NEW DELHI: Harassment of people from the Northeast living in different parts of the country has been flagged by Home Minister Rajnath Singh as an area of concern and directed that their security must be ensured at any cost.
Hours after taking charge, Singh today directed Home Ministry officials to ensure security of the people from Northeast, particularly those living in metros, and said their harassment cannot be tolerated.
Following his order, the Home Ministry will soon issue an advisory to all states, where there is a sizeable number of people from the Northeast, to sensitise their police and take a serious note of any complaint of harassment, official sources said.
The Home Ministry will ask the states to ensure zero tolerance to any such harassment and take speedy steps upon receiving any complaint of atrocity on people from Northeast and deploy adequate security personnel for their protection.
The states will be asked to hold regular seminar, workshop to sensitize local people about the culture, customs and way of life of the people from the Northeast and respect it. The Home Minister was also briefed about the Left Wing Extremism, which is now considered to be the biggest security challenge for the country, and the areas where the menace is acute and how to plug them.
The Ministry officials briefed Singh about the steps being undertaken to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh and conveyed to him that the process is going on smoothly and Telangana will come into existence as per schedule on June 2.
The Home Minister was briefed on activities of various terror outfits, situation in Jammu and Kashmir and northeastern states and how to improve them.
Functioning of paramilitary organisations also came up for discussion and officials told him where the eight lakh personnel of the right paramilitary organisations are currently being deployed.
Singh was briefed about coastal security, activities in Union Territories and law and order situation in Delhi during the three-hour long meeting.