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Long queues, endless wait in scorching sun for hungry labourers in Ludhiana
Provided appointments via helpline number 1905 to collect ration from a designated venue, only to stand in serpentine queues for hours with no certainty of getting ration
Mismanagement was the order of the day again as hundreds of migrant labourers gathered outside a resort in Moti Nagar to collect ration being distributed by the police on Saturday.
The labourers had arrived at the venue after receiving appointments through 1905 helpline, with many saying they had returned empty handed several times in the past with inadequate ration for people summoned there.
Helpline number 1905 has been launched by the Punjab government to provide essential supplies to people in need amid the curfew imposed in the state since March 23.
Hundreds of migrant labourers, including women, lined up in serpentine queues unmindful of the need for social distancing.
The gate was guarded by some volunteers, who were allowing a few workers at a time to walk inside the resort to collect the ration. When a huge crowd tried to enter forcibly, the volunteers lathi-charged them to keep the queues in order.
Inspector Varunjit Singh, SHO, Moti Nagar station, said though the police were asking labourers to maintain adequate distance and avoid crowding, they were not heeding to the directions.
On the hand, labourers said their patience grew thin as they had been waiting for three hours already, and they were eager to get their hands on the supplies as every visit to the resort in the past had been unfruitful
Ajit of Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh, who lives in Moti Nagar, said this was his fourth visit to the venue. “I applied for ration on 1905 helpline number, and received a text message with the time, date and location to collect it. I was shocked to see the huge rush on arriving at the resort. On my each previous visit, the ration got over before my turn came,” he added.
Another labourer Santosh of Banmankhi town in Bihar, said he worked in a small garment factory and his employer had not paid him since March 22, forcing his family to go without food. “It is difficult to survive for so long without money and food. When we are invited to collect ration, we have to stand in queues for several hours, and even then many return empty handed. Worse, police even thrash us,” he alleged.
