinations.

'The medium of instruction cannot become a hurdle in the way of success,' he said.