SHILLONG, Nov 17 - Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jewel Oram Oram today said that the Tribal Affairs Ministry would establish 36 Eklavya Model Residential Schools in Meghalaya over the next three years at a total cost of Rs 720 crore.
Currently, two Eklavya Model Residential Schools are nearing completion � one in the East Garo Hills district and the other in Ri-Bhoi district. The Eklavya Model Residential Schools is a Government of India scheme for tribals (Scheduled Tribes) across India.
As many as 652 such schools are being established throughout India at the blocks and sub-divisional levels. �At present 192 such schools are operational all over the country,� the Union Tribal Affairs Minister added.
Addressing a large number of students during the inauguration of the DJ Wollaston annexe of St Anthony�s College, the minister recalled his days of agitation in the past during a speech he made here today. He said he threw the microphone twice at the Speaker as an MLA in the Odisha Assembly to get himself heard.
�I was taken out by the marshals and so I decided to sit under a tree outside the Assembly and agitate,� Oram told the students, narrating how he performed as a first-time MLA of the Bonai constituency in 1990.
Oram said that the media does not give due mileage if controversies like the microphone-throwing incident are not created.
�The media only reports when there is a huge turmoil, it does not otherwise give you due publicity,� the Union minister said. Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, principal of the college, the Archbishop of Shillong Diocese and others were present during the speech.
Oram said that he had a tough childhood walking barefoot five kilometres to a school every day, while simultaneously grazing buffaloes and eating rice for six months and sustaining on wild fruits, millet, etc.
Oram urged the students to stay committed because they are a privileged lot as compared to people like him who had to toil hard just to go to school. �You all are lucky. You have everything at your disposal, so stay committed and work hard,� the minister said.