Srinagar: As the novel COVID-19, the harbinger of panic, has now arrived in the heart of the valley- the downtown, causing a widespread scare Qurat-ul-Ain Masoodi, a prominent social activist in who also runs the NGO Aash made a fervent appeal to people to join hands to help poor and downtrodden who need to go out of their homes to earn a living.
Speaking to wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Masoodi appealed people to join hands and pool their resources to help the economically unstable section of society, which would be more helpful than giving sermons on social networking sites. She further added that instead of demanding 4g restoration in valley we should put more emphasis on the administration to provide monetary support for the weaker section of our society, which she said is our moral obligation.
Although self-quarantine is the best way to contain this disease, it is coming at the cost of hunger to about 10.35 % of our society who belong to BPL. “The daily wagers and the public transport owners have always been the worst hit be it the conflicting nature of the valley or this invisible enemy. Food rather than 4-G tops the priority list of every single person belonging to this class,” she said. “It is my question to all those Facebook activists who are advising people to self-quarantine, do they know what practical problems these people face on ground?”
She said that Kashmir lacks sophisticated medical facilities, making it difficult to tackle this problem. “With only 90 ventilators the severity of this epidemic can’t be controlled,” she said. Expressing her concern, she said that “the VIP culture prevailing in the valley would make it hard for less affluent Kashmiri to survive this epidemic.” “I am afraid that these ventilators would be given to VIPs leaving locals to die on roads,” she said—(KNO)
