JAMMU: Peeved over the despicable surrenders, blunders and betrayals of the BJP which sold the aspirations of the people of Jammu Pradesh and village Saddal in particular, scores of residents of the village along with Panther activists held anti- BJP protest here on Monday.
Holding placards, protesters took out a rally seeking Adarsh village for Saddal and adequate compensation for the flood and landslide victims of Sept 2014 catastrophe. The rally which was spearheaded by Balwant Singh Mankotia State President JKNPP after passing through Gole Market, Balmiki Chowk, Panama Chowk culminated at Divisional Commissioner’s office Jammu. The protestors shouting anti- BJP and anti-government slogans blocked the main entrance to express their resentment. Later, a 15-member delegation headed by Mankotia submitted a detailed memorandum to Pawan Kotwal demanding expedition of development of Adarsh village at Saddal and other related issues. Addressing the media, Mankotia recalled that the September 2014 deluge which rocked entire Jammu province at large caused immense loss to the lives, crops and live stock.
He said that likewise village Saddal in Tehsil Moungri in District Udhampur had adversely bore the brunt of the disaster during which the entire hamlet was washed out and the infamous land slide resulted in the death of 40 souls who were buried alive under the debris.
He divulged that subsequently after the disaster Dr. Jitender Singh, a local MP and Union MoS in BJP led NDA Government visited the disaster site and promised immediate rehabilitation to the residents of the village at safer zones besides development of Saddal as ‘Adarsh Village’ under PM’s Adarsh Gram Yojna. Mankotia regretted that over two years had gone by but the tall promises doled out by the minister had only proved to be mere rhetoric with no sign of succour or development.
“Dr. Jitender Singh, where is Saddal Adarsh Village?” questioned Mankotia.
He further dwelt that 51 families of village Saddal who had been left in lurch by the State Government were not been able to procure ration cards, voter cards, migration cards and Aadhaar cards because of being homeless. He also demanded that all such important cards/documents should be processed and issued in their favour without further delay to save them from further hardships. He also prayed for the sanction of Anganari centres for their minor children.
Others who spoke on the occasion included Gagan Pratap, Parshottam Parihar, Nirmal Kishore, Mohinder Singh, Arun Khajuria, Anil Rakwal, Udheyveer, Kunj Lal, Kanu Ram, Naresh Kumar, Mahesh Chand, Jeetraj, Pritam Chand, Geeta Devi, Bindo Devi and Bansi Lal.