Two letters sent via email from Meghalaya raise urgent concerns about civil service coaching delays and the status of the Pnar language. One writer praises the MATI-AIPETC civil services coaching centre at Mawdiangdiang and the state’s newly launched CM‑INSPIRE scheme for offering tuition, accommodation and financial support to aspirants, but warns that a late start to the academic year risks undermining candidates’ chances ahead of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary exam on May 24, 2026. The other, from Dr. Omarlin Kyndiah, challenges the Khasi Authors’ Society’s position on Pnar, arguing the variety should not be treated merely as a dialect of Khasi.
The first letter notes that MATI’s classes for the 2025–26 cycle began on October 27, 2025, leaving roughly seven months until the May 24, 2026 prelims. The writer says that compressed instruction makes it nearly impossible to cover the extensive UPSC syllabus-Politics, History, Geography, languages, CSAT, optionals, science and technology-and that technical subjects such as economics and political theory require deeper, unhurried study. The letter also highlights broader barriers in Meghalaya, including limited educational resources and strained finances, and points out that the state has not produced a native IAS officer from the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo communities in 13 years. While commending MATI’s facilities-libraries, computers, accommodation-and the CM‑INSPIRE financial aid for candidates who clear prelims and mains, the writer urges the Meghalaya government and MATI to align admissions with the UPSC calendar and begin coaching earlier, ideally by June and no later than August, to allow adequate foundational and mains preparation and to reduce student burnout.
Dr. Kyndiah’s letter calls for a historically informed reassessment of Pnar’s status following a clarification by the Khasi Authors’ Society. He recalls that Standard Khasi grew out of selective missionary-era codification that favoured the Sohra dialect as a written standard, and argues this process should not delegitimise other speech forms. Citing early classifications by Grierson and later linguistic work by Anne Daladier and Hiram Ring, the letter points to differences in phonetics, morphology and typology and notes low mutual intelligibility between Pnar and Standard Khasi as evidence that they function as distinct languages. Lexico-statistical studies place Pnar, War, Standard Khasi and Lyngngam within the Austro‑Asiatic family, but shared ancestry, the writer says, does not imply uniformity.
Dr. Kyndiah warns that Pnar remains vulnerable due to limited standardisation and minimal use in formal education, a situation he says heightens the risk of marginalisation under frameworks identified by UNESCO for endangered languages. He urges language policymakers and the Khasi Authors’ Society to recognise distinct historical and cultural lineages-citing the 1975 formation of Ka Sein I Ktien Wei Thoh Jaintia and ongoing script efforts-and to ensure constitutional guarantees under Articles 29 and 350A translate into practical support. Quoting linguist Raven I. McDavid Jr., he adds that “true inclusion begins when dominant frameworks recognise all linguistic forms as legitimate expressions shaped by history and society,” and calls for policies that preserve Meghalaya’s linguistic plurality rather than reduce it.
Original Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2026/05/01/why-mati-must-accelerate-upsc-coaching-admissions/
Category: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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Publish Date: 2026-05-01 03:48:00
