Srinagar
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Member of Parliament from Anantnag (retd) Justice Hasnain Masoodi on Saturday expressed anguish at the apathy and indifference shown by Jammu and Kashmir administration on the plight of labourers, tradesmen and students stranded in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and other parts of the Country.
Masoodi said that JK administration is perhaps unmindful of the fact that most of the labourers stuck in Hamirpur, Kangra, Bilaspur, Unna, Shimla, Solan and other places are not living in flats and apartments but in tents, forty to fifty people huddled together in each tent, without basic facilities like drinking water and proper sanitation.
He stated that while laborers because of lack of resources were compelled to live in tents in winter, though with much discomfort, it is now becoming increasingly unbearable and even impossible for them to live in tents in soaring temperatures. “The rented accommodation wherever in use in major cities, lack minimum facilities like electric fans necessary to beat the scorching summer heat. The guidelines of social distancing in such living conditions are also largely compromised, risking precious lives. The stranded laborers are not provided sufficient ration and in some cases ration is not supplied at all, forcing them to purchase it at exorbitant prices and even face starvation.”
Masoodi, while welcoming the efforts of Central government on bringing stranded students from Amritsar said, “Though much after the quarantine period, however the measure has brought much relief to their families and the stranded students as well.”
While expressing dismay over lack of a clear- cut plan to evacuate stranded students from Chandigarh, Delhi, Kota, Jodhpur, Agra, Aligarh, Indore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and other places and the students stuck outside the Country in Bangladesh and Kyrgyzstan, he said that most of the stranded students are in the age group of 18-24 and that because of non-availability of basic amenities and depressing uncertainty, the stranded students are immensely stressed and traumatized.
Masoodi has asked the administration to devise an action plan for evacuation and return of laborers, tradesmen and students stranded outside Jammu and Kashmir, at the earliest and demanded that the plan devised be executed under close supervision of a senior officer in the Government.
He has asked the administration to take a clue from mechanism employed by Gujarat and UP governments making use of hundreds of buses and coaches, to evacuate the pilgrims and students notwithstanding lockdown, from Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.
He has also demanded immediate appointment of nodal officers at Shimla, Chandigarh, Amritsar and Delhi, easily accessible to the stranded people, to organise relief and take steps to address their problems as the control rooms, helplines in place because of workload or otherwise have been mostly irresponsive to the ever increasing distress calls. He has also demanded that travel between Jammu and Srinagar be made hassle free and procedure for issuance of travel passes be made easier.
