SC SEEKS REPORT ON NUMBER OF MIGRANT KIDS, THEIR CONDITION ACROSS STATES

The Supreme Court Tuesday directed all states to inform it about the number of migrant children and their condition on a plea seeking directions for the protection of their fundamental rights amid the Covid-19 pandemic. A bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian also asked all the states impleaded as parties in the case to file replies in the matter.

Senior advocate Jayna Kothari appeared for the petitioners. The top court had impleaded all the states on March 8 and issued notice on the plea filed by the Child Rights Trust and a Bengaluru resident seeking directions for the protection of the fundamental rights of migrant children amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

The plea stated that the Covidinduced nationwide lockdown affected the migrant children the most. “Although there has been marked efforts by the respondents to provide migrant workers with welfare measures, no report emanated from the Central or the State government’s detailing relief measures extended to women and children who are stranded or in relief camps and quarantine centres at source districts. “The unprecedented lockdown, ensuing migrant crisis and the subsequent effect of the same on migrant children and their fundamental and human rights is conspicuous and an ongoing crises.”

It contended that migrant children faced tremendous hardships during the lockdown and till date there has been no assessment of the exact numbers of migrant children, infants, and pregnant or lactating women and their needs. “Children of migrants and migrating children remain invisible and are the most vulnerable and are denied access to health and proper nutrition, quality education and skills and knowledge they need to thrive and spend their lives in makeshift, unfriendly, unhygienic and testing conditions.”