India Tomorrow

AHMEDABAD, MAY 13— The Gujarat High Court has taken suo motu notice of the reported miseries caused by the weeklong complete lockdown in Ahmedabad and directed the state government to distribute food packets among hungry migrant workers and other people in the city, on its outskirts and in other parts of the state.

On May 7, the state authorities had imposed a complete lockdown in the capital city for a week. Barring milk and medicine shops, everything was ordered to shut down till May 14 as the Coronavirus cases witnessed heavy surge in the city in the previous week.

On Monday (May 11), the High Court took suo motu notice of media reports on the miseries of people, particularly migrant workers and daily-wagers, who were hungry for some days due to the complete lockdown.

“It appears that people at large are hungry. People are without any food or shelter. It seems that it is the outcome of complete lockdown. Whatever little help the poor people used to receive from the NGOs, other charitable institutions and volunteers, have come to a grinding halt. It has been reported that more than two hundred people living on the footpaths near the Ellisbridge have not had a morsel of food for the past four days. It is reported that the volunteers used to bring them food, but since the complete lockdown even that has stopped”, LiveLaw.in quoted from the judgment passed by a division bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Ilesh J Vora.

While directing distribution of food packets among affected people, the bench asked the state to ensure its citizen do not go hungry.

“The situation seems to be going out of control. Although the State Government is doing its best to combat the situation, yet we find that something is wrong somewhere. It appears that there is no proper coordination amongst various departments of the State Government. What is most essential as of now is a more humane approach or touch,” the bench observed.

Due to the nationwide lockdown imposed on March 24, thousands of migrant workers from different states found themselves stranded in Ahmedabad, Surat and other cities. For the past one week, the state government has been sending them to their home states.

As for Coronavirus, with over 8,900 cases, Gujarat is the second most affected state after Maharashtra in the country. Of the 8,900 cases, over 6000 are in Ahmedabad alone. So far, over 3200 people have recovered and discharged and 537 have died.