Banihal; April 11 (KNS): National Conference leader and District president, Ramban Sajjad Shaheen has appealed to the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi to keep in mind the plight of thousands of stranded students, labourers and small traders from Jammu & Kashmir who have got stuck in different parts of the country prior to taking a call on extension of the lockdown as a measure to fight the corona virus pandemic in the country.

The government should provide a window for return of these stranded persons so that they could return home and join their families. As the lockdown to contain the COVID-19 spread continues across the country, Thousands of J&K residents especially those dealing with handicrafts, laborers and students are stranded in different parts of the country and are living in very harsh conditions.

In a Press statement to KNS, Shaheen expressed deep concern over the condition of these laborers from J&K especially belonging to different areas of Ramban district who are stuck in different states of the country. He further said, that over two to three thousand laborers, traders and students hailing from different areas of Banihal constituency that include Mahu, Mangit, Khari, Nadika, Trigam, Kumbla, Buzla, Srachi, Hinjhal, Fagow, Tethar, Chachal, Neel, Chaknarwah, Chamalwas, Pogal, Paristan, Sumar, Gagarnag and other parts of District Ramban have got stuck up in different states that include Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Indore, Bangalore, Gujrat, Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, Delhi, Maharashtra and various other states of the country. Some laborers from Banihal are also stuck in Jammu and other districts of J&K. They should be immediately brought back to their homes in view of the alarming spread of COVID-19.

Under the prevailing circumstances these laborers are the worst-hit because they are dependent on their daily earnings to meet the basic needs and their earnings have been badly hit as ‘’I have been receiving lots of SOS calls from the stranded people and their families that these laborers are running short of money and cannot sustain for too long away from their homes,” Shaheen added.

Shaheen has appealed to the Central and the J&K government to arrange special train & bus services to facilitate the return of stranded students & laborers as all these stranded J&K residents are waiting for the government to facilitate their safe return to their home towns in J&K but the callous approach of the J&K administration has added to their miseries. “If more than 3000 persons were evacuated by various state governments and brought to the home by their respective state government after following the concerned COVID-19 protocol, what impedes the J&K administration and the Central government to facilitate the return of these stranded students & laborers from J&K? The governments should take immediate steps to bring all these stranded people back to their respective homes as early as possible, he added.(KNS)