Sonapur, August 25 (MExN): The North East India Inter College Debating Competition organised by Sonapur College of Assam was held on Thursday. Altogether 48 young debaters representing by 24 colleges of the region including 2 each from Meghalaya and Nagaland and one from Arunachal Pradesh took part in the competition and debated on the topic “View that North East India is being exploited by the Central Government is factually incorrect”. Anwesha Saha and Shabnam Firdausi of Guwahati Medical College were jointly adjudged the best debaters while Abhishek Kabra of J. B. College, Jorhat and Bwenye Kemp of Tetso College, Dimapur were adjudged the second and the third best debaters respectively. The three received the Sinam Uriba Singh Memorial Prizes along with the cash prizes of Rs. 10,000, Rs.7,000 and Rs. 5,000 respectively. The Guwahati Medical College and the North Lakhimpur College won the awards for the Best and the Second best teams respectively and lifted the Sinam Uriba Singh Memorial Prizes besides cash awards. A special prize, namely “The Telegraph Unputdownable Debater of North East India Inter College Debating Competition-2017”, sponsored by ‘The Telegraph’, was awarded to Anwesha Mahanta of Cotton University, Guwahati. Renowned columnist, poet and Editor of Nagaland Page, Monalisa Chankija, who was the speaker on the occasion viewed that discussions pertaining to exploitations and the step-motherly treatment of the North East by the Centre often tend to miss out on crucial factors like the psychological profile of the people. “If we posit that the Northeast is always exploited by centre, we must ask why this region’s leadership is allowing it,” she maintained.
