The SC has sought a status report from the centre on the measures taken for large-scale migration of labourers from cities to their villages.
New Delhi| The fear and the panic over the coronavirus pandemic is bigger than the virus itself, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said today as the Supreme Court heard two petitions seeking relief for thousands of migrant labourers who are leaving big cities en masse for their hometowns because they don’t have the resources to sustain during the 21-day coronavirus lockdown.
“We don’t want to deal with the things government is already handling,” the Chief Justice said. “We were noticing that your petition had prayers, some go which has already been taken care of by the government,” he told one of the petitions.
The number of people infected with coronavirus in India has risen to 1,071, including 29 dead and 100 who have recovered.
The top court, which heard two separate PILs filed by advocates Alakh Alok Srivastava and Rashmi Bansal on the issue of migration of labourers, said it would see the status report to be filed by the Centre before issuing any order.
One of the petitions filed by advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava has sought food, water, shelter and urgent intervention on the plight of migrant workers and their families who are walking on foot to their respective villages from big cities.
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During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the Union of India and all state governments were taking all necessary measures to mitigate the situation and stop the migration of labourers to prevent the spread of the virus. He told the bench that he wanted to file an affidavit on behalf of the Centre while replying to the petition.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta today told the Supreme Court that the mass migration of workers from cities to their native places needs to stop in order to prevent the further transmission of COVID-19.
This submission came when the Bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justice L Nageswara Rao took up a PIL filed by one Rashmi Bansal for hearing via video conferencing. This PIL sought directions for sanitizing and disinfecting migrant workers before their travel to their native places.
The court, meanwhile, adjourned the matter till tomorrow.
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