Ladakh MP rues lack of basic facilities in village of local who alerted about Pak intrusion in 1999

Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal on Monday said that while the country is celebrating Kargil Diwas, the village of Tashi Namgyal, the local who alerted the Indian Army about Pakistani intrusion in 1999, still lacks basic facilities.

Raising the issue in Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour, the BJP MP said local farms were acquired by the Army during the operations but even 20 years after the war ended, farmers had not got them back.

Namgyal also demanded that services of local transporters and produce from Ladakhis be procured by the defence forces.

He said after the Kargil operation, locals were being hired as porters.

"During the Kargil operation, the locals volunteered to do this dangerous work. But now, the Army has capped the recruitment on the basis of age. During the war, the locals gave their vehicles for transport and whatever crops they produced to the defence forces.

"But now we are being told that our carrots, potatoes do not fit the specifications of the Army. How can we match up with the vegetables from Mumbai and Delhi," Namgyal asked.

He also demanded that the contribution of Tashi be recognised.

"Several villages along the border, including Tashi's, do not have telecommunication facilities and amenities like drinking water," Namgyal said.

National Conference's Hasnain Masoodi said there was panic in Kashmir after the Centre's decision to increase the number of security personnel in the state.

Meanwhile, BJP's Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur said contractual labourers were being sacked from AIIMS, Bhopal without prior notice.