Relief goods doled out to non-deserving people

One of the affected people, Sajjad Ahmed of Drungah locality of Gohkir, said his houses was fully damaged in the quake but so far his family could not get any relief goods. He alleged that all the relief goods sent to the area by the government departments and NGOs were doled out to non-deserving people on the basis of nepotism. He said families of scores of genuinely affected people were helplessly lying under the open sky. The families, especially children and elderly persons, are at the risk of contracting different diseases, he added. Mr Ahmed called upon the NDMA, PDMA and the Chitral administration to provide relief items to the deserving people without any further delay. Not only the Gohkir area but complaints have also been received from other parts of Chitral that the genuinely-affected people were discriminated against by the government and private sector agencies while distributing the relief items. There were also complaints that the local government elected representatives prepared lists in which they allegedly included their own friends, relatives and political supporters in place of those who needed help on an urgent basis. However, on rising public complaints the lists were cancelled and a fresh survey started under the Chitral Scouts and district administration officials. This caused an inordinate delay in reaching out to the affected people. The quake-hit people demanded that the government should also hold an inquiry against the public representatives who have been accused of preparing misleading reports.–Bashir Hussain Azad]]>