Action Taken for the Protection of Northeastern Youths in Delhi

NEWS

In the context of recent incidents of physical violence reported in Delhi against students/youth hailing from North Eastern (NE) States, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) took up the matter with Ministry of Home Affairs and Delhi Police to ascertain the steps taken by them to protect the safety and security of North Eastern (NE) students in Delhi. The Commissioner of Delhi Police on 15.10.2009 has issued a standing order containing guidelines and steps to be taken for tackling the problem faced by students and others from NE States in Delhi which include:-

• A ‘Zero Tolerance Policy’ in respect of crime against women, including those hailing from NE States.
• Where necessary, action under law/ preventive action under Cr. PC be initiated.
• Quick action to be taken by the police to restore confidence in the victim and the community.

Regular patrolling by Police in all police stations in the North and North west and south Delhi Districts, including police stations at Model town, Mukharjee Nagar, Civil Line, Roop Nagar, Timarpur, Kotla, Satya Niketan, Dhaula Kuan etc, covering hostels and pockets in residential colonies where NE Students live in large numbers .

Beat constables in the above mentioned areas to establish close interaction with community leaders of NE Region. SHOs must have regular bimonthly meetings with community leaders.

Members from the NE community to be co-opted in Thana level committees to ensure redressal of grievances.

Nodal officers, i.e. DCP/North, DCP/ East and DCP/ South to liaise with NE Resident Commissioners (RC) and have regular interactions with resident welfare association (RWAs), student groups/ residents.

Women from NE to call the Police Helpline 1090, 1091 and 100 Number in case of need.

A meeting under the Chairmanship of Shri P.K. Pattanaik, Joint Secretary, Ministry of DoNER was held with the Resident Commissioners (RC) of North Eastern States on 27th October 2009. In the meeting the Resident Commissioners were informed of aforesaid guidelines issued by Delhi Police and were provided a copy thereof for their use as reference material. The Resident Commissioners were advised to:-

Disseminate the instructions issued by Delhi Police to community members through Associations with a view to create a sense of confidence among them in an appropriate manner by bringing out appropriate advertisements in NE and National News Papers.

Maintain a directory containing the names, contact numbers and addresses of people from NE States in Delhi.

Sensitize the students/youth from NE States before they leave their respective state about the social environment, cultural differences and prevailing situation in Delhi and follow a list of Do’s and don’ts like avoiding to be at public places during late hours, ensuring moving in groups rather than alone etc.

Arrange talk shows, panel discussions on local TV channel/ media to create sense of awareness in the people about the situation in Delhi.

RCs will get in touch with people hailing from their respective states through the Organisations/Associations and identify their grievances and facilitate them to take up their problems with MHA, Delhi Police at appropriate levels for redressel. It was noted that North Eastern Council, Ministry of DoNER and Ministry of Tribal Affairs are jointly constructing a hostel for the NE girls in Delhi University as one of the steps to mitigate their accommodation problem.

The Secretary, Ministry of DoNER, Ms. Jayati Chandra vide her D.O. letter dated 6th November 2009 has also requested the Chief Secretaries of the North Eastern States requesting them to direct the RC of the respective state in Delhi to:-

Collect details of names, contact No. and address in Delhi of people from the NE State and maintain a directory thereof. To obtain these details if he has to issue advertisements in Delhi News Paper, Ministry of DoNER will bear the expenses.

Have continuous interface with the people/students from the respective state.

Get in touch with the Associations/Organisations of the NE students and organise a get together in the Bhawan and identify their grievances and facilitate them to take up their problems with MHA and Delhi Police at appropriate level for redressal.

Advise the people/students from the NE State to follow the Do’s and Don’ts like avoiding to be at public places during late hours, ensuring moving in groups rather than alone, increase interaction with other (student) bodies in their respective schools/colleges/places of work etc. and in case of emergency make use of Delhi Police helpline No. 1090, 1091, and 100 and also contact the office of the RC in Delhi. The RC may set up a 24 hour helpline for this purpose and give wide publicity about the helpline.

To organise workshops and sensitise the students/youth from the NE State about the social environment, cultural differences and the prevailing situation in Delhi, as they have the requisite infrastructure i.e. auditorium etc. to arrange such activities. The Ministry of DONER is open to the idea of bearing some part of expenditure which may be incurred.

The instructions issued by Delhi Police, a copy of which has already been made available to the RC, could be disseminated to community members through the associations with a view to instil confidence among them in an appropriate manner by the RC by bringing out appropriate advertisements national newspapers.

A Cell headed by Joint Secretary, Ministry of DoNER and consisting of the RCs of the eight NE States, a Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary of Ministry of DoNER has been set up in the ministry to review the action taken in this regard.

Courtesy: Press Information Bureau (November 13, 2009)

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