Congress has questioned the failure of the government to provide free ration to the residents, as announced last month while expressing serious concern over the indifferent attitude of the authorities of JK UT administration towards the stranded people in different districts and regions within J and K besides those in other states or waiting at the kathua borders after completing their quarantine periods.
Questioning the government for delay in disbursement of the free supply of ration, to the people, as announced last month, even after more than three weeks of the lockdown, the party said the poor people who are without any earnings, finding difficult to purchase essential food items. The free ration should have been distributed immediately, although it’s quantity and items is very limited. Only five kg rice and one kg dal is not enough, so the government has delayed it and it’s is very meager assistance of the value of not more than Rs one hundred only per family. As a result of delay, large no of poor people are sleeping without full stomach food.
JKPCC Chief G A Mir has said the administration is in different to the hardships of stranded people, both within and outside UT and there is total arbitrary exercise of power as well Confusion at various levels. He said that those stranded within UT, are being allowed only on the sole discretion of authorities while those outside are holding protests and hunger strike over the lack of proper response of the authorities, even when they have completed the necessary quarantine periods. The government should have shifted such people on completion of the required period.
However, he lauded the Punjab government which made satisfactory arrangements as per various statements of the stranded people and conveyed gratitude the authorities of Punjab administration.
He regretted certain undesirable incidents with the stranded people by certain miscreants in Himachal and sought appropriate action against the culprits.
The party has said that the measures of the UT administration with the stranded people outside JK were quite inadequate causing lot of avoidable sufferings to the residents of J and K in other states. He regretted the unsympathetic attitude of the authorities towards their own people, who were looking for help from their UT administration. He said, UT administration should have appointed nodal officers for each state to help the stranded people each state, who could have identified the exact no of people in each state belonging to Jammu and Kashmir, in different categories like labourers, students and others.
Mir sought immediate disbursement of free ration to all poor people and more financial support to the poor strata of the society besides release of pending wages to different categories of poor workers working of casual, need based, temporary and other such categories of the workers and employees in different government and semi government institutions.
