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Several representatives of Awami Tehreek, along with several NGOs and social organisations, recently organised a press briefing in the Skardu district of Pakistan Occupied Gilgit Baltistan (PoGB) to register their dissent against the survey and digitalisation of the wheat distribution network in PoGB, Skardu TV, a news organisation from PoGB, reported.
Reportedly, the local government of the PoGB has proposed to use a biometric system for the distribution of subsidised wheat. However, the locals condemn the move, stating that all this is just a tactic to postpone and mislead the locals of PoGB. Before this, the food department had organised several similar surveys but nothing has improved on the ground. 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 born 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 digitalization 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." (ANI)
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