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Hungry, anxious migrants jostle for dry ration packets in Ludhiana
Police had to use mild lathicharge to control the crowd; the migrants had assembled there to collect the ration sought through the district administration’s helpline 1905
Heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed at Field Gunj area of Ludhiana on Sunday as hundreds of residents, predominately migrants, jostled with each other to grab a bag of raw ration being distributed by district administration authorities.
The situation got so out of control that police had to use mild lathicharge to control the crowd. The migrants had assembled there to collect the ration sought through the district administration’s helpline 1905.
Most of them said that they had run out of all supplies and their children had been sleeping on an empty stomach for several days. “We can endure the pain of the lathi but can’t beat to see our children crying for food. Aren’t we human? The authorities should understand our plight,” he said.
Some others blamed the administration’s lack of planning which led to the large queues of people. “The department sends SMS to 1,000 people at each station 24 hours before the ration distribution starts. One has to go through various checks it takes nearly 10 minutes before all the formalities are completed. Imagine the plight of the man standing last in the queue,” said one of the persons in the queue.
A police officer, who was on crowd control, while expressing his helplessness said that such scenes have become a routine. “People swam at the place where ration is being distributed. We feel bad that we have to use the stick but we have no other option,” said the cop deployed at Amarpura.
SDM ASKS PEOPLE TO FOLLOW SOCIAL DISTANCING NORMS
On the other hand, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) AS Bains urged people not to panic and follow social distancing norms. “If such situation continues, then we will call lesser number of people but it will result in pendency. So people should also cooperate with the government and follow social distancing norms,” said SDM Bains.
Area councillor Gurdeep Singh Neetu flayed the ration distribution scheme. He said that the police was distributing ration among those people who had applied on 1905, and the area councillor has no role in it. “Instead of making people stand in a queue, authorities should deliver it at their doorsteps to avoid the chaos,” said Neetu.
Meanwhile, some migrants alleged that since they were not the councillor’s vote bank, they were struggling to get essential supplies.
