India’s Supreme Court has ruled that state and federal governments cannot deny food subsidies to migrant workers just because they do not have ration cards.
The apex court also directed authorities to run community kitchens to serve migrants until the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
Father Jaison Vadassery, secretary to the Conference of Catholic Bishops’ of India (CCBI) commission for migrants, told UCA News that the highest court repeatedly has to act because the state and federal governments have failed to take care of migrants.
“Steps taken by the Supreme Court have come at the right time when most of the migrant workers are in limbo over whether to stay in cities or go back to their native places due to uncertainty,” he said.
“Confusion among governments still prevails. Coordination among them was minimal, resulting in migrants being left on roads to defend themselves from fighting hunger and diseases. It is the duty of the government to take care of migrant workers.”
The priest said the government should complete a proper database of migrant workers that was started in 2018.
The lackadaisical attitude by the federal Ministry of Labour and Employment is unpardonable
Hearing the case, Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhushan and M.R. Shah noted that the federal government should start to develop a portal for registering unorganized and migrant workers no later than July 31.
“The lackadaisical attitude by the federal Ministry of Labour and Employment is unpardonable,” they said.
“The federal government’s failure to put up a portal on unorganized workers and migrants shows that it is not alive to their concerns.”
Regarding ration cards, the judges said some migrant workers do not possess cards due to their poverty and lack of education. “The state cannot abdicate its duty towards such persons, especially in the wake of the pandemic.”
The government’s “One Nation, One Ration” scheme allows all eligible ration card holders or beneficiaries to access their entitlements from anywhere in India.
The court directed the federal and state governments to implement the scheme by July 31.
Migrant workers mostly come from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh states and are mainly employed in construction, factories, domestic work, textiles, brick kilns, transportation and agriculture.
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