While Delhi was busy celebrating Diwali, residents of one the city’s most underprivileged areas, the Kirari Assembly constituency, were busy participating in protest marches for the last four days for the “right to live with dignity.”

More than 2,000 people took part in the processions demanding setting up of a local hospital, a local police station, government schools, community centres, better street lights, public toilets, effective sewage system, quality roads, CCTV cameras and clean drinking water in Kirari.

The processions were led by local Congress leader Pratyush Kanth, who said: “The Kejriwal government is behaving as if humans don’t live in Kirari. A large number of women in Kirari still do not have access to toilets. Lack of clean drinking water is the core reason why people are sick here all the time, especially children. Stagnant water, filth and no sewage system tells a very sad story in Kirari.”

“The Aman Vihar police station is several kilometres away from Kirari, we just have ‘one’ police chowki for 8 lakh people! When you walk on the roads of Kirari you get a feeling you are in a war zone. It seems that for the Delhi government Kirari is not a part of Delhi. We also have a right to live with dignity,” he added.

More than 95 per cent people living in Kirari are migrants and most are employed as daily wagers. Kirari residents were severely affected by dengue this year as more than 1,000 people contracted the disease. Of these, more than 50 people reportedly lost their lives due to the disease.

“The crumbling public health system in Outer Delhi has been notoriously weak for a long time now. There is a total lack of facilities, equipment and medical staff in the nearby hospitals making the situation worse for the people of Kirari. The government hospitals in the nearby areas are not able to cope with the large number of patients coming for treatment every day. The media is full of stories as to how two to three patients are made to share one bed in these hospitals and many a times they are forced to lie on the floors for their treatment. The private hospitals are fleecing the poor.”

Poor people have to walk several kilometres to meet the local SHO in the Aman Vihar police station. “It is unimaginable that the police station for lakhs of people of Kirari is in Bawana Assembly constituency. Could you ever imagine the elites of Greater Kailash going to the Vasant Vihar police station to get their cases registered Just that we the people of Kirari are an underprivileged lot hence we are treated like second grade citizens in our own country by our government,” Mr Kanth said.