Three Prominent Activists Write to CJI Seeking Urgent Listing of an Application in Suo Moto Migrant Crisis Case
(Judicial Quest News Network)
In the backdrop of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic terming it as “Immense Humanitarian crisis” hitting working poormuch harder Three prominent social activists Harsh Mander, Anjali Bhardwaj and Jagdeep Chokker, on Monday wrote an open letter to CJI NV Ramanan and other Supreme Court judges seeking an urgent hearing on their application for directions to the centre and States to ensure food security, cash transfers, transport facilities and other welfare measures for migrant workers.
the activists’ states that we working closely with some of the most marginalised groups in the country and we are witnessing a crisis of hunger, starvation and death unfolding among the poor, especially the migrant worker community, who have been left without any protection, with the new restrictions and lockdowns imposed by various governments this year. It is important to note the impact of the sufferings on the working poor, who have already been at the receiving end of the on-going hunger crisis and job losses due to the lockdown and the COVID-19pandemic.
The activists through their lawyer Prashant Bhushan had filed an interim application on April 29 in Suo Motu case 2020 pertaining to problems and miseries of migrant labourers and alleged that it has not been listed for hearing so far by the Supreme Court’s registry.
It is further contended in the letter that “Today we write to you because the whole country is again in the grip of an immense humanitarian crisis of health care access, oxygen, vaccines, medicines, ambulance and hearse services. But while this has hit badly the middle classes, it is sometimes forgotten that it hits much, much harder the working poor, for many reasons, prominent among which are their on-going crisis of hunger and job losses during the lockdown and the pandemic”
In their application it is contended that the applicants seek to bring to the notice of the Hon’ble Court the continuing hardship being faced by the migrant worker community in light of the new restrictions and
curfews/lockdowns imposed by state governments to curb the spread of the second wave of COVID-l9 in India. The new restrictions and curfews/lockdowns imposed by governments to curb the spread of the second wave of COVID-l9 has caused immense distress in the lives of the economically vulnerable sections of societ5r, especially migrant workers. Across several states, migrant workers, having lost their means of livelihood on account of the restrictions imposed, are unable to sustain themselves and there is large scale distress migration back to their hometowns. No proper relief measures to mitigate the economic hardships being faced by migrant workers have been announced when the lockdowns were put in place leading to a precarious situation. The loss of livelihood and means of income is causing food insecurit5r among migrant workers and their families.
In May last year the Court has taken Suo Motu cognizance of problems and miseries of migrant labourers and had passed a slew of directions, including asking states not to charge fare from migrant workers and provide them food for free till they board trains or buses.
The intervenors have also submitted that we have made several requests for mentioning our urgency application through our advocate, Mr. Prashant Bhushan. We have been informed that the application is under process. While speaking to officials in the registry we were informed that the petition will not be listed before July. We are writing to you in this manner to underline how urgent it is for this matter to kindly be heard without any delay, so that the government is directed to take all the steps necessary to help mitigate the on-going humanitarian crisis during the second wave of the pandemic. Our petition urges a series of immediate steps, including distribution of free rations, payment of minimum wages as cash transfers and appropriate transport facilities for migrant workers. Some relief measures for migrant workers were put in place by the government last year during the lockdown but have not been revived this year.
The application had also sought the direction from the court Direct the UOI to resume its scheme of providing dry rations under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat scheme, or any other scheme designed for that purpose, to all 8 crores migrant labourers/ stranded or needy persons who are
not covered under the Nationa-l Food Security Act (NFSA) or State PDS cards and were identified under the said scheme last year, for at least such time that the Disaster Management Act is in force by issuance of COVID ration cards.
