People living near International Border with Pakistan on Sunday accused the successive governments of not paying them the attention they deserve.
The residents said despite being severely affected by the “frequent” cross-border firings, the “central government has ignored us.”
“The borders of Jammu are vulnerable. People living near the border line are worst sufferers. We have lost kith and kin, our cattle and our homes to the frequent cross firings and border shelling. Yet we have not received the attention that we deserve from the successive governments,” Nagar Mal (74), a resident of Suchetgarh border said.
“The government of India claimed that it had launched over 100 pro-people schemes in the last 4 years but I am sure very few people are aware of these schemes,” he said.
The villagers also complained about insufficient medical and education facilities in border areas.
“The border dwellers mostly depend on agriculture and animal husbandry but due to prevailing situation, people are always on move and spend almost 6-months a year in relief camps,” said Sukhdev Choudhary (53) of Chandu Chak village of R S Pura.
“Recently during firing, three of a family were killed from my village only, and the reason is unavailability of ambulance,” he rued.
As per government figures 55 security personnel and civilians have lost their lives in over 1000 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and international border with Pakistan till June this year.
These were the highest number of casualties compared to the last three years. The number of ceasefire violations has also been the highest in 2018, recording a sharp spike compared to the previous three years.
“The health centres on border even don’t have a syringe, bandage, etc. For a dog or snake bite, which is quite normal in villages, patient is referred to Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu,” he said.
“The education of the children has also been affected in border villages, where dropout rate of children is on raise,” Rajeev Kumar (23), a student said.
“Students are forced to sit idle when there is firing. With their education badly hit, they would be unable to compete in the competitive exams,” he added.
The people demanded permanent solution of grievances and long-term plan of all their problems.
“Living in a city or town, and near a border are two different things. The people of border need more attention and care. Government should come out with schemes exclusively for border residents,” Rajinder Sharma (40), a resident of Arnia suggested.