New Delhi, 6th June, 2014

The National Human Rights Commission has taken cognizance of a complaint seeking its intervention into the plight and misery faced by the ponywallas, palakiwalls, pithoos and other workers at the holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi at Katra, Jammu and it has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of Jammu & Kashmir calling for a report within four weeks into the allegations.

Requesting for profile mapping of ponywallas, palakiwallas 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 etc.

The complainant has also said that some of the ponywallas were children running the whole day up and down with the devotees in order to earn bread and butter. This sort of self-employment was equivalent to child labour which is prohibited under law. There were no education facilities for such children.

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