PM unable to interact with ragpickers, Hardeep Puri steps in

There are 250 registered ragpickers in Karnal and they have been provided all facilities, including Ayushman card, municipal corporation commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav has said

Two ragpickers had a brief virtual interaction with Union minister of housing and urban affairs Hardeep Puri when the Swachh Survekshan Awards 2020 were announced on Thursday .

Gurugram, India-Dec 16, 2018: Ragpickers at work at a dumping ground, at Nathupur village, near DLF Phase 3, in Gurugram, India, on Sunday, December 16, 2018. (Photo by Yogendra Kumar / Hindustan Times) To go with Prayag Arora’s story (HT PHOTO/For representation)

When Puri asked the two whether they were getting basic facilities, Bachi Devi, said she was among 290 persons who had been given identity cards by the Karnal municipal corporation.

Devi also adding that she had an Ayushman Bharat card and had been provided other facilities by the government.

It is to be noted that Prime minister Narendra Modi was to earlier interact with ragpickers from four cities that had performed well in the Swachh Survekshan, but as he had to cancel at the last minute, Puri stepped in his place.

Earlier, in the run-up to the announcements, Karnal municipal corporation commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said, “There are 250 registered ragpickers in Karnal and they have been provided all facilities, including Ayushman card.”