Rahul meets Shinde, discusses issues of Northeastern people

New Delhi, Feb 6:

today held consultations with Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and MPs from North East to discuss steps to end harassment of people from the region even as the government set up a committee to suggest remedial measures to address their concerns.

AICC general secretary in-charge for North Eastern states Luizinho Faleiro, who led the delegation to Gandhi, said the Congress Vice President wanted not only to ensure justice in the case of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Taniam, but also address the issue of discrimination of people from the Northeast.

The meeting comes in the backdrop of outrage over the death of 19-year-old Taniam after being allegedly beaten by some shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar here. Faleiro said the Ministry of Home Affairs has set up of a six-member committee, headed by retired IAS officer M B Bezbaruah, which will submit a report within two months after examining the causes behind the attacks/violence and discrimination against the people from the Northeast.

The committee headed by Bezabaruah, who is also a member of North-Eastern Council, has the Deputy Secretary in Ministry of Home Affairs S Saha as Member Secretary and retired IAS officers H W T Syeim, Allen Temshi Jamir, Tape Bagra and P Bharat Singh as members.

Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police, Robin Hibu, who hails from that region, will also be in the team of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which will assist the committee. The Chairman of the Committee shall co-opt members, one each from the other Northeastern states like Tripura, Mizoram and Sikkim as well as one lay member.

"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," an order issued yesterday by Deputy Secretary of MHA's Northeast Division, Ajay Kanoujia said.

PTI