Covid-19:- Lockdown a welcome step but govt must take care of people living below poverty line : Sajad Farooq 

Bilal Ahmad

Ganderbal,17 May(PTK):The residents of Kangan area of Ganderbal on Monday said that lockdown is a welcome step to stop spread of Covid-19 but government must take care of the families living below poverty line.

Sajad Farooq a local resident said that to impose restrictions is must to break the chain of Covid-19 but there are hundreds of people who are facing financial problems and government must take care of it.

He said that people here are very poor and earn their livelihood on daily basis but now everything is shut and government must provide them some relief.

He requested government, activists, Royal people of the area to take care of your neighbors at an earliest so that they won’t face any problems.

An estimated 1.3 million people in Jammu and Kashmir, who live below the poverty line (BPL), struggle to access basic necessities of life due to the prolonged lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

According to official figures, 10.35% of the population in the union territory (UT) lives below the poverty line, with the rural areas holding more poor than the urban centres. The prolonged lockdown for them is a “terrible experience.”

As hundreds of thousands among them work in the unorganized sector and are not registered with the Labour Department or Social Welfare Department, they won’t get any financial assistance from the government.

People of area appealed govt to look into the matter.(PTK)