The Supreme Court’s order to the government to provide food rations to migrant workers grappling with economic distress amid the Covid-19 crisis will bring them much-needed relief, the petitioners in the case said on Tuesday.
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and MR Shah had directed the Centre to bring in a scheme for distribution of dry ration to migrants and operate community kitchens so that no one goes hungry during the pandemic. They also directed the Centre to set up a national portal for registration of unorganised sector workers by July 31.
These directions were issued based on a petition filed by activists Harsh Mander, Anjali Bhardwaj and Jagdeep Chhoka, who had said that migrant workers were again left without welfare support during the second wave of the pandemic as states imposed lockdowns to curb Covid-19 cases.
In a statement issued after the hearing, the petitioners noted that the situation was more serious for migrant workers this year because their…