Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 15: Kashmira Vahini (KV) has expressed its grave concern over the recent statement of Minister of State for Power, Vikar Rasool regarding Government’s decision to stop power supply to the inmates of Jagti tenements if they fail to pay the power tariff arrears amounting Rs 6.91 crore reportedly pending against them.
KV in a meeting here today at TRT Nagrota chaired by its organizing secretary Sushma Rishi said the policy of discrimination and neglect exhibited by the authorities that be towards the hapless displaced Kashmiri Pandits still continues.
Mrs Rishi said State Government runs in deficit of nearly Rs 2400 crore in power sector which would be compensated by asking adequate funds from the Central Government but the poor inmates of Jagti tenements are ironically threatened to face miseries for no fault of theirs.
Gayatri Hashia lamented over the inflicted hardships of the entitled relief holder families to make both ends meet. She questioned the conscience of the concerned authorities who ask an ill paid relief holder family to pay the power bill which otherwise should have been paid by the Relief Organization. She said the displaced families be either paid the lakhs of rupees as suffered by every family due to the turmoil.
She demanded either Government should either give ownership rights to the migrants of these tenements or bear the power tariff by itself.
Dr Kshama Koul, the national spokesperson of K V warned Government against clandestinely renaming the traditional religio -cultural places like Hari Parbat, Shankaracharya hillock as Koh-i-Maran and Suleman Teng besides historic Srinagar as Shahar-e-Khas. This tantamounts to effacing the traces of thousands of years of old Kashmir culture under a pre-meditated conspiracy, she added.