Govt sets up panel to address concerns of Northeastern people

A six-member committee, headed by former IAS officer M P Bezbaruah, has been set up by the government to suggest remedial measures to address concerns of people from the Northeast following outrage over the death in Delhi of a 19-year-old student from Arunachal Pradesh.

Former IAS officers H W T Syeim, Allen Temshi Jamir, Tape Bagra and P Bharat Singh will be members of the committee which will have Deputy Secretary in Ministry of Home Affairs S Saha as Member Secretary, AICC general secretary in-charge for North Eastern states Luizinho Faleiro said today.

The panel, led by Bezbaruah, who is also a member of North-Eastern Council, will submit a report within two months after examining the causes behind the attacks/violence and complaints of discrimination against the people from the Northeast, Faleiro, who led a delegation of MPs from the region to meet Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, told reporters here.

The MPs also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who asked them to place their views before the committee constituted to address the grievances. The meeting at Gandhi's residence was attended by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. It discussed steps to end harassment of people from the region.

The meetings comes in the backdrop of the outrage over the death of Nido Taniam, son of an MLA, after being allegedly beaten by some shopkeepers in south Delhi's Lajpat Nagar. Faleiro said the Congress Vice President wanted not only to ensure justice in Taniam's case but also address the issue of discrimination of people from the Northeast.

Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police, Robin Hibu, who hails from that region, has also been asked to assist the panel. The Chairman of the committee shall co-opt members, one each from the other Northeastern states like Tripura, Mizoram and Sikkim.

"It has been decided to constitute a committee to look into various kinds of concerns of the persons hailing from the Northeast, who are living in different parts of the country, especially metropolitan areas, and suggest suitable remedial measures, which could be taken by the government," said an order issued yesterday by Deputy Secretary of MHA's Northeast Division Ajay Kanoujia.