Nagaland Governor PB Acharya on Friday presented the NAMASTE Governor Acharya Award 2018 to five meritorious students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) of New Delhi. The award distribution ceremony was held at the JNU campus.
The award ceremony was organised in honour of freedom fighters of Northeast India – U Tirot Sing of Meghalaya, Rani Gaidinliu of Nagaland, Bir Tikendrajit Singh of Manipur, Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi of Assam and Pasaltha Khuangchera of Mizoram, respectively.
The event was organised by the Special Centre for the Study of North East India of JNU at SAA auditorium. The five students who were bestowed with the award include Aditya Bordalai, Gaithoilu Gangmei, Md Chingiz Khan, Munmi Pathak and Sikha Dutta.
The competition for the awards was based on MPhil and PhD researches being carried out by students of JNU on various issues and problems of the Northeast. Professor Bhagat Oinam, chairperson of the centre, said that the five awards would be given every year in honour of the freedom fighters of the states of North East India in rotation.
Praising the awardees, the Nagaland Governor said that the award was a way to encourage students who are carrying out various research works pertaining to the northeastern region of the country. Governor Acharya has coined the term NAMASTE which goes as Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Tripura – NAMASTE states of the northeastern region.