Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 25: Resentment is brewing among the Kashmiri migrants against the failure of Government in releasing the ration for last three months to them.
The migrants putting up in camps and non camp areas at Jammu out of whom maximum are dependent on cash relief were hopeful that the ration will be released on the eve of Diwali festival but till date no supply has been sent to the depots by the concerned Department despite the repeated pleas by the various migrant organizations to the authorities in this regard.
It is not that migrants were deprived of the ration of last three months i.e July, August and September but earlier too they were not given the ration for the month of February, March and April 2016, said Sunil Pandita a representative of relief holders of Jagti. He said even after the announcement by the Government that cash will be paid in lieu of ration for these three months the same was not also paid till date which is a cause of concern.
The migrants are left with no alternative but to come to streets and protest as we have been deprived of ration even on the occasion of holy festival of Diwali, said Shadi Lal Pandita, president JTC. If the ration will not be released within two days we will be forced to take extreme step, he added.
The Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department should have no hesitation in releasing ration for migrants as the same is debited to security related expenses and the Government of India reimburses this amount to the State, said Desh Rattan president AMCCC. On the one hand the State Government gets money from Centre for providing ration to migrants and on the other it makes migrants to suffer for the same for months together. Moreover in most cases the ration is not supplied at all to the migrants while the money is being paid by the Centre, he added.
Terming it a total callousness of the Government towards the hapless migrants, Joint Front Jagti Migrants representative Roshan Lal Raina said that migrants problems compounded during the present Government. He said not only they have been deprived of ration for months together but the package employees were also deprived of their salaries for last three months. He said among them the female employees who are on sanctioned maternity leave too have not been paid the salary for last three months showing the discriminatory attitude of the Government towards the migrants.
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