Kokrajhar, July 21: The All Bodo Students’ Union (Absu) has expressed concern over the Assam Venture Educational Institutions (Provincialisation of Services) Act.

The legislation was enacted in the budget session of the Assam Assembly which concluded yesterday, but Absu appealed to the state government and the autho- rities for a review in the interest of all linguistic communities and mediums of instruction.

Assam is a state where many different linguistic and ethnic groups live together and all the languages either have a modern Indian language as a subject or medium of instruction which cannot be overlooked.

Absu president Promode Boro, in a press statement issued today, said the union would not tolerate leaving out any Bodo-medium venture schools from provincialisation and this law would be challenged in the interest of the students’ fundamental rights.

“The venture schools are an unique type of schools found only in Assam in the country. Inhumanly, senselessly, irresponsibly and shamelessly successive governments did nothing to tackle the issue of venture schools despite existence of different acts and laws in the country.

“Successive governments did not feel it necessary to open schools in those places where there were no schools since Independence. But for these Assam will have the lowest literacy rate in the country. So the wording and interpretation of some words used in some section and sub-section in some important acts cannot be acceptable in case of Assam,” Boro said.

Demanding that all venture schools established before the enactment of the law should be provincialised, Boro said the state government had no right to treat the venture schools as a burden.

“In the last 12 years, the government did nothing to provincialise those venture schools in spite of repeated requests and demands from different sections of the people living in Assam, in particular the Absu. How can they pass the education bill without meeting the hopes and aspirations of the people?” he asked.