New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered States and Union Territories to supply dry ration to sex workers identified by the National AIDS Control Organisation and district legal authorities without insisting on asking them to produce identity documents like ration card etc, ANI reported.
Supreme Court directs all state governments to ensure that dry ration is being provided to sex workers identified by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) in adequate amount and uniformity, in view of #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/PhVUyEe9q2
— ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2020
A Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao directed the States and Union Territories to file status reports in a month.
It may be recalled that in the last hearing, the Bench had asked the Centre to consider whether it could take similar steps for granting relief to sex workers as were taken for helping the transgender community amid the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.
The Durbar Mahila Samanway Committee, the country’s oldest collective of sex workers, had approached the apex court for support during the pandemic.
Many in the community are single mothers unable to afford an education for their children in the current scenario. Attempts to secure alternative livelihoods have failed due to social stigma, The Hindu reported quoting the collective.
