Open community kitchens for stranded migrant: SC
Top court orders that stranded workers be provided with dry ration without insisting on identity proof
The Supreme Court, on Thursday, ordered the Delhi government and the authorities in the towns forming part of the National Capital Region (NCR) in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to set up community kitchens for the migrant workers impacted by the second wave of Covid and ensure adequate transport facilities with reasonable fares for those wanting to return home.
A bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice M.R. Shah directed that Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh governments (for the districts included in the NCR) “shall open community kitchen at welladvertised places (in the NCR) for stranded migrant labourers so that they and their family members, who are stranded, could get two meals a day.”
Besides community kitchens, the court ordered that all stranded migrant workers be provided with dry ration without insisting on their identity proof if they don’t possess and accept their self-declaration.
“The district administration, in coordination with the police administration, may identify such stranded migrant labourers and
facilitate their transport either by road transport or train,” the court ordered.
The court order came on an application by activists Harsh Mander, Anjali Bhardwaj, and Jagdeep Chhokar in last year’s pending suo motu matter relating to the problems and miseries of the migrant labourers.
The three activists have sought direction so that the migrant labourers stranded due to the second wave of Covid pandemic are not deprived of ration and food security and are able to travel back to their homes at normal cost.
While issuing the three directions on setting up of community kitchen, supply of dry ration, and
availability of adequate transport with reasonable fare, the court issued notice to the Centre, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Bihar, Odisha, and Maharashtra.
Gujarat, Bihar, Odisha, and Maharashtra have been asked to give the details of the measures which they propose to take to ameliorate the miseries of the migrant workers.
In May last year, the top court had taken suo motu cognisance of problems and miseries of migrant labourers amid pandemic and had passed a slew of directions, including asking the states not to charge fare from migrant workers and provide them food for free till they board trains or buses.