Meghalaya Koch Association demands promotion of language in state, CM Conrad gives assurance

The Meghalaya Koch Association has urged Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma to help preserve and promote their language and develop the Koch human resource index in the state. 

The request was made during their 54th annual conference at Jatrakona in South Garo Hills. The association appreciated ongoing welfare activities in the state and proposed introducing the Koch language as the medium of instruction in Primary Schools in their villages, replacing Assamese or Bengali. 

This proposal is in line with the New Education Policy's directive to use a student's mother tongue as the medium of instruction until the eighth standard, as per section 29(F) of chapter V of the Right to Education Act, 2009.

Meghalaya's Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, assured the Koch community of considering the inclusion of the Koch language in the state during a conference. A memorandum requested the Meghalaya Government for financial aid to establish career counselling centres in Koch villages, aiming to enhance the community's human resources. 

The Koch Association, highlighting the Koches as one of Meghalaya's most backward indigenous minority tribes with a literacy rate around fifty-four percent, sought financial aid to set up coaching centres for Para-Military Forces' recruitment. They also demanded an increase in the reservation percentage for indigenous minority tribes to at least fifteen percent, to benefit their youth in government job recruitment as per the state's reservation policy.

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