MumbaiThe Bombay High Court on Thursday sought to know from the Maharashtra government whether the tribal population of the state can be given employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice MS Karnik was hearing PILs filed in 2007 that highlighted the death of a large number of children, pregnant women and lactating mothers due to malnutrition in the Melghat region of Maharashtra. Is.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, appearing for the state government, informed the court that the tribals of Melghat region have access to welfare schemes of the government, but when they migrate to other areas after the monsoon, they do not get the benefit of these schemes. Could get
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Kumbhakoni said, “Our ultimate goal is to ensure that there is no migration from the area. Till then, the effort of the government will be to provide benefits even in the areas where these people migrate after migration. To this, the bench said that if the tribals are provided employment in their own villages, then they will not feel the need to migrate.
Chief Justice Dutta asked, ‘Can they be given employment under MGNREGA? If the government wants to stop migration, it will have to find sources of employment. This should be part of the government’s strategy. Bandu Sane, one of the petitioners, informed the court that on an average 40 children died every month in Melghat area due to malnutrition till August 2021. He said that between November 2021 and January 2022, the death toll came down to an average of 20 per month. To this, the court said that the state government is not taking steps to ensure that there is not a single death due to malnutrition in the area.
The bench also sought to know from Kumbhakoni why the scheme of providing hot food to the people was stopped. Justice Karnik said, “It is very disturbing. This is a basic thing, which the government should have provided.
Kumbhakoni told the bench, ‘In view of the spread of corona virus, the scheme of providing hot food was stopped. The government was providing ration as an alternative. He assured that this scheme will be restored in February. After this, the court fixed February 28 for the next hearing of the case. (agency)