SRINAGAR: The J&K RTI Movement has called for efforts to take care of the labour class herein that are the backbone of the society and have been under severe stress of pursuing their livelihood not only by the present lockdown, but have face the brunt time and again. In a statement issued by Dr Shaikh Ghulam Rasool Chairperson & Founder of the movement said that labours of Kashmir are facing lockdown since 5th August 2019 followed by COVID-19 lockdown, and no one one bothers to know how they are surviving without a livelihood? He said that their basic survival, ranging from feeding their families — Mal-nutritious children, their wives- -lactic wives, pregnant wives, who are pillars of care economy and form unrecognised class of labour and (who need special care & nutrition) and, regular medical check ups) is at stake.

He added that the the Education of their children — many of them do not have (smart) phones, plus Kashmir had no internet and now we have 2G, do you imagine how could their children access digital classes which belongs to a priviliged class. In the remote possibility of having internet, would they ever be able to pay for it? Therefore, the women, their children continue to struggle within the unpriviledged class of society, and they continue to remain left behind when it comes to access to rights. In reality, they are backbone of society– who build, construct and giving sweat and blood to this “so called development” in this massive entangled web on which we all thrive. I wonder, does anyone in real sense care for them? Don’t they deserve a dignified life, don’t their deserve access to education & a provision of balanced nutrition? Don’t the women (pregnant and lactating mother’s) need proper nutrition and health care facilities? NGOs/labour trade unions claiming to work for them, also do not appear on ground, have they made any notable changes for them? Kashmir has as many as 4857 NGOs registered as Societies in Kashmir, plus Trusts in courts (having no counts) are claiming working for underprivileged class seems also swindling and draining funds only and most of them misleading on ground. We have so-called arm chair activists class whose work is confined to social media — posting, receiving accolades from their allies and paying it back in return is all they know. And misery of daily wage class continues to be their bread and butter. The stressed that we all join forces to reach out to the daily wagers, not just in times of shutdowns but in every way possible to ensure their lives continue to improve.

KR Desk