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Awaiting ration cards
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, March 10
A sizeable number of the migratory population of Gujjars and Bakkarwals in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch is without ration cards.

They were not included in surveys conducted by the government for inclusion in the Below Poverty Line (BPL), Anatodya Annapurna Yojana (AAY) and Above Poverty Line (APL) schemes twice in 2002-2003 and 2008-2009.

“We don’t have ration cards since we were not included in the surveys. Since we don’t have ration cards, we cannot avail the ration at subsidised rates and have to buy the same from the market at higher rates. We are poor and are passing our days in great suffering”, said Alam Din, a Bakkarwal, who, along with other eight other of his family shuttles between the Pir Panjal area in the summer and the plains of Kalakote in the winter.

“We have heard that the government twice conducted surveys for including the poor in the BPL list for giving ration at cheap rates. But no one ever came to us for including us in the list.The government should rise from slumber and include us in the same so that we get ration at cheaper rates”, he said.

A senior revenue officer said on condition of anonymity that though the Gujjars and Bakkarwals who had settled at one place had been issued ration cards and included in the BPL, APL and AAY schemes, the migratory population had not been issued the ration cards. “It is an irony that a majority of the migratory population of the Gujjars and Bakkarwals have not been given ration cards and as such have not been included in the BPL, APL and AAY schemes. These are the people who are poor beyond imagination and have a tough life”.

“It is quite shocking that a large majority of the migratory population of Gujjars and Bakkarwals have not been given ration cards and as such have not been covered under various schemes. The government twice did the surveys, but these people who are very poor and live a tough life have not been included”, said Dr Javaid Rahi, national secretary of the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, an organisation working for the welfare of the tribes in India.

Assistant Director, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD), Rajouri, Kewal Krishen confirmed to The Tribune that some of the migratory families of Gujjars and Bakkarwals had not been included in the BPL list. “The Chief Minister has recently ordered a fresh BPL survey.The leftover families would be included in the list”, he said.