New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Tuesday pronounce its verdict on a plea seeking directions to the Center and states to ensure food security, cash transfers, and other welfare measures for migrant workers, who have been hit by the second wave of COVID-19. were again affected by the restrictions imposed during the period. -19.
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and MR Shah had on June 11 reserved its order on the plea of activists Anjali Bhardwaj, Harsh Mander, and Jagdeep Chhokar.
The new petition was filed in a pending suo moto case of 2020 in which the apex court in May last year took cognizance of the problems and miseries of migrant laborers and passed several directions including asking states not to collect rent from migrant workers Were. And provide them free food till they board the train or buses.
Reserving the order, the bench asked the states and union territories (UTs) to implement the 'One Nation, One Ration Card' (ONORC) scheme as it allows migrant workers to get ration at their place of work in other states. allows to do. Where their ration card is not registered.
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The Center had said that while most states are implementing ONORC, four of them - Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and West Bengal - have not done so and its implementation will depend on their technical preparedness.
The Center later also said that the AAP government's claim regarding the launch of the ONORC scheme is misleading as a large number of migrant workers are unable to take advantage of subsidized National Food Security Act (NFSA) food grains in Delhi as there are no food grains. is. complete implementation.
The bench had taken strong note of the delay in the development of software to register unorganized sector workers to create a national database and questioned the Center as to how the benefit of free food grains would be available till November this year.
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana will reach migrant laborers without ration cards.
The activists have sought a direction to the Center and states to ensure food security, cash transfers, transport facilities, and other welfare measures for migrant workers who desperately need help as the crisis looms large during the second wave.
Earlier on May 24, the apex court had termed the process of registration of unorganized workers as "very slow" and directed the authorities to provide dry ration for migrant workers stranded across the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic and Build operational community kitchens.
Referring to the resurgence of COVID-19 infections and the consequent restrictions, the activists have said in their petition that the problems of migrant workers during the lockdown in 2020 have persisted for the past year due to the ongoing economic crisis and have now increased.
Due to new restrictions, curfews, and lockdowns being imposed in many states to control the spread of COVID.
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