Only four years old, the
Foundation has marched forward to start three new educational
institutes which have attained the credit of being the first
in their own spheres. The Foundation's Bill for the first
“University of Science and Technology” of the North East has
also been passed by Govt. of Meghalaya. This University will
start its academic session from 2010-2011 session. However,
ERDF has not confined itself to education only, but spread its
wings to R&D areas to expose its students to it.
While the major focus of the
Foundation has been on providing higher and technical
education to the students with the best facilities available
in the country, the interests of the deprived sections have
been kept uppermost in its priority list. As a result ERDF has
chalked out a number of plans and programmes for providing
various incentives to students belonging to BPL families,
scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and specially minority
communities. In short it has made education affordable and
brought it within the reach of people for whom educating their
children was always a distant dream.
As the percentage of
literacy still leaves a lot of room for improvement, the
facilities for modern and higher education is still not enough
for all the students of the region eligible and aspiring for
it, we have a long way to go.
But here, I would like to
take this opportunity to thank all who have made it possible
for ERDF to make it this far. I can never thank enough the
trustees, my faculty members, officials and well wishers for
the selfless and dedicated support extended by them. I cannot
stop myself from naming a few of them who have, with their
dedication, become the very essence of ERDF Mrs. Anju
Hazarika, Mr. Ferdous Ahmed Borbhuiya, Mr. Amit Choudhury, Mr.
Bolen Haloi, Mr. Azmol Hussain Borbhuiya, Ms. Daisy Kalita,
Mr. N. Laskar, Mrs. Rose Mahanta, Mrs. Namrata Sarma,
Giasuddin Ahmed and many more. I also express my gratitude to
the senior trustees Mr. N I Laskar and Mr. Abdul Malik who
with their valuable guidance in streamlining the mission
helped me to fulfill a part of the vision with which ERDF was
constituted.
As the Foundation marches
forward to expand its activities and take up greater
challenges, I expect the same support and cooperation from all
our well wishers. I also appeal to all like minded people in
the society to come forward and join hands with us. Let us
march together in this great mission of making our region
stronger and better, thus contributing to making our
motherland a country ahead of all others.
M. Hoque
Chairman, ERDF
