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Journalism of Courage
Trembling in the winter chill in the fenced courtyard of the Social Welfare Centre overlooking the Dal Lake, Aziza8217;s wait for the monthly government hand-out continues endlessly. Aziza lost her husband, 42-year-old Abdul Gani, nine years ago in retaliatory fire by security forces near their home in Harvan, some miles off the Nishat Garden.
As per the Rehabilitation of Militancy Victims Council set up in 1995, Aziza is entitled to Rs 500 a month to fend for her family of three daughters and two sons. But the cash-starved council has not paid her for last four months as officials complain of government apathy to the state8217;s Social Welfare Department SWD.
8216;8216;It has been difficult to carry out our work in the face of the funds crunch over the years. For Srinagar, the plan was to give Rs one crore annually to victims of violence. But we have hardly got anything,8217;8217; rues Deputy Director of the Social Welfare Department, Mohammad Yusuf.
The new Social Welfare Minister Moola Ram assures that the rough edges in the charity programme will be smoothed out.
For a start, he says the new government will deliver the sum as money order to the allottee8217;s doorstep. 8216;8216;There has been problems but we would settle them soon. We need time to put things in order,8217;8217; he says.
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But Moola Ram8217;s problems just begin with the SWD. In fact, the whole spectrum of social welfare programmes has been hit bad, thanks to the apathy of the Farooq Abdullah government. As per the SWD8217;s figures, around 1.8 lakh people live on the department8217;s dole, which is pegged at Rs 19 crore and another one lakh people are registered with the SWD. Due to the financial crunch the department is unable to bring the latter group in the net.
8216;8216;Over the years the poverty level in the state has gone through the roof, and more people have applied for welfare benefits. Several have been rendered orphans and widows,8217;8217; says SWD8217;s Yusuf. According to figures compiled by activist Parvez Imroz, around 6,000 people have disappeared while in the custody of security forces. And most were the sole earners in their families.
Another crucial task facing the new government is the rehabilitation of around one lakh Kashmiri migrants who fled the Valley after 1989. The PDP-Congress coalition government has promised to bring back the migrants to the Valley and resettle them in locations deemed safe from militant incursions. Although this is bound to be a logistical nightmare, the new government is determined to carry out its promise.
8216;8216;We have identified the sites and we will bring them in batches here. The hitch is the financial assistance, which we are working out with the Centre. Hopefully, we will start our programme soon,8217;8217; says Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir.
Travel to the ever-simmering border towns, where cross-border shelling is almost a daily affair and the issues grow more stark. Though some who were close to ministers in the Abdullah regime managed to extract money for building underground bomb shelters, several others live under renewed fear as border skirmishes of late have picked up in intensity. Though officials have no figures about the people who are open to these dangers, rough estimates peg the figures at five lakh across the state. The Mufti Sayeed government has assured residents that hamlets will be built at safe spots where residents can seek refuge until the shelling stops.
If the steps taken by this government in its initial weeks are any indication, life may be a better deal in the Valley than martyrdom. But stitching up the torn social fabric of the state demands much more than a mere healing touch.
