Maharashtra Govt Announces Rs. 5,000 Per Month Financial Aid For Sex Workers Without Requirement Of ID Proof

The assistance will be provided for the months of October to December 2020.

The decision comes in light of the directions issued by the Supreme Court in Budhadev Karmaskar v. State of West Bengal & Ors., urging the Centre and State Government to urgently consider providing relief to sex workers, distressed on account of the ongoing pandemic, in the form of dry rations, monetary assistance as well as masks, soaps and sanitizers without insisting on proof of identity.

The Uddhav-Thackrey led Maharashtra Government on Thursday directed the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) to arrange for distribution of monthly compensation and ration to the sex workers in the state, without insisting on proof of identity.

The move was approved by the State Women & Child Welfare Department and an amount of over Rs. 51 crores, is released by the Chief Minister's Assistance Fund. The entire scheme was drafted by a Committee comprising of NACO representatives, under the chairmanship of the District Collector.

On September 21, a bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao & Hemant Gupta had directed Centre & State Governments to provide food and financial aid to sex workers in a plea highlighting the distress faced by them on account of the ongoing pandemic.

SC Urges Centre & States To Provide Monetary Assistance, Rations To Sex Workers Without Insisting On Identity Proof

As per the latest order passed in this case, the State Governments are also required to follow the Standard Operation Procedure formulated by NACO and to commence distribution of dry ration to sex workers. They have also been cautioned to maintain the confidentiality and privacy of the sex workers.

Other judicial orders pertaining to sex workers:

• Sex Workers Should Not Be Arrested, Rather They Must Be Treated As Victims Of Crime: Calcutta HC
• "Prostitution Not An Offence; Adult Woman Has Right To Choose Her Vocation": Bombay HC Orders Release of 3 Sex Workers From Corrective Institution
• Rajasthan HC Allows Termination Of Sex-Worker's Pregnancy, Deeming Her Akin To Victim Of Rape
• Adult sex workers "participating with consent" should not be arrested: SC panel
• Approaching 'Voluntary' Sex Worker Not A Crime, Says Gujarat HC
• Delhi Court awards ten years to rapists, upholds sex worker's dignity