A laborer, Mohammed Salim Gujjar along with his family of four children and elder parents is starving from last two days and is anxiously waiting for some kind of help to arrive before the worst hits his family.
With the ongoing lockdown imposed toprevent the spread of COVID-19, the laborer has not earned a single penny fromlast fortnight.
Residing in a small hamlet of Alan-Sharekhivillage situated on a high altitude meadow, Mohammed Salim Gujjar used to comedown daily to Bhadarwah town to find daily laborers work.
However, with the lockdown, he is not ableto come out of his home and it is affecting him and his family.
“With work coming to standstill inBhadarwah town, I have not earned a single penny from last 15 days. We are notbeing allowed to move out from our place. We are basically without money andwithout essentials,” said, Mohammed Salim Gujjar of Alan-Sharekhi village.
“I am left with nothing. We are waiting forthe help to come. Hope it comes soon before my family and I would die due tostarvation,” said Mohammed Salim Gujjar.
Mohammed resonates the lives of scores oflaborers living in tribal areas of Doda district are presently living aftertheir livelihood was hit by the ongoing lockdown which is put in to prevent thespread of COVID-19.
“The Gujjar tribe residing on highaltitudes usually trek down the hill to the villages and towns with theirproduce (milk) and to find labour work for themselves to meet their ends.However, with the lockdown no such thing is happening,” said a local.
He added that scores of Gujjar familiesresiding on the slopes in small hamlets like Alan-Sharekhi, Dooru-Sartingal,Kota Top, Darie, Ladoo, Rajpura, Kilroo, Ghil-Kanaan , Padri, Qatari, Kainthi,Gildhar, Sarola, Kilroodhar, Guldanda and Bhal-Padri of the hilly district, dueto the ongoing lockdown are finding it hard to meet their ends.
Many laborers go to the neighboring stateslike Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand for work during winters. Due tothe lockdown they are also stranded there while their families back home havereached to starvation and are pleading for help which is not coming from anyquarter.
“I have been borrowing money to survive asmy husband is stranded at Shimla due to lockdown. But for how long with peoplelend me the money as they need it themselves. I wonder what I am going to do,if the lenders would refuse to extend the help!”asked Gulshana, wife of strandedlabourer Abdul Gani said.
“If nothing, at least government can helpus in getting our bread-earners back to their homes,” Gulshana said. Whencontacted Additional Deputy Commissioner Bhadarwah Rakesh Kumar said, “We haveenough stock of foodgrains with us. But I was not aware of the problem beingfaced by the tribal population living in high altitude areas. I willimmediately send a team in these hamlets and subsequently ration will be sentto them at an earliest.”