Distribution of relief to flood victims

Overburdened Patwaris threaten to leave job

5 Dariya News

Srinagar 10-Nov-2014

Stating that Patwaris are humans and not the robots who will finish the task of distributing relief to lakhs of flood victims overnight, Srinagar Patwaris Monday threatened to leave their jobs if the government will not give them appropriate time for finishing their assessment reports.“The Government is insisting us to complete the assessment process within days which is not possible. If the government continues forcing us to completing this task without giving us the required time we will leave the job midway and go on strike,” Syed Kursheed President of the Srinagar Patwar Association said while addressing the group of Patwaris.He said that it is not possible for them to register the account numbers and  distribute relief to thousands of flood victims in one day and that too when they have to continue their routine work of distributing certificates and making land documents.

He also said even the bureaucrats do not work over time in Kashmir “but Patwaris these days are working from morning to evening without any break and are still criticized.”“Hundreds of families are still out of their houses and they have no fixed address. We are not able to reach to them, then how will we distribute relief to them. It will take us time to search them and then only they could be given the relief,” he said.He said they are working day in and day out “but instead of appreciation we are being subjected to intense pressure and it is not possible for them to complete their task in such conditions.”

“Many times people fight and accuse us of misappropriation. When we distribute Rs 3800 to least damaged houses, owners demand us 75000 Rs and they sometimes use abusive language and fight with us. We try hard to make them understand that these are Government orders but they accuse us of fraud,” he said. (KNS)