Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 4: Panun Kashmir (PK) camp Units and PK Yuva representatives today expressed serious concern over deteriorating public health conditions in the camps. Senior PK leader, Bushan Lal Bhat at a meet the press programme here, said that the quality of drinking water had declined dangerously, resulting in an alarming rise in kidney failure, liver complications, and other serious health disorders among camp residents. “This is no longer a matter of neglect; this is a slow-moving public health catastrophe. The Government must intervene before irreversible damage is done,” he said.
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Bhat further pointed to the collapsing civic infrastructure, noting that leaking roofs, broken bathrooms, and unhygienic surroundings have reduced camp living conditions to a State of perpetual distress. He said the road from Kandoli Mata to NH-44 and internal camp roads lying unrepaired for years. On the issue of livelihoods, he criticised the prolonged delay in the allotment of shops to eligible families, remarking that such administrative indifference has only deepened economic insecurity among displaced households.
Nitin Dhar national convener PK Yuva asserted that the shrinking population of Kashmiri Hindus reflects the long-term consequences of displacement, trauma, and systemic neglect. “When births decline and deaths rise year after year, it is the clearest sign that a community is being pushed towards extinction. This should shake the conscience of the State,” he said.
Dhar pressed for immediate implementation of the enhanced cash assistance promised by the Prime Minister., He also drew attention to the acute shortage of teaching staff in GHSS institutions catering to camp residents,.
Describing the plight of PM Package employees pathetic, Dhar said they were being treated as hostages on supernumerary posts, a situation he termed as both unjust and demeaning, particularly for a genocide-affected population that was assured dignity and security through the employment package.
Vishva Ranjan Pandita stressed that the issues faced by the community cannot be seen in isolation from the historic injustice they have endured. Pandita reiterated PK’s long-standing demand for the enactment of the Genocide Prevention and Atrocities Bill proposed by his organization in 2020, and emphasised that the only viable long-term solution lies in the creation of a separate homeland in Kashmir, as articulated in the Margdarshan Resolution of 1991.
Others in the press conference were M.K.Dhar, Chand Ji, Dr. Archana Pandita, coordinator, PK Yuva and Sunita Bhat.
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