Under this program, 5 kg of grain per person and 1 kg of pulses per family per month were free.
New Delhi:
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court asking the central government to extend the provision of dry rations to migrant workers stranded for at least one year under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan program.
Activists Harsh Mander, Anjali Bharadwaj and Jagdeep Chhokar have seized the superior court for “food insecurity” of migrant workers filing a request to intervene in an already pending suo moto case concerning the miseries of migrants stranded across the country.
The central government introduced Atma Nirbhar chemistry in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, where migrant workers who are not beneficiaries under national food security law or the state’s public distribution system will receive 5 kg of cereals per person and 1 kg of pulses per family free of charge, per month for two months.
Although the Atma Nirbhar program was announced by the Center for the benefit of eight crore migrant workers, it was only in effect for a period of two months – May and June, the request submitted.
He added that the program had not been extended beyond two months, despite the disaster management law still in force.
“The cessation of the free provision of cooked food (under another program) through shelters and relief centers is of great concern. Many migrant workers who have returned from their villages have not found employment or found only part-time work, earning a fraction of wages and are unable to afford shelter and food, “the request said.
He pointed out that despite the program, food grains and pulses were only a fraction of those without ration cards due to problems in identifying beneficiaries and then distributing them by states.
Suggesting that an appropriate “accountability system” should be in place in each state, activists added that the chief secretaries of each state should be held personally responsible for ensuring that the identification of migrants / stranded persons is completed within a specified time frame and that the total quota allocated to each state is distributed within 15 days.
“In addition, simple criteria to identify migrant workers should be used, such as self-certification, since insistence on cumbersome procedures or the production of documents will exclude the most vulnerable and marginalized,” said the request.
The request sought to maintain provisions for free hot meals in designated relief camps and shelters for at least the next six months until December 2020.
It also requested instructions from the Center and state governments to provide financial assistance to the self-employed and those whose workplaces were closed due to economic hardship during the lockdown.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
