SC takes suo moto cognizance of migrant workers' issues; matter to be heard on May 28

In a massive development on Tuesday, May 26, a three-judge SC bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice MR Shah took suo moto cognizance of the problems faced by migrant workers stranded in different states of the country. The bench mentioned that it had read media reports and received letters which highlighted that some migrant workers had to walk long distances on foot and were not provided with food and water. It observed that the Centre and state governments should provide adequate transport arrangements, food and shelter for the migrant workers as they were still stranded on roads, railway stations and state borders. 

Contending that were inadequacies and certain lapses in the measures taken by the Centre and the state governments, the apex court expressed the view that effective concentrated efforts were required to redeem the situation. Thereafter, it issued notice to the Centre and all states/Union Territories to submit their responses. This suo moto petition shall be taken up for hearing on May 28. Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has been requested to assist the court and bring to its notice all measures taken by the Central government in this regard by the next day of the hearing. 

Read: Rahul Gandhi Washes Hands Off Maharashtra Covid Crisis; Says 'Cong Supporting, Not Ruling'

Here is the full Supreme Court order: 

Read: ICMR Clarifies 'no Major Side-effects' Of Hydroxychloroquine, Advises To 'continue' Usage

Over 42 lakh migrant workers benefit from Shramik Special trains

Since May 1, 3276 Shramik Special trains have ferried around 42 lakh migrant workers to their native places. The top 5 states from where trains have originated are Gujarat (897), Maharashtra (590), Punjab (358), Uttar Pradesh (232), Delhi (200). On the other hand, the maximum number of trains has terminated at Uttar Pradesh (1,428), Bihar (1,178), Jharkhand (164), Odisha (128) and Madhya Pradesh (120). While 2875 trains have terminated, 401 are currently running. In the last 4 days, 260 trains on average have run daily carrying about three lakh passengers.

Read: Rahul Gandhi Calls Lockdown A 'failure', Asks Govt For Its 'plan B' To Tackle The Pandemic

COVID-19 crisis in India

Currently, there are 1,45,380 novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 60,491 patients have been discharged while 4,167 casualties have been reported. Addressing a press briefing earlier in the day, Lav Aggarwal- the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health revealed that India's recovery rate had surged to 41.61% from 7.1% in March. He highlighted that India's fatality rate of 2.87% was one of the lowest in the world. Aggarwal pointed out that only 10.7 cases per lakh population had been reported in India as against the global average of 69.9 cases. Similarly, he noted that India had witnessed 0.3 deaths per lakh population in contrast to 4.5 deaths per lakh population in the world. 

Read: Coronavirus Live Updates: India's Recovery Rate Surges To 41.61%; Cases Near 1.5 Lakh Mark