CHENNAI: The Madras high court has said homeless people are the most vulnerable to Covid-19 infection and the government should vaccinate them on priority, at least in the interest of public health.
“The authorities should ensure that no destitute or homeless or pavement dweller or other citizen of similar kind residing in the state is left out in the vaccination drive,” the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said on Wednesday. All corporations, municipalities and town panchayats should be sensitized by social welfare department to ensure that these vulnerable persons be regarded as candidates for immediate urgent vaccination since they stand more exposed than other citizens to contract the virus, the court added.
The court made the observation while disposing of a PIL seeking to ensure that the homeless and less privileged including pavement dwellers and persons who slip through the cracks in the system and may not be registered at all are protected against the virus and measures are taken to vaccinate them.
When the plea came up for hearing, government counsel P Muthukumar filed a report and submitted that Deendayal Antyodhaya Yojana, which is the national urban livelihoods mission has been implemented in 664 urban local bodies, including15 corporations, 121 municipalities and 528 town panchayats.
He further added that the functional shelters and the money sanctioned or expended in taking care of homeless are utilised for their vaccination too.
Recording the submissions, the bench said, “It is also apparent that the state has a programme to ensure that all such vulnerable persons are vaccinated as expeditiously as possible.”
