The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra government to explain the steps taken to rehabilitate and reform beggars, including child alms seekers.

The court sought the State’s response while hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Pune resident Dhyandeshwar Darwatkar raising concerns over beggars not following social distancing norms or other rules like wearing face masks while approaching people on road at the time of COVID-19 pandemic.

The petitioner’s counsel, Shekhar Jagtap, told the court that while the State and civic authorities had rescued some beggars and sent them to government-run homes, it was very likely that they might comeback on the streets once the lockdown norms were relaxed further.

A Bench led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta said that one needed to take a holistic approach, and see what could be done to rehabilitate and reform beggars, particularly children involved in seeking alms. It directed Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to present the State’s views on the next hearing.

Earlier last month, during a previous hearing, the Bench led by Chief Justice Datta had said it was “not right to blame only beggars” for the spread of novel coronavirus as even “civilised people did not follow rules of social distancing”.

Meanwhile, the State government has decided to provide ₹25 lakh insurance cover to non-government organisations from rural areas performing final rites of people who die of COVID-19, according to Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif. The insurance cover will be provided till September 30, according to an official statement here.

The cover is being offered considering the risk of members of such organisations getting infected by the disease, he said.