Plea Moved In Delhi HC For Migrant Workers Left Without Food And Shelter Amid Lockdown

A plea has been moved in the Delhi High Court highlighting the plight of the persons who have been rendered homeless in the Kashmiri Gate area, and seeking solutions for the same.

Filed by Sunil Kumar Aledia, the plea highlights various areas of Delhi which are concentrated areas of homeless workers.

The Petitioner has submitted that due to the joblessness created by nationwide lockdown, these concentrated areas have become further populated by concentration workers, daily wage labourers, etc.

As per the petition, these persons who have been rendered homeless are living, and carrying out their sanitary practices in open, near the Yamuna river area.

It is highlighted by the petition that these disadvantaged persons have been left to fend for themselves without basic necessities such as food, water, shelter and medicines. The authorities, it is argued, have been apathetic to their cause.

The grave situation that has been highlighted in the petition includes non functional public toilets, women being charged money for using toilets in the night, and unregistered construction workers who have been rendered jobless without any benefits.

While the Petitioner has sought the directions of this court to be issued to State Government as well as the Delhi Police, he has also suggested the following solutions to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis:

a. Allow the School Buildings in the vicinity of the areas where more than 10 thousand persons are stranded in the open to be used as temporary shelter allowing the persons to have a roof over their head, toilet facility, proper food distribution and medical facility

b. Allow people to use the public toilet facility in and nearby the Homeless Shelters and Slum Clusters free of cost and also to ensure hygiene until the extraordinary situation due to covid 19 pandemic is not over.

c. Make immediate provisions to ensure that the food is being provided to all these persons also to ensure that all the workers are registered as construction workers and other facilities are provided to them.