After visiting Bhajanpura, Chaman Park and Shiv Vihar, a group of activists here have alleged absence of government agencies or representatives from the relief operations in the aftermath of the recent violence in Delhi.
A report by activists Anjali Bhardwaj, Annie Raja, Poonam Kaushik, Geetanjali Krishna, Amrita Johri, who visited the areas, said there were mostly private vehicles carrying the relief measures and there were no government agency or representative co-ordinating or delivering relief.
The activists, in a statement, said: “Seeing the ground situation on February 29 and talking to affected people, it is clear that the Central and Delhi governments have failed in providing any modicum of relief to those affected or displaced by the recent spate of violence. In each place, families which had to abandon their homes due to violence are taking refuge or have made private arrangements in different localities or are staying in temporary accommodation provided by private individuals. The Central and Delhi governments have not set up a single relief camp in the areas which we visited.” The statement read: “We call upon the Central and the Delhi governments to immediately provide relief in a dignified manner to those who have been affected by the violence. The CM, Ministers of the Central and Delhi governments, MPs and MLAs must meet all affected persons and immediately initiate confidence-building measures.”
The measures demanded by the activists were safe shelters for abandoned families, 24X7 community kitchens with provision of milk and vegetables at subsidised rate, 24X7 medical camps, clean clothing, facilitation desk for legal aid, immediate rebuilding or repair of places of worship, camps for obtaining destroyed official documents and simple procedures to apply for compensation.
They also demanded that Delhi government officials be present and easily accessible in the affected areas.