Stop discrimination against northeastern region, say students
April 23rd, 2011 - 12:33 pm ICT by ANI
Guwahati, Apr 23 (ANI): Citing inaction of the central government on the investigation into the helicopter crash in Tawang, members of the North East Students Organisation (NESO) urged government to stop discrimination against the region.
Addressing reporters, Chairman of NESO Sammujal Bhattacharya said the region was neglected by New Delhi despite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh representing one of the states of the region.
Bhattacharya also questioned the reasons for the regular use of Pawan Hans helicopters in northeast region even after their quality was doubted.
“Most shocking and surprising, till now the government of India is keeping mum. The DGCA, which is giving the licence to operate, they are keeping mum. Why? Why this discriminatory attitude towards the people of Assam and northeast. The officials of the Pawan Hans, they should be immediately arrested,” he said.
Secretary General of NESO Gumjum Haider also highlighted the inadequate provisions of airports and helipads in the region.
“Northeast has been immensely neglected. There is not even one proper Airport in Arunachal Pradesh, neither is there any landing air force ground. Helipads are in a dilapidated condition. Also the fire safety devices aren’t effective enough at the helipads and therefore precautionary measures need to be taken for the future,” said Haider.
Members of NESO have decided to carry a sit in strike on Monday to protest against the central government’s discriminatory attitude towards the region.
The ill fated chopper’s scheduled flight to Seppa was cancelled on Monday due to technical problem, and its maintenance taken up before it flew to Jorhat on a test flight and for refueling.
The next day, it left Guwahati with 18 passengers (2 minors) and five crewmembers for Tawang, and was scheduled to halt there for the night and fly back to Guwahati on Wednesday morning. But it crashed; killing 17 while 6 rescued from the burning chopper by onlookers.The Pawan Hans Helicopter Services Limited (PHHL) has been operating five helicopters across Arunachal, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura and daily Guwahati-Tawang services for the past nine years. (ANI)
- Arunachal MP welcomes setting up of committee to probe Tawang crash - Apr 24, 2011
- Arunachal Pradesh CM on board Pawan Hans chopper goes missing - Apr 30, 2011
- Arunachal MP demands new copter on Guwahati-Tawang route - Apr 29, 2011
- 17 killed in Arunachal chopper crash in (Second Lead) - Apr 19, 2011
- 17 die in Arunachal chopper crash (Third Lead) - Apr 19, 2011
- Arunachal MP puts Pawan Hans in dock, blames poor upkeep for crash - Apr 21, 2011
- Arunachal chief minister's chopper was new: Pawan Hans - May 01, 2011
- Pawan Hans to deploy two new choppers for Arunachal Pradesh - Apr 29, 2011
- Two-member team starts probe into chopper crash - Apr 20, 2011
- Arunachal Pradesh CM Khandu safe, chopper lands at Daporijo - Apr 30, 2011
- Helicopter with 23 aboard crashes in Arunachal Pradesh (Lead) - Apr 19, 2011
- Arunachal Pradesh CM Khandu safe, chopper lands safely in Bhutan - Apr 30, 2011
- Mystery over Arunachal Pradesh CM Khandu's whereabouts deepen - Apr 30, 2011
- Sanjoy takes on civil aviation authorities over Tawang chopper crash - Apr 22, 2011
- Chopper with Arunachal chief minister still missing (Third Lead) - Apr 30, 2011
Tags: bhattacharya, dgca, dilapidated condition, east students, fire safety devices, government of india, haider, helicopter crash, helipads, inadequate provisions, manmohan, manmohan singh, neso, northeastern region, pawan hans helicopters, precautionary measures, prime minister manmohan, prime minister manmohan singh, seppa, test flight