Jammu, May 30: National Panthers Party (NPP) president and former minister Harsh Dev Singh has expressed concern over the plight of Talwana migrants who he said are living in wretched conditions in Reasi devoid of basic amenities. Singh called on the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (RRC) and discussed the multifarious issues faced by the people.
Leading a delegation of migrants, Singh, according to a statement, submitted a memorandum to the RRC, seeking immediate action for addressing the most genuine grievances of the “distressed class” of people.
Pointing towards the dilapidated condition of residential units, lanes, drains and lack of other amenities, Dev called for the provision of proper accommodation and all other facilities to the Talwna migrants on par with Kashmir migrants in consonance with the rulings of the Supreme Court.
He pointed out, “The apex court had categorically ruled that all migrants needed to be treated on par in so far as the provision of government relief and rehabilitation was concerned and no differential treatment could be accorded to the people belonging to the same category on the basis of region or religion.”
Seeking immediate construction of flats for Talwana migrants as Kashmiri migrants, the NPP president decried the “undue delay in providing shelters to such Jammu region migrants and providing lanes, drains, sewage and drainage facilities in Talwara where more than 670 were living in extremely unhygienic conditions”.
Harsh Dev further regretted the “non-extension” of benefits under the Centrally sponsored schemes to the habitations of migrants, terming it “discriminatory”. He said that migrants’ children were even bereft of scholarships and old aged migrants deprived of pensions.
“The RRC said that all issues raised by the migrants would be addressed in the right perspective,” the NPP statement said, adding, “He (RRC) said that construction of tenements/flats at Talwara has been proposed to higher-ups and would be duly followed. The issue of extension of social security schemes for migrants’ pensions, scholarships would be duly considered.”
