The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Centre to tell it how many of the 28.55 crore registered workers hold ration cards and receive food assistance under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). A panel of justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna requested the Union of India to provide information on how many of the 28.55 crore registered workers had ration cards and whether they are receiving food assistance under the NFSA. The case has been scheduled for a hearing on February 20. The court pointed out that simply registration is insufficient in this circumstance.
The court also stated that it is certain that the Centre must have shared the data collected on the e-Shram portal with the states and asked the states to share the data pertaining to migrant workers in order to ensure that the purpose and object of the schemes are made available to the workers concerned.
The court stated that the Centre and states must ensure that any beneficent initiatives intended for undocumented employees are made available to them. The court ruled that data on the eShram platform should henceforth be used for their advantage. It further stated that it is sad that many of the states are not represented, and hence requested that the counsel for the remaining states remain present on the next date of hearing.
The Supreme Court was considering a case concerning the implementation of its ruling on the challenges and plight of migrant workers. The Centre had previously informed the court that it had already built the Portal in cooperation with the National Informatics Centre for the registration of unorganised labourers or migrant workers across India.
According to the government, one of the objectives and purposes of the registration is to ensure that the beneficent plans stated by the government or governments reach the concerned unorganized laborer’s or migratory workers.
