Daily wagers write to Gurugram administration, say they are not getting food

A team of officials from Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and some anganwadi workers have been engaged to distribute food materials — such as wheat, rice, daal, sugar etc — among people affected by lockdown.

A group of slum dwellers from Indira Awas Colony near Narsignhpur village complained to the district administration on Friday, alleging that distribution of food among them was scarce, leading to massive resentment.

A team of officials from Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and some anganwadi workers have been engaged to distribute food materials (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

In the light of Covid-19 outbreak and after a nationwide lock down was imposed from March 23, the Gurugram administration has set up a relief camp at Kherki Daula (and at other places in city) to distribute food among daily wage earners living in villages and slums in the area.

A team of officials from Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and some anganwadi workers have been engaged to distribute food materials — such as wheat, rice, daal, sugar etc — among people affected by lockdown.

The complainant said that the slum dwellers have had to return disappointed from the food distribution centres empty handed so far and no official has reached out to them with supply.

On Friday morning, the aggrieved group of people drafted a letter signed by 20 people and sent it through WhatsApp to Gurugram deputy commissioner Amit Khatri, seeking his immediate intervention. The letter stated that they are being deprived of food at Kherki Daula centre. The complainants, mostly daily wagers and domestic helps, wrote in the letter that they had run out of food at their homes too.

Soon after their letter, they got calls from the officials in charge of the Kherki Daula food distribution camp.

“Two three hours after our complaint to the deputy commissioner, we got a few calls from officials asking us for our address and they assured us that we will be getting food materials today ,” said another resident. Till late Friday evening, the food relief hadn’t arrived for the slum dwellers.

The administration has set up camp to track daily wage earners living in villages and slums, who might be running low on food and money after the lockdown enforced.

Khatri said, “I will look into the complaint and take appropriate action if the food distribution is not proper. We have a large team working in food distribution in the entire district and I will get this complaint checked. People can also call 1950 if they do not get food or they want to know their point of distribution in their respective area.”