In Skardu district of Pakistan Occupied Gilgit Baltistan (PoGB), representatives from Awami Tehreek, along with various NGOs and social organisations, recently held a press briefing to express their opposition to the survey and digitalisation of the wheat distribution system. Skardu TV, a local news outlet, reported that the PoGB government plans to implement a biometric system for distributing subsidised wheat. Locals criticise this move as a delay tactic and a means to mislead them, noting that previous surveys by the food department have led to no real improvements.
A local social and political leader, Agha Ali Rizvi, stated during the press brief, “Among several other issues that we face in PoGB, such a survey is just another way to tease the people of PoGB. This subsidised wheat is not an entity of the government, it belongs to the people and must be given to them. No government has the right to question or stop the subsidised wheat and if something like this is orchestrated, then a major protest will be triggered and that will be borne by the government.”
Rizvi further stated, “This is not the first and last time that you are proposing such measures, several meetings, announcements and promises have happened previously, but it seems that you don’t want to give us wheat and that is why something like this is being proposed. Currently, neither they are completing the survey nor they are rejecting it completely. They are threatening and filing complaints against people who condemn their actions, which is not acceptable”.
Another local leader stated, ” I don’t understand, why is the government proposing such measures that cannot be sustained by the current infrastructure. And this is not the first or last time such measures are being taken. Our lands don’t even have proper internet services, so how will the system manage the digitalisation of such records? Several such measures have been rejected by the public and in several meetings, they have made baseless promises. What is the guarantee that this time the results will be different?”
“We have seen these dubious tactics several times, they make different promises at the time of negotiations, release a different notification and then give nothing to the people ultimately so we are not ready to accept this.”