Amid lockdown woes, Rajasthan govt to provide rations to Pak Hindu migrants

In a major relief to Pakistani Hindu migrants amid the hardship of the COVID-19 lockdown, the Rajasthan government on Wednesday decided to bring them under government schemes for providing rations.

The migrant population, which is mainly engaged in the fields of agriculture, stone mining, handicraft industry, scrap dealing and masonry works as daily wage workers, have been left jobless after the lockdown and are dependent on the charitable organisations for food and rations.

The decision will help around 7,000 families living in eight districts of the state - Jodhpur, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Jaipur, Sirohi, Jalore and Pali, officials said.

Out of the 7,000 families, around 4,000 families are living in Jodhpur district, the officials said.

 

District magistrates of these districts, where these migrants are settled, have been asked to chalk out plans so that they get access to government schemes leading to availability of rations.

The state government has finally come to the rescue of these hapless migrants after taking up our plea, Seemant Lok Sangathan president Hindu Singh Sodha said.

Seemant Lok Sangathan is a charitable organisation working for the welfare of refugees coming from Pakistan and was founded by Hindu Singh Sodha in 2005.

Expressing gratitude to the state government, Sodha said the district magistrates of the districts like Jodhpur, Barmer and Jaisalmer have contacted him to provide them with the list of the beneficiaries who will come under the scheme.

An administrative official, who requested anonymity, said that focus would be given to these migrants in the districts where the government ration distribution would be done as per the list provided by the group.

Many of them were not Indian citizens and those who have obtained the citizenship were not part of any government welfare scheme. They were not eligible for any relief plans rolled out by the government during the ongoing lockdown," Sodha said.

He had then written a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot drawing his attention to the anomaly and considering a plan for these migrants, so that they could also get the benefits of government schemes in these hard times.