Activists write to CJI that India is in “grip of an immense humanitarian crisis”

Activists Harsh Mander, Anjali Bhardwaj and Jagdeep Chhokar, in a letter to the Chief Justice of India, have sought urgent listing in the Suo Moto case pertaining to migrant workers pending before the Supreme Court.

The trio have said that “as the whole country is in the grip of an immense humanitarian crisis of healthcare access, oxygen, vaccines, medicines, ambulance and hearse  services”, it is important to note the impact of the suffering on the working poor, who have already been at the receiving end of the ongoing hunger crisis and job losses due to the lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We therefore felt it was urgent to raise the issues of securing food and social security for the poor, during this even more lethal second phase of the pandemic, where state governments are increasingly resorting to lockdowns,” the activists stated in the letter. “This has disrupted even the slow revival of the economy, deepened the economic recession, witnessed again the mass distress return of the migrants to the villages, and all of this will only further aggravate the intense humanitarian crisis that the country is enduring, probably the worst of our lifetimes after Partition.”

The activists are seeking an early intervention but it was found that they found that the petition would not be listed before July. As such, they have written to the CJI to underline the urgency for the matter to be kindly heard without any delay, so that the government is directed to take all steps necessary to help mitigate the ongoing humanitarian crisis during the second wave of infections.

The petition urges for a series of immediate steps to be taken, such as the distribution of free rations, payment of minimum wages as cash transfers and appropriate transport facilities for migrant workers. It also highlighted a few relief measures that had been implemented by the government last year during the nationwide lockdown, but have not been revived in 2021.

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The activists also urged the Centre and respective state governments to provide free cooked food through networks of community kitchens, hunger relief and feeding centres, especially at places where distressed migrant workers are congregating, as well as to furnish details of social and food security schemes put in place and plans formulated under DMA.

“As responsible citizens, we write this open letter as a humble appeal to list the case with our intervention for an early hearing without any delay, to prevent a lot of the hardships and suffering  currently being faced by the vulnerable and marginalized communities.”