Polluted Air to relief camps — make political rulers answerable | Humra Quraishi

14 November 2024

The haze in and around the capital city of India, New Delhi, is getting from bad to worse. Throttling lives, as the respiratory system is affected; choking and with that killing the vulnerable. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the polluting haze is so very severe that hundreds could be in the grip of death, dying rather too steadily!

And in between it all, instead of trying to curb the severity of this polluting haze comes in news that the vendors in Delhi’s Najafgarh vegetable market will have to display on their carts their particulars - names along with their contact numbers. Why is the Delhi government doing this…allowing this to take place? Is this some level of distraction from the mess that’s spreading out, far and wide! Though the so-called official reason put forth by the BJP MLA from that area is to curb Bangladeshi and the Rohingya refugees from selling their ware but there seems more to that alibi! Communal divides are sure to creep in and hit. Soon there would be Hindu-Muslim street fights, leading to violence and anarchy. With that, the poor becoming poorer and weaker and ever so hapless. Unable to even raise a finger at the political rulers of the day.

Taking you still further ahead towards Imphal, with details of the ground realities put together by the activist-academic and general secretary of the Socialist Party of India, Sandeep Pandey. He and his team travelled there earlier this week. And have put forth some basic realities. I quote from their report: “Recommendations after visit to 5 Relief Camps in Imphal on 11-12 November, 2024- …There is discrepancy in cash and supplies which is given to inmates in relief camps. At Phayeng High School they have got Rs. 1,000 five times since they came to the camp. At Manipur Trade and Export Centre they get Rs. 80 per day per head twice a month. At Biramangol College Hostel people who have lost their homes to arson get Rs. 80 per day per head and those whose houses remain undamaged get only Rs. 10 per day per head. At Samurou Government High School inmates get only rice from the government whereas at other camps they also get dal, potato, onion, oil, soap, detergent, shampoo, etc. Inmates here receive Rs. 80 per head per day. They have also got Rs. 1,000 five times during festivals. Inmates at Phayeng High School also get eggs twice or thrice during week and milk per day. However, at other camps milk and egg are not provided. At Pravabati College relief camp inmates get only Rs. 15 per day per head for breakfast. At all camps except Manipur Trade and Export Centre there are common kitchens which are run by rotation by inmates. In common kitchens the fuel used in wood whereas inmates of Manipur Trade and Export Centre are able to use induction stoves.”

Pandey and his team also focused on the fact that no compensation was provided to be victims. “ Nobody has been compensated for the loss of houses or businesses even though they have been promised many times in the past. Recently, the Chief Minister promised the camp inmates Rs. 1,000 each before the Ningol Chakkouba festival but nobody got the money.”
 
Focusing on women and children in these camps: “Women at Pravabati College complained that a number of times government officials have come and promised them sewing machines and other items which they can use for income generation. However, no such thing has happened. Only once training was provided for mushroom cultivation but there was no follow up in terms of providing people with resources to begin their activity. Three handlooms has been made available by the local community here which women at the relief camp use for weaving. At Biramangol College Hostel in Sawombung four handlooms have been provided by the government. There is need for at least 15 more handlooms here. At Phayeng women make plastic bags and candles but they need marketing support. More needs to be done in the direction of providing livelihood opportunities to women in relief camps. …Women in Phayeng are much concerned about education of their children. They save money by selling some of the supplies provided by the government and hence go hungry sometimes or do not use soap so that they can pay the fees of their children. The children of inmates of relief camps should be admitted u/s 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act for free education in private schools or their education expenses should be compensated by the government. Else, like at Pravavati College relief camp where based on a certificate issued by the relief committee the nearby private schools impart education to children of inmates of relief camp for free, government should instruct the private schools to offer education for free to such children.”
 
It’s dismaying to know from this report that there’s an obvious lack of medicines and warm clothing and blankets and also of the basic facilities in the form of Ration cards and also of the Ayushman cards. Above all, contact details of those who ought to be contacted: “We saw important contact numbers like that of Cluster Nodal Officer, CSO/Relief, Police, Revenue, Health/Medical, Education, Water supply, Electricity, Waste management, Food and essential items, District Control Room, Fire, Anganwadi, Counselling mentioned on wall only at Samurou Government HS relief camp. At Biramangol College Hostel relief camp numbers only of Violence against children (1098), Violence against women (181) and Electricity were given whereas there were no numbers mentioned for Relief related, Medical, Water-sanitation, Mental Health, Law and Order, Emergency (fire, etc.), Veterinary services.”

Above all, the affected population is keen to get back to their villages and homes. When will that happen? When will normalcy return? “Whereas at other relief camps families get to stay together even though a number of them in one room, at Pravabati College it is a dormitory kind of arrangement where men and women stay separately. People are getting tired of staying in relief camps and now want to return to their villages/homes. Most sad case is that of people in Phayeng High School relief camp whose village Kangchup Chingkhong is merely 1 km away. But when a 39 years old lady Leichongbam Ibemcha tried to go back to her village in November, 2023 she was shot at and died ten days later. Efforts should be made to bring back normalcy as soon as possible so that people can go back. People want to go back to engage in their traditional occupations of agriculture, sand mining.”

This is the condition of hundreds of our fellow citizens yet we are being fed speech after speech that we are progressing. The political rulers of the day ought to be made answerable to the mess spreading around. Enough of those distractions along communal lines. Time to focus on the dark realities engulfing us on all possible fronts.