‘Saima Noor was brought to Kashmir as child labour, left abandoned by owners after she faces health issues in 2010’
Srinagar, Dec 16: Among dozens of people at Police headquarters in Srinagar, who were waiting to meet the Jammu and Kashmir Police Chief R R Swain to get their grievances resolved, was a 30-year-old Saima Noor, who is originally from Bangalore and grew up in Kashmir.
Well-chair bound Saima is facing the brunt of child labouring as according to her; she was brought to Kashmir as a child labour in her childhood and kept working as a maid at Shalimar resident’s home until 2010 since 1994.
Narrating her ordeal to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Saima faced health issues in the year 2010, but the family where she worked didn’t pay any heed to her health and left her abandoned.
“Since then, I am moving from pillar to post and at present I am living at the side room of Ward number 06 at SMHS hospital, which was directed by the then Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar,” she said, adding that her health is deterioration as she had to undergo limb replacement surgery as well.
“I have lost all my hopes as even the monthly financial assistance I was getting has been stopped for unknown reasons since the past nearly one year,” she said, adding that as she was brought to Kashmir in her childhood, she didn’t know anything about her parents, family in Bangalore.
“I am fond of painting and other related things, but that is not sufficient to make my own way and live a happy life. I have come here with a hope that I would get some help to survive at least,” she said, adding that she has been trying to meet the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar, Muhammad Aijaz Asad since the last ten months, but she is not being allowed to meet him.
Nonetheless, after waiting for more than an hour, she was asked to leave by the officials at PHQ here as according to her they claimed that the cases of financial help couldn’t be heard at the public grievance programme.
Pertinently, the fourth Public grievance redressal campo was held today in Jammu & Kashmir and only second in Srinagar where a huge rush of people was witnessed—(KNO)
