New Delhi: As thousands of migrant workers walking back to their native places after being rendered jobless due to the coronavirus lockdown, the Supreme Court on Monday observed that the panic and fear is becoming a "bigger problem than coronavirus."
In view of this, the top court sought a status report from the Centre by Tuesday on the measures taken to prevent the exodus.
The court said that it would not create more confusion by issuing directions on measures which the government is already taking.
Hearing two separate petitions through video-conferencing, Chief Justice Bobde and Justice L Nageswara Rao said that before passing any direction, it would like to wait for the status report from the centre.
The PILs, filed by advocates Alakh Alok Srivastava and Rashmi Bansal, sought relief, including food, water, medicines and proper medical facilities, for thousands of migrant workers who are leaving for their native places after being rendered homeless and jobless due to the 21-day coronavirus lockdown.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre said that the migration needs to be stopped to prevent the spread of the virus and the Centre as well as concerned states have taken requisite steps to deal with it.
Referring to various news stories, Srivastava, petitioner in-person, said that there is a lack of cohesion and cooperation between states on the issue of migration of labourers.
The Uttar Pradesh government initially provided buses for movement of migrant labourers for two days and now they have stopped the service, he added.
Reacting to Mehta's submission that Centre would like to file the status report on affidavit on the steps taken, the bench said, "we would not deal with the things, which the government is already doing. We would like to wait for the report of the Centre."
Bansal, another petitioner in-person, said that medical and safety measures are required for these migrant labourers.
She also suggested that sanitisers can be sprinkled on the groups of migrant labourers to disinfect them, and mid-day meal providers should be roped in to provide food.
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