Agartala, December 16: The North East Students’ Organization (NESO) will annually sponsor two UPSC aspirants from each of its affliated student’s organizations in the northeastern state to facilitate coaching at top Indian institutes for civil services, Tripura’s NESO representative John Debbarma announced on Monday.
Speaking at a press conference in Agartala organized by the Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF), one of NESO’s eight constituent organizations, Debbarma, who is also NESO’s finance secretary, said the decision was taken during the organization’s executive council meeting held in Guwahati on December 13.
The meeting brought together representatives from seven northeastern states to deliberate on regional welfare issues.
Debbarma highlighted that the initiative will support 16 aspirants annually all from the indigenous communities, with the goal of increasing the northeast’s representation in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), which currently remains minimal.
The NESO leaders also raised serious concerns over ongoing infiltration into the northeastern region, particularly from neighboring countries like Bangladesh into Tripura.
The organization decided to form teams that will visit border areas across the region to investigate causes and methods of infiltration. Based on their findings, NESO plans to recommend measures to the government, including strengthening border security and sealing porous stretches to curb illegal cross-border movement.
During the meeting, NESO leaders also discussed the long-pending Kokborok script issue. They demanded official recognition of the Roman script alongside Bengali for writing the Kokborok language, which is a significant cultural and linguistic concern for the indigenous communities in Tripura.
John Debbarma, a former general secretary and current vice president of TSF, emphasized NESO’s commitment to advocating for the region’s socio-political and educational development.
