Rendered jobless for the last 40 days owing to the curfew, daily wagers have run out of money as well as ration. Now, they have come out onto the streets demanding they be provided with food, as so far their repeated requests have fallen on deaf ears, they said.
Defying the curfew, about 100 families along with their children living in Hem Vihar Phase 1 in Baltana, came onto the streets to protest with a hope that the administration will provide them ration. While protesting, the families took care to ensure they maintained social distance.
“We will die of hunger before any virus kills us. There is no food, how do you expect my family to survive?” said Uma Shankar, a construction labourer. Father of two children, Shankar said, “The ration and money my contractor us gave has dried up. How do I feed my family now?”
Raghunath, who works as a driver, said, “When my 4-year-old son asks for milk, we mix some flour in the water and feed him. We are five in the family and are eating only one meal a day.”
These families, who were earning about ₹400 to ₹500 everyday, have been rendered without work. They are living in rented accommodations. They said their ration lasted till April 20, and now they are left with nothing, and no money. The place where they are living has no langar sewa, too, as most of the cooked food was being supplied to slum areas.
{{/usCountry}}These families, who were earning about ₹400 to ₹500 everyday, have been rendered without work. They are living in rented accommodations. They said their ration lasted till April 20, and now they are left with nothing, and no money. The place where they are living has no langar sewa, too, as most of the cooked food was being supplied to slum areas.
{{/usCountry}}“No one is thinking about us. If we stay home we will die of hunger. If we go out police thrashes us,” said Ram Baksh another daily wager.
Dera Bassi SDM Kuldeep Bawa said, “I had received information that certain families had nothing to eat so I have instructed the patwari to supply them with ration. We have distributed 100 kits in the Baltana area. One kit had sufficient ration for a family of four to last 15 days.”