Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has recently directed the state government to take immediate steps to ensure provision of food and ration for unorganised sector workers, especially the cobblers of the city.
The rights body’s direction to the government came during a hearing of a plea filed by human rights activists who sought the commission’s intervention over a report published in this regard in April 20 edition of Orissa POST.
Notably, the newspaper highlighted how several families in Mochi Sahi, comprising around 300 cobbler families, near Station Square here are struggling to arrange a square meal. No ration or food items were provided to around 100 families who don’t have ration cards, said the news report. The situation of other unorganised sector workers was also no different, the report said.
The commission sent the Orissa POST report along with the plea by human rights activists to the Commissioner of Police, Principal Secretaries of Housing & Urban Development department and Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare department for further action in this regard.
It has also sent the same report to Commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) asking him to avail the residents of Mochi Sahi food and ration which is the barest minimum requirement for a human being to survive.
The Commission in its order, said, “There should not be any difficulty on the part of the administration in providing food and ration to the needy but in spite of that if some people are actually deprived of the same, immediate steps should be taken for redressal of their minimum genuine grievances regarding food for the categories of the persons detailed in the petition if they are going without food and ration.”
Meanwhile, the BMC Commissioner, Prem Chandra Chaudhary told Orissa POST that the BMC has not taken any decision regarding the non-ration card holders. BMC has been following the direction of the state government, which yet to issue any instructions in this regard.
