Demand for state-wise NRC, ILP in NE
SHILLONG/ GUWAHATI: The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) will launch an agitation against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill across the region from November 18.
The organisation made the announcement on Thursday following its executive council meeting in Guwahati.
In a statement issued here, it also demanded that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) be compiled state-wise and Inner Line Permit be introduced in all the states of the region.
“This (CAB) is a communal bill and we are not going to accept it. This bill aims to give legitimacy to illegal immigrants, under which the region has been suffering for long,” NESO Special Coordinator Lurinjyoti Gogoi said in a press conference in Guwahati.
The statement said NESO will submit a memorandum expressing its opposition to the CAB to the Prime Minister and Home minister through the governors of the respective NE states.
The executive council meeting also discussed the issues of proposed merger of NEEPCO with NHPC, move to privatise Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), National Education Policy (NEP), economy, employment, mega dams besides NESO general conference and elections etc.
On the NRC issue, the NESO said such exercises should be executed state-wise taking into consideration the modalities suitable to each.
“Although the central government has mooted the implementation of NRC on a national scale, yet the NESO is of the opinion that NRC-like exercises should be executed state-wise taking into consideration the modalities suitable to the conspicuous aspects of the states. NESO once again reiterates its demand for overall implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in all Northeastern states,” the statement said.
The NESO is a conglomeration of the All Assam Students’ Union, Twipra Students’ Federation, All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union, All Manipur Students’ Union, Khasi Students’ Union, Garo Students’ Union, Mizo Zirlai Pawl and the Naga Students’ Federation.
The NESO said certain sections of the NEP were ill-favoured towards the region and resented its emphasis on Hindi and belittling of the English language. It stressed on prioritising indigenous languages for the North East.
It has also sought more packages from the central government for the establishment of universities, medical, engineering, coaching (civil services) and management institutions due to the lack of educational institutions especially those imparting professional courses in the region.
The NESO will task itself with the setting up of coaching centres for professional courses, the statement said.
With regard to the presence of military and paramilitary forces within educational institutions in Manipur and elsewhere in the region that hampers the educational atmosphere, NESO has demanded their immediate vacation.
The umbrella student organisation of the North East also opposed the proposed merger of NEEPCO with NHPC and the government’s plan to sell out the NRL to private parties. In this context, separate memoranda will be sent to the Power and Petroleum ministries.
The NESO also demanded separate economic and employment policies for the region. With regards to central government sector located in the NE, the NESO asked for 100 per cent job reservation in the group C & D category for indigenous inhabitants.
A decision has also been taken that the next general conference and election of office bearers of the NESO will be hosted by Twipra Students’ Federation in Tripura tentatively in the last week of January. (With PTI inputs)