Jammu: Seeking immediate evacuation of J&K labourers stranded outside, Mr Harsh Dev Singh chairman JKNPP and former minister lambasted the UT administration for its failure to provide requisite assistance to the said work force held up in other states amidst innumerable hardships. “While other states of the country have pressed special trains into service for eviction of labourers of their respective states, the J&K authorities seemed to be in a state of utter confusion with regard to the modus operandi to be followed for evacuation of its work force. The helplines given by authorities were either non functional or non responsive. The J&K authorities were barely issuing statements for their early eviction without rendering any kind of assistance to the distressed workers languishing on roads outside bereft of food and shelter. Everyday a new notification was being issued with new helpline numbers and new e-mail id details while asking the workers to fill up online forms. The J&K authorities failed to appreciate that majority of the work force outside did not have e-mail ids or internet facility and were therefore feeling betrayed and harassed”, asserted Singh.
While the union as well as various state govts had evacuated several stranded passengers through state sponsored aircrafts, the J&K govt had failed to arrange even trains for its stranded workers leading to frustration and despair amongst the affected work force and deep sense of outrage and disappointment amongst their family members desperately awaiting the arrival of their NOKs. He further regretted the harassment of J&K labourers who had travelled at their own expense from outside states but were stopped at Lakhanpur with none to address their concerns or to provide them medical aid or even food for days together. He said that govt’s assistance in arrangement of transport facilities to stranded workers was necessitated in view of exploitation and loot of these labourers by the outside transporters in the name of transportation. He said that provision of train and aircraft facility was necessary for labourers stranded in Tamil Nadu, AP, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP, West Bengal, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Haryana and even Delhi in view of long distance involved which was difficult to be covered by road in view of Covid restrictions as well.
