The plight of the people from Northeast India facing racial discrimination amid COVID pandemic, has moved former bureaucrat M.P.Bezbaruah to write to DoNER and NEC expressing concern about such incidents.
Bezbaruah, who retired as a Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, said that “such hatred can be poisonous for the nation and has to be eliminated by firm action to punish the guilty quickly”.
Bezbaruah, is currently the Permanent Representative (Hon.), UN-WTO.
He urged the Ministry of DoNER to ensure safety of such people. He says the people from Northeast face many problems in metropolitan cities and these problems have been aggravated in the lockdown.
He said such people have difficulty getting essential commodities, and due to paucity of cash, fear eviction for their inability to pay rent.
Baruah says that the NGO Helping Hands has been providing succour to the affected people, but with their limited capacity, and with the imminent extension of lockdown, problems will only multiply.
To tackle the situation, he has requested the Ministry of DoNER to set up a task force to devise solutions and do constant monitoring. He said the task force should also enlist the support of the Northeast Cell of Delhi Police.
Bezbaruah said “NGOs like Helping Hands may be involved in both planning and implementation, and may be assigned resources as per DoNER’s overall scheme”.
Bezbaruah said that the State Bhawans in the capital should be made first contact points, and should organize assistance to the needy”.
