Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Senior Leader, Former Minister Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan on Wednesday expressed concern over the troubles faced by stranded J&K residents across the country, asking the government to take immediate measures to facilitate their return.
While drawing attention of the government to plight of laborers from Kupwara, Handwara stranded in Punjab, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and other states, Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan said, “The stranded laborers are running out of money as the wages they had earned have got consumed by the extended stay, leaving them without sufficient funds to organize travel to rejoin their families. The difficulties faced by students stranded at Amritsar, Delhi, Bangalore, Indore, Chennai, Jaisalmir, Jodhpur and other places are beyond description. In addition to that the stranded are facing a hard time to observe the holy month of Ramzan.”
Expressing his anguish over absence of a coordinated effort to organize shelter, ration and eatables for the stranded, Chaudhary said the stranded have been left to fend for themselves in the face of acute crisis. The soaring temperatures in the plains have added to the miseries of stranded, he said while seeking an effective evacuation plan for them.
“The J&K administration should think towards roping in fleet of SRTC buses, to facilitate return of all those stranded at different places in northern India, following the mechanism reportedly employed by various other state governments across the country. The government should also think towards airlifting them. Meantime all the necessary edibles and sanitary kits should be made available to them. The JK administration should flag the problems faced by these laborers and students with the respective state governments,” he said.
