The difficulties faced by Northeast students living in other parts of the country have generated the idea of having proper hostels for these students in the rest of the country so that they can live together in peace and safety.

Realising the need of the hour, the North Eastern Council (NEC), the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the North Eastern  Region comprising of the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura,  has announced that it will construct a hostel exclusively for students of North East in Bangalore soon.
The NEC secretary, Uttam K Sangma said, “The council had mooted the idea of having such a hostel at Bangalore University way back in 2008. But with recent incidence of students’ plight in Karnataka and other neighbouring states, the NEC took up the proposal with urgency and the university’s senate has given its approval.”

Sangma said that not only in Bangalore, the NEC, in fact, was exploring the possibility of setting up similar exclusive hostels for Northeast students in Mumbai, Pune and Mysore.

The different hostels and other projects in Metros that are being undertaken in metro cities are:

*Rajiv Gandhi Girls’ Hostel in Delhi with 500 seats: The Ministry of Tribal  Affairs, jointly with the Ministry of DONER/NEC, have initiated the works  for construction of a 500-seat girls’ hostel in Delhi University for girl students from the NER and other tribal girl students studying in Delhi University.

Total cost of the project amounting to Rs. 23.33 crores is being shared between the NEC and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs on 60:40 basis. The NEC is spending an amount of 13.998 crore towards the project. The whole amount of NEC’s shares of Rs 13.998 crore (60%) is released and it is believed that the hostel will be functional shortly.

*Partial Support for Construction of Working Women’s Hostel in New Delhi: A 501-seat Working Women’s Hostel was constructed at Jasola, Near Apollo Hospital Delhi in association with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD). Accommodation will be provided for the working women and others hailing from North Eastern States. Total cost of the project is Rs.17.44 crore, wherein the NEC’s share is 25%. The hostel was inaugurated by Krishna Tirat, Minister of MWCD and Paban Singh Ghatowar, Minister of DONER on August 20, 2011. The hostel is being used now.

*A 70-seat North Eastern Students’ House for Women, Banda Bahadur Marg, opposite Indira Vihar, Delhi-9 was constructed. The state-wise allocation of seats is – Arunachal Pradesh-8, Assam-21, Manipur-8, Meghalaya-8, Mizoram-8, Nagalang-8 and Tripura-9.

*A Northeast Cultural Centre is set up in CCRT, Dwarka, New Delhi. Two rooms for the same are given by CCRT and furnishing is completed. The centre’s  main objective is to (i) bring about cultural integrity and facilitate the expansion of awareness about the rich and diverse cultural heritage and tradition as well as modern expression of creativity  of the Northeastern States, (ii) provide a platform for youth from the Northeastern States and other States of India to interact and share creative ideas and other cultural forms, (iii)provide content relating to dissemination of the cultural of the Northeastern States for training of teachers in CCRT. The centre was inaugurated by the Union Minister for Cultural and the Minister for DONER.

*Construction of 500-seat Women’s Hostel in South Campus in Delhi University for students from the Northeastern Region is under consideration. Secretary, NEC, Ministry of DONER, Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment are working together towards this.  Request  has been sent in black and white to the Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University for identification of land for construction of a hostel building and assess the requirements and modalities.

All these projects are expected to provide succor in the form of safety, security and homes away from home for the students from the North East India studying in metro cities.