Palamu MP VD Ram has raised issues of stranded labourers and acute crunch of electricity supply. In the second phase of 19 days of lockdown Ram is battling on two major fronts – first stranded labourers of Jharkhand in other states and second extremely pathetic condition of electricity supply in Garhwa district.
Ram said, “I have taken up the issue of 5 stranded labourers of my constituency in Sikandarabad in Hyderabad with minister of State Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy who has communicated to me that my concern has been forwarded to MHA Control Room to be taken up on priority.”
The MP said much the State government of Jharkhand claims it has taken measures to mitigate the sufferings of our State’s stranded labourers in other states like Odisha, Chhatisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, MP, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh our stranded labourers are having a substandard life there with hunger and deprivation all writ large on their faces.
He said, “The State government has given Helpline but to me the helpline needs more help itself to operate. It is non-functional. Earmarked officers for stranded labourers in various states just do not take calls or if they pick up calls no response is made.”
Similar dismal fate is of Jharkhand Sahayta App, which again is a non-starter. V D Ram quipped as to how State government will credit 1,000 rupees in the accounts of the stranded labourers when it has no details of it here.
“See how Bihar went about this task of crediting money to labourers’ accounts. Its CM deputed senior most IAS officers to ensure availability of accounts of the stranded labourers but here the basic need which is the account number of the labourer is yet to be tracked down.”
This BJP MP who refrains from making any unwarranted criticism of government is too pained to call all these measures of this government of Hemant Soren as a mere ‘ Eye Wash’.
The MP’s second top priority is supply of electricity in Garhwa district which is reeling under acute crisis of it. Here MP’s anger knows no bound. Speaking to the Pioneer he said, “ It is more than 4 years that transmission line between Daltonganj Bhogadee Garhwa is lying in limbo. The agency which was to erect towers and stringing works in all these 4years has been dropped only this February 2020.”
He said “ Precious years were criminally wasted on the pretext of hard rock coming beneath the locations in the river bed Koyal where was to come up in all 7 towers where too territorial permission from DC Palamu for foundation/ erectionof tower in areas falling in Palamu district is awaited.”
He further said, “ GM transmission makes rhetoric and claims all pending works in this regard to be over in a month or so which itself is to be taken with a great pinch of salt as when in 4 years erection of towers and stringing work of over head electricity wires kept hanging in balance then how come in a month or so all will be done.”