Indians from the northeast region have long been victims of racial and regional prejudice.
Recently, an Assamese woman’s online job application at a government-run organisation was rejected multiple times due to her surname ‘Chutia’.
Alleging discrimination, Priyanka Chutia, from Assam’s Gogamukh, took to Facebook to talk about it.
The post which has now been deleted says that Priyanka couldn’t file her job application for National Seed Corporation Limited (NSCL) despite several attempts. The online job registration portal asked her to use “proper naming” words, every time.
She wrote:
And the reason is nothing but my Surname. I feel really sad and frustrated at times explaining people that I am not using slang but it’s a community where I belong.
Further describing the challenges faced by her community, she wrote that this is not the first time this has happened with them and it’s time they need to make themselves recognisable nationally.
Speaking to The News Mill, she said that she had no intention of filing any complaint against the organisation, rather she wanted to make people aware.
Priyanka apparently also mailed the help desk of NSCL regarding her concern, after which her registration was accepted. The News Mill also reached out to the technical help desk at NSCL and they were informed that it was a technical flaw that has now been corrected.
Netizens were shocked to see kind of error coming from a government organisaton.
While Priyanka has spoken up about the issue, we are sure there may be several students from her community who face similar discrimination.