The Gauhati High Court has directed the authorities of a district in southern Assam’s Barak valley to provide rations to sex workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic .
An order was issued to the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar district and the Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority on May 28.
Hearing a petition filed by Debajit Gupta, a resident of Cachar district headquarters Silchar, a Bench of Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak cited a September 2020 Supreme Court observation that sex workers have a right to live with dignity.
The top court had also constituted a committee to look into the conditions of sex workers in the country.
The Deputy Commissioner informed the court that the sex workers and their families have already been identified since a project is being run by the National AIDS Control Organisation.
“Since it is an urgent situation, let the rations be provided to them today [May 28] itself,” the court said.
There are an estimated 70 sex workers in Silchar, and they sustain about 300 people.
