NHRC seeks report on 'plight' of 'ponywallas' at Vaishno Devi

The National Human Rights Commission has issued notice to Jammu and Kashmir government and sought a report over the "plight and misery" faced by the 'ponywallas' and 'palkiwallas' at the Vaishno Devi shrine.
The Commission has taken cognisance of a complaint seeking its intervention into the "plight and misery" faced by the 'ponywallas', 'palkiwallas', 'pithoos' and other workers at the shrine at Katra, Jammu and it has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, calling for a report within four weeks into the allegations, an NHRC statement said today.
Seeking profile mapping of ponywallas, palkiwallas and other such workers, the complainant has alleged that their wages were being prescribed by the Shrine Board, but the state authorities were neglecting them.

"They were not being provided benefits of any welfare scheme such as life insurance, health insurance, education, insurance of their pony," the statement said.
The complainant has also said that some of the ponywallas at the hill shrine were children running the whole day up and down with the devotees in order to earn their bread.
This sort of self-employment was equivalent to child labour which is prohibited under law, the statement said, adding, there were no education facilities for such children.