National Seminar on “Indigenous scholars dedicate themselves more in research for the benefit of Arunachal Pradesh”
ITANAGAR- Two days National Seminar, Evolving State of Arunachal Pradesh: Contemporary Social Science research in Tribal State of Arunachal Pradesh jointly by the Dept. of Anthropology, RGU, Rono Hills, Doimukh and The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India.
The programme started with a welcome address by Dr. S.B. Chakrabarti, General Secretary, The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, who stated on the importance of collaborations for carrying out such productive sessions jointly with the Dept. of Anthropology, RGU, Rono Hills. He also stated that such joint events have been exercised earlier as well which includes border related projects in Arunachal Pradesh with the dept of Anthropology which may contribute immensely for the state.
Prof. Sarit K Chaudhuri, Head, Dept. of Anthropology and the Chief organizer of the seminar, introduced the concept and expressed that such seminar is an attempt to create a platform for the upcoming social scientist to reflect on the state of Arunachal Pradesh when the Govt of Arunachal is celebrating 50 years of this bordering state since it became a Union territory.
Dr. N.T Rikam, Registrar, RGU, graced the programme and emphasized that native scholars of Arunachal Pradesh have to engage themselves in meaningful research so that the mainland people are aware of the tribal societies of this bordering state.
Prof. Swapan K. Pramanik, President, The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, spoke about various approaches for understanding Northeast as a region and hoped that the variety of papers accepted for the seminar will enhance the current state of social science research in Arunachal Pradesh.
The programme was further followed by a Keynote address by prof. P.K. Panigrahi, Dept. of Political Science, RGU. In his keynote address he highlighted the evolving nature of social science research in post-colonial Arunachal Pradesh.
He emphasized on the ongoing social science research which is more problem oriented and much analytical in nature where indigenous scholars tried to deal with crucial issues of respective communities as well as the state in general. Prof. Panigrahi also stressed on the need for research on some of the more challenging areas which are faced by people of the state as well as region in general.
As chairman, the Vice Chancellor Prof. Saket Kushwaha has emphasized the need for more social science research work related to the state by the indigenous scholars. He advised the upcoming scholars to dedicate towards research areas on which they are working on and also spoke on the significance of social science research in the context of Arunachal. Finally, he encouraged budding scholars to select research topics which will be beneficial for the state and its people.
The inaugural session ended with vote of thanks given by Mr.Sujit K. Das, treasurer of The Asiatic Society, Kolkata.
The seminar also had separate technical sessions which includes many burning topics under various themes, such as, evolving state and Autonomy, Economy and Livelihood Concerns, Traditional institutions and gender issues, Evolving religious beliefs and rituals, Evolving culture and heritage issues, Aspects of health and media and Ethnicity and dynamics of borderland. Altogether 37 papers were presented linking with the themes of the seminar.
he seminar was wrapped up by valedictory address given by Prof. Ashan Riddi, Head, Dept. of History, RGU where he brought out diverse issues linking with the theme and given his valuable view points as historian linking the issues and concerns of social science research in Arunachal Pradesh.
