- Wednesday, April 24, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Supreme Court of India on Tuesday (14) said fundamental rights as mentioned in the Indian Constitution are guaranteed to every citizen irrespective of their vocation and asked the central and state governments as well as the union territories (UTs) to begin the process of issuing them voter, Aadhaar and ration cards besides giving them dry ration.
Aadhaar is a biometric system which aims to cover the entire country and is often key for availing benefits.
The top court, who heard a plea which has raised problems the sex workers face due to the pandemic, has been passing orders for improving their state and in September 2020, asked the central and state governments to make arrangements to provide dry ration to them without requiring to see their identity proof.
The plea was filed by a non-governmental organisation named Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, which has taken up the issue of the sex workers’ financial hardships during Covid-19 pandemic and sought relief measures for more than 900,000 woman and transgender sex workers across India.
A bench of the court comprising justices L Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna regretted that the directions of the top court on providing ration cards to the sex workers were passed as early as in 2011 but they have not been implemented yet.
“The state governments and UTs were directed to issue ration cards and identity cards to sex workers almost a decade back and there is no reason as to why such directions are not implemented till now,” the bench said.
“The fundamental rights are guaranteed to every citizen of the country irrespective of his/her vocation. There is a bounden duty on the government to provide basic amenities to the citizens of the country. The central government, state governments and other authorities are directed to commence the process of issuance of ration cards, voter ID cards and Aadhaar cards immediately,” the bench said.
The court also said that authorities can seek assistance from National AIDS Control Organisation and state AIDS control bodies who will prepare a list of sex workers after verifying the information provided to them.
“The status report related to issuance of ration cards, voter ID cards and Aadhaar cards to the sex workers be filed in a period of four weeks from today and in the meanwhile, state governments and UTs are directed to continue distribution of dry ration to sex workers without insisting on ration cards and other proofs of identity as mentioned in earlier orders,” it said.
Two prostitutes told the New York Times in interviews that they had no work during the pandemic, particularly after the government imposed a lockdown last year when the first wave started. This resulted in exodus of migrant workers who, the prostitutes said are their main customers, from major cities to their homes located in distant places.
One such prostitute told the daily on the condition of anonymity that she might have died of starvation as she had little money during the lockdown. It was food from the Sikh gurdwaras that support the needy that kept her alive.
For activists like Gitanjali Babbar who works for the welfare for more than 1,000 sex workers in New Delhi, the question is more about dignity than giving utilities. Food and other assistance that some of the government and private groups gave to the sex workers were not adequate to meet requirements such as paying rent, school fees for their children and debt.
“This not just about subsidised rice, but about dignity. Why can’t sex workers have same benefits as other citizens of the country?” she told the US news outlet.
