A lot of emphasis is being given to problems faced by the north-eastern people residing in different cities across the country. Recently, the Members of Parliament from the north-eastern states interacted with students, civil society representatives and other people and took stock of their problems.
Under the theme of 'Deliberation on Achieving Actionable outcomes on various issues affecting north-east people living in major cities across the country', the Members of Parliament, activists, students and other professionals from the community came together for an interactive session in the national capital recently.
The meet was organized by the Northeast MPs Forum in association with the Northeast India Welfare society in an effort to apprise the sitting Members of Parliament from the community of the various problems faced by the north-east people in different areas.
The event was attended by Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and other Members of Parliament from the north-eastern states.
"As far as the coming together of the north-east community is concerned, I think this is one of the first initiatives taken by the Northeast MPs Forum. It is a very positive thing because we hardly get time to come together. Here, we have people from all walks of life - professionals, bureaucrats, ministers, think-tanks. This has brought all of us together and this should continue and not just end today," said Alana Golmei, General Secretary, North East Support Centre and Helpline.
IGNOU's Assistant Professor Zuchamo Yanthan, who was also present on the occasion, said this is a very positive step to get to know each other.
"It is very important because for a very long time, there was a gap between the Members of Parliament and the intellectuals and people living in Delhi. So, this is a very positive step to get to know each other. Together, we can build a better society, a better north-east society," Yanthan said.
Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police, Robin Hibu, made an elaborate presentation on crimes against north-eastern people in different cities and highlighted the various steps being taken by the police to provide better security.
A detailed discussion on the implementation of the recommendations of the Bezbaruah Committee formed last year to look into the issues of north-east people in the country also took place.
Rijiju assured the gathering that the recommendations have been accepted and are in the process of being implemented.
"The Bezbaruah Committee has recommended a long list of dos and don't for the Government of India and when this committee report was accepted by myself, then within a short period of time I have ensured that the entire recommendations in that report was accepted," said Rijiju.
"When I called a second meeting of the officials, I declared that all the points made in the committee's recommendations are accepted 100 percent. The onus of implementing it comes on the Home Ministry," he added.
Simanta G Sharma, Assam Association, Bangalore, said the Bezbaruah Committee covers a very wide spectrum.
"It covers everything you need, including education, tradition, culture, and security. Our point is that if that gets implemented in Bangalore at the earliest and the local administration complies, lot of issues will be solved. Already there are talks of a north-east hostel under the Bangalore University which is coming up. The land has already been allotted and this will be a hostel exclusively for Northeast people. So, things are happening," he added.
There was also a discussion on the memorandum submitted by Northeast MPs Forum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for sustainable, inclusive and holistic development of the north-east.
An open interaction session allowed the participants to engage directly with the leaders and put forward their concerns and questions on core issues to them.
"This initiative on the part of the Northeast MPs and our Lok Sabha MP P A Sangma is definitely welcome. There are some issues that students and working people face on a daily basis, which the MPs are not always aware of. This forum actually provides a platform of open interaction and the question and answer session was welcome because the MPs were very forthcoming," said Wanshai Saynret, Assistant Professor, Delhi University.
A large number of people from the north-east region come to Delhi and other metro cities every year for better education and career opportunities. Such platforms allow the people to apprise their leaders of the various problems that they face and facilitate an exchange of ideas for addressing important issues of concern.
