Noises
are made inside the parliament, state assemblies and on the television screens
over the National Register of Citizen’s final draft which has excluded nearly
40 lakh people from the citizens’ list in Assam. But before one could assess
merit or demerit of the identification process, it will be pertinent to know
the man behind mammoth exercise—Prateek Hajela, the state coordinator of the
NRC. A 1995 batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre with B Tech in
Electronics from IIT-Delhi, Hajela has many feathers in his cap. In
December 2014, 81 people, including 26 women and 18 infants were killed when
riots broke out between Bodo and Adivasi in Assam’s Sonitpur, Kokrajhar,
Chirang and Udalguri districts. Hajela, as Commissioner and Secretary
(Political and Home) in the state, ensured that the violence was put down
immediately. Not only did he bring the situation under control in all these
four restive districts, he also ensured that victims were sheltered comfortably
in relief camps, spread across the state. He
was the senior health official in Assam when Bodo-Muslim conflict had led to
the killing of 73 people in July 2012 in the state. Around 400,000 people had
fled their homes after the incident in Kokrajhar district. They had taken
shelter in 270 relief camps, where health and hygiene were a major issue.
Diarrohea, malaria and scabies had hit the inmates of the relief camps. Given
the gravity of the situation, the 48-year-old IAS officer requested the state
government for the deployment of over 100 doctors in the relief camps. He
received transparency award from the state Chief Minister for his role in the
fair recruitment of over 5,000 police constables in Assam.
But
hardly such performances brought him under direct public gaze as much as his
role as a coordinator of the NRC. Though he says that the draft is not final
and that people will be given chances to register their citizenship claims
before the final publication of the NRC report, he admits that the
identification process has not been easy. Yet it is the demand of duty, he
feels he will have to ensure that everything remains fair and that no one
suffers the ignominy of injustice.
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Who is Prateek Hajela?
By IndianMandarins - 2018-07-30 13:05:24
Noises
are made inside the parliament, state assemblies and on the television screens
over the National Register of Citizen’s final draft which has excluded nearly
40 lakh people from the citizens’ list in Assam. But before one could assess
merit or demerit of the identification process, it will be pertinent to know
the man behind mammoth exercise—Prateek Hajela, the state coordinator of the
NRC. A 1995 batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre with B Tech in
Electronics from IIT-Delhi, Hajela has many feathers in his cap.
In December 2014, 81 people, including 26 women and 18 infants were killed when riots broke out between Bodo and Adivasi in Assam’s Sonitpur, Kokrajhar, Chirang and Udalguri districts. Hajela, as Commissioner and Secretary (Political and Home) in the state, ensured that the violence was put down immediately. Not only did he bring the situation under control in all these four restive districts, he also ensured that victims were sheltered comfortably in relief camps, spread across the state.
He was the senior health official in Assam when Bodo-Muslim conflict had led to the killing of 73 people in July 2012 in the state. Around 400,000 people had fled their homes after the incident in Kokrajhar district. They had taken shelter in 270 relief camps, where health and hygiene were a major issue. Diarrohea, malaria and scabies had hit the inmates of the relief camps. Given the gravity of the situation, the 48-year-old IAS officer requested the state government for the deployment of over 100 doctors in the relief camps. He received transparency award from the state Chief Minister for his role in the fair recruitment of over 5,000 police constables in Assam.
But hardly such performances brought him under direct public gaze as much as his role as a coordinator of the NRC. Though he says that the draft is not final and that people will be given chances to register their citizenship claims before the final publication of the NRC report, he admits that the identification process has not been easy. Yet it is the demand of duty, he feels he will have to ensure that everything remains fair and that no one suffers the ignominy of injustice.
