Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 19: NPP chairman and former minister Harsh Dev Singh accused the Govt of criminal negligence in addressing even the basic problems of the people inhabiting such areas and alleged that several areas of Ramnagar are facing acute shortage of ration.
After concluding his extensive visit to Kulwanta block of Ramnagar, Singh said that people were seething with rage not only against the erstwhile BJP-PDP Govt but were also accusing the Governor’s administration of depriving them of their legitimate dues in terms of development with hardly any signs of developmental activity discernible in such remote areas, the local administration too seemed to have turned a blind eye towards the burning problems faced by the people.
In Sia Meri, Chattraira and Kancha villages, the people were deprived of ration for the last 4-5 months on the bizarre plea that the road was blocked due to landslides and the manual carriage of ration involved high costs for which the Deptt did not have any provision. Not only were the people deprived of ration facility but several poor and deserving families had been arbitrarily removed from the BPL category by the CAPD Deptt which had created huge resentment in the area.
He sought high level enquiry into the ration scam under the jurisdiction of TSO Majouri against whom repeated complaints of pilferage and ration theft had been disregarded in the past. Singh regretted the non- payment of claims of 80% of rural populace under IHHL scheme for construction of individual house hold latrines under the Swachh Bharat Mission. He strongly condemned the Rural Development Deptt for failing to clear the wages and work done liabilities of job card holders and poor labourers under MGNREGA which were pending in almost all the villages for the last 2-3 years.
He expressed concern over acute staff shortage in various remote area schools from where the teachers had been attached in cities and towns on extraneous considerations. Similar, was the fate of wealth institutions with none to address the most pressing issues of the aggrieved rural populace, he said.
He further accused the PMGSY deptt of conferring with and allowing a private company to dig up the newly constructed Lehar-Joffer road for laying Jio network by using heavy machinery which had completely damaged the road and resulted to public outrage.
Follow our WhatsApp channel