Before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could fly out of Imphal after announcing a comprehensive development package, HRD Minister Arjun Singh was finalising crucial education strategies for all eight states (Sikkim included) of the North-East.Today, he decided on a high-power committee comprising chief ministers and education ministers of all the eight states to push through all the education programmes and policies and complete them in the stipulated time period.It is a 25-member committee which the HRD Minister will head himself. A government press note said that the committee would ‘‘address specific issues relating to education, women and child development in the Northeastern region, including Sikkim’’.This step to pursue the North-East education agenda with seniormost bureaucrats and top politicians on board follows Arjun Singh’s statement in June this year that his ministry would channelise more funds for improvement of the education infrastructure in the North-East.This 25-member committee will also include the Union Minister for Development of the North Eastern Region, ministers of state in the HRD Ministry, the three secretaries in the HRD Ministry (higher education, elementary education, and women and child development) and the additional secretary of education.The tenure will be five years and it will try and meet at least once every quarter either in one of the North-East state Capitals or in New Delhi to review and monitor progress.
