DAPORIJO, Jan 6: Chief Minister Pema Khandu today attended the Si Donyi festival celebrated by the Tagin community here in presence of Guests of Honour Basar MLA Gokar Basar, Tourism Minister Nakap Nalo and Daporijo MLA Tanya Soki. 
Chief Minister and the Guests of Honour were accorded a traditional welcome by the Central Si Donyi Celebration Committee with smearing of rice powder on their cheeks and foreheads accompanied by various Ponung parties and ritual dance performances. Chief Minister said the Nyibus or priests have special place in tribal culture, as they are the vital link between the human and the other world and requested the elders of the Tagin society to pass on the rich cultural heritage to the coming generations. Emphasizing on the importance of tribal dialects, he urged the parents to encourage their children to speak in their mother tongues and help in checking the cultural erosion, also adding that state government is making every effort towards preservation of local dialects and creation of the Department of Indigenous Affairs will help in the endeavour. 
Speaking on the development of Daporijo township, Chief Minister said that to address the shortage of drinking water, state government will sanction a water treatment plant of 4 MLD capacity this year in addition to the existing 2.6 MLD water treatment plant. While elaborating on education, he said the government is focused on improving the infrastructure and facilities of Government Higher Secondary School Daporijo and other government schools in the district and thanked the Tagin Cultural Society (TCS) for accepting his request to adopt government schools in their areas.
Chief Minister also appreciated the society for their decision to shun the practice of receiving donations in any kind for festivals from dignitaries attending as guests. On providing market linkages to the farmers, he revealed that government will soon be providing price and demand forecasts for various major horticulture crops to help farmers in taking informed decisions.
Chief Minister assured to come back again to Daporijo for reviewing of the development projects being taken up. 
Meanwhile, Si-Donyi Festival was celebrated with pomp and gaiety at the Si-Donyi ground in Naharlagun today where the Tagin community residing in Capital Complex wearing traditional attires thronged the festival ground being organized by the Si Donyi Festival Celebration Committee Capital Complex (SDFCCCC). 
Minister for Education Taba Tedir and MLA Tali Jikke Tako attended as Chief Guest and Guest of Honour respectively. Tadir extended festival greetings to all the people of the state and lauding the rich culture and tradition of the community, urged the youths to preserve their age-old traditions. “Besides our tradition & culture one must have to preserve the local dialect especially involving the new generation,” he added, also expressing concern over the local priests and their practice of doing traditional rituals which are on verge of extinction. “We must encourage every activity that helps the society to preserve our culture and tradition,” said Tako, adding that festival shouldn’t be the only occasion to wear traditional attires or speak local dialects but should be encouraged in day-to-day life.
Among others, Chairman SDFCCCC Make Bui, Secretary SDFCC Tabu Luchi also spoke on the occasion. Besides festival rituals, mega dance, community feast and other events were held to mark the day.  CMO/ Newsdesk

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
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