MP Bezbaruah quits NEC

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, May 11: Former bureaucrat MP Bezbaruah has resigned as a member of the North Eastern Council (NEC) - the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the region – following suspected differences with the Central government.

The former bureaucrat, who headed the Bezbaruah Committee that looked into the issues concerning people of Northeast region living in other parts of the country, confirmed that he has tendered his resigtion.

“Yes I have put in my papers. I am awaiting its acceptance by the government,” he told The Sentinel.

Asked about the reasons for his decision, Bezbaruah said, “Though I was not pressurized or told anything, there were indications that the Centre would like to have its own team. I did not want to stand in the way as I work on high moral principles.”

Though he did not divulge much, Bezbaruah’s words give enough indications about a face-off with the powers-be in New Delhi.

MP Bezbaruah, a 1964 batch IAS officer, headed the Bezbaruah Committee set up in the wake of the killing of Aruchal Pradesh youth Nido Tania in Delhi in 2014.

He submitted a 82-page report to the Union Home ministry. The report painted a grim picture of the ture and extent of discrimition and attacks against people from the Northeast in other parts of the country. However, the provisions of the report still remain far from being implemented.

Bezbaruah, who served in several places including Mizoram and Assam, said the Central government needs to pay heed to the issues of proper coordition, infrastructure in some of the remotest parts of the Northeast and exploration of opportunities for trade through this region.

Bezbaruah, who had served as the Union Tourism Secretary during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, is also a permanent honorary representative of the United tions World Tourism Organisation.