The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned a plea filed to restrain beggars and vagabonds/homeless from begging on traffic junctions, markets and public places to avoid the spread of Covid-19 in all states and Union Territories across India and to rehabilitate them so as to ensure that basic amenities including food, shelter and medical facilities including vaccination are provided.
The Supreme Court Bench led by Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud earlier while issuing notice to Union of India and Delhi Government observed that in the context of Covid-19, the beggars, vagabonds, homeless are entitled to medical facilities as others.
The bench also showed their displeasure in the Prayer A of the petition, seeking to restrain the beggars, vagabonds and homeless people from begging at the streets and further granted permission to amend the plea so as to bring conformity as prayer A will not be pressed. The bench said, “This was a socio-economic issue that could not be remedied by the court.”
The Court had refused to take an elitist view to restrain the beggars, vagabonds and the homeless people from begging at the traffic junctions, markets and public places and expressed that this is a human problem, several socio-economic problems drove people into begging. Their poverty could not be wished away by passing an order to remove them from public places or streets. The Government should take measures to ensure that the beggars are fully vaccinated.
As the result, the petitioner has filed an application seeking amendment of the petition which prays the indulgence of the Apex Court in order to provide rehabilitation of beggars and the vagabonds with the help of Social Welfare Departments and the District Magistrates of the states to ensure food, shelter and basic amenities including Covid-19 vaccination to them.
The affidavit filed by the Union of India on 09.08.2021 states that the Co-Win software has aggregated data regarding vaccination of all persons without prescribed identity cards. Although, segregated data is not available for individual subunits like vagabonds and destitute. However, a total of 4,82,079 vaccine doses have been administered to people without prescribed identity cards as of 8th August 2021.
The affidavit further assured that the Government of India has taken all possible steps to ensure that the National Covid-19 Vaccination Program is equitable and accessible to all sections of society, equally focusing on the weakest sections of society that lack access to various resources.
In the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government of India has regularly provided guidance and advisories to all States/UTs ensuring that groups like beggars vagabonds/the homeless etc. are able to utilize the services of Covid-19 vaccination like all other citizens of India.
Matter to be listed next week.