MANGALURU: Nagaland governor P B Acharya exhorted Koragas , the local tribal community, to become entrepreneurs, give up the diffidence regarding their subjugated past and strive to become an integral part of growing India. The key in doing so is to strengthen self, strengthen society and thereby strengthen the nation, he said adding these acts are complementary and supplementary to each other. The community should make use of facilities of the government, he added.Addressing Koraga families at their community hall adjacent to Koragajja Kshetra at Urwa here on Wednesday, the governor who announced a personal grant of Rs 1 lakh to the community for education of their children, advised them to use the Kshetra as a rallying point for their social upliftment.“Do not merely come to the Kshetra to pray, but use it as a focal point to plan various activities that will help further strengthen the status of the community in society,” he said.Referring to the grant, Acharya advised Rajesh Urwa, president of the Kshetra, to use the interest accrued from keeping it in fixed deposit to fund the educational needs of two students, and to promote sports or cultural talent in two others. Use the interest portion to further the education and social needs of the bright youths of the community and give them an opportunity for self-empowerment, he said noting that hard work will certainly bring them rewards.Acharya also reminded the community that poverty the community has seen is neither a curse nor a disease. A person’s birth in a particular community or religion is destiny. The challenge lies in overcoming the same while retaining one’s identity within the community, he said, reminding the gathering that Nagaland, a state with 20 lakh population has 18 different tribes, who while retaining their individual identities, live as one large society.

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