No Travel Fare To Be Charged On Migrants; Notify Places Providing Food For Stranded Migrants : SC Directs [Read Order]

Taking note of the miseries of stranded migrants across the country, the Supreme Court on Thursday passed a slew of significant directions. 

They are :

1. No fare either by train or bus shall be charged for migrant workers. The rail fare to be shared by states as per their arrangement. In no case any fare should be asked or charged from any migrant workers by the States and the Railways
2. Migrant workers shall be provided food free of cost by the concerned state and UT at places to be publicized & notified for the period they are waiting for their turn to board a train or a bus.
3. At the commencement of train journey, originating states should provide meal & water. During the journey, railways should provide meal and water to migrant workers . Food and water to also be provided in buses.
4. State shall simplify and speed up the process of registration of migrants and also provide help desk for registration at places where they are stranded.
5. States to ensure that after registration, they are made to board transport as early as possible.
6. Those migrant workers found walking on the roads, immediately be taken to shelters & provided food and all facilities.
7. The receiving state, after the migrants reach the native place, shall provide transport, health screening and other facilities free of cost. 

The bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul and M R Shah also directed the Centre to place on record information regarding number of migrants awaiting , transportation to native places, plan for transportation and mechanism of registration and other requisite details.

The matter has been adjourned till June 5. 

During the hearing, the bench posed several questions to the Central Government on the issues concerning migrant workers, who have been stranded during the lockdown.

'Who Pays Migrants' Rail Fare?How Many Days Needed To Shift Them?Who Gives Them Food?', SC Asks Centre

It was on May 26 that the Supreme Court took suo moto cognizance of the migrants crisis, which had been on going since the announcement of country-wide lockdown on March 24. The Court said that there were "inadequacies and certain lapses" in the measures taken by the governments for migrants welfare.

"We take suo motu cognisance of problems and miseries of migrant labourers who had been stranded in different parts of the country. The newspaper reports and the media reports have been continuously showing the unfortunate and miserable conditions of the migrant labourers walking on-foot and cycles from long distances", the bench said. 

Shortly before that, a group of 20 leading advocates had submitted a representation before the CJI, complaining that the Court's passivity in the issue resulted in the executive going unchecked amidst a grave humanitarian crisis. They said that the Court was showing "excessive deference" to the executive, by showing unwillingness to question the Central Government's "patently false" claims.

Several former judges, and senior advocates, including Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, have been vocal in criticizing the top court for its inaction on the migrants issue.

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