Excelsior Correspondent
REASI, May 16: Amidst COVID-19 lockdown, a labourer’s family, including two minor kids and elderly father-in- law, walked over 25 kilometers without food for reaching home after the local administration in Katra did not respond to his repeated requests for travel arrangement.
Labourer Malook Singh along with his 60 years old father-in-law, 3- year old daughter, one and half year year old son and wife travelled on foot from Katra to Reasi.
While narrating his story, Malook Singh said that his father- in- law had developed some health related problem and for treatment of the same, they went from Chassana to CHC Katra where his relatives do job of labourer. The elderly man was admitted there for treatment and discharged on 25th March when nationwide lockdown was enforced by the Government and hence they remained stuck at Katra since then.
“We approached BMO Katra for ambulance service so that we could reach home at Chassana, but they refused to provide the same following which we moved to rented accommodation of my uncle at Katra. Thereafter, I also approached the office of Tehsildar several times but all in vain. They noted down my name several times but did nothing and not even ration was provided to us,” he said and hastened to add that locals of Katra regularly provided them ration.
“It was because of some locals that so far we were getting food. But how long we could have sustained like this and ultimately decided to move back to our native village Dandakote in Chassana tehsil of Reasi district,” he added.
Unable to find any assistance and left with no other option, Malook Singh along with his family started travelling on foot on the Katra-Reasi road on Thursday and reached Reasi early this morning. He along with small kids and elderly father-in-law walked for two days without food.
This morning, some locals spotted an exhausted Malook Singh near Bhartiya Vidhya Mandir School in Reasi and informed media persons to help him to get vehicle so that the family could their native village. Later on, members of civil society of Reasi, in association with Shree Amar Kshatriya Rajput Sabha Reasi and Youth Brigade Welfare Society Reasi came forward to help the family and provided them food etc.
When contacted Tehsildar Katra claimed that no one approached his office for any kind of assistance. We had already sent some persons to Mahore and other areas and if the family could have approached us, we would have l definitely helped them to reach home,” he added.
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