PremiumRelief is a must. And the coverage of a safety net with the basics of sustenance must extend to all, with a beneficiary’s will to work (or lack thereof), like the ability to find any, held as irrelevant. What we can do to help, we must
The Bombay high court on Saturday said that beggars and the homeless “should also work for the country" as “everyone is working" and “everything cannot be provided by the state". This observation was made on a petition that Mumbai’s municipal body be directed to supply the city’s destitute with three square meals a day, shelter, access to clean water and public toilets. In dismissing it, the court likened such provisions to a public invitation not to work.
The court has gone along with the doctrine that state largesse can induce laziness. An economy runs well when everyone who can be of value lends a shoulder to some wheel of economic activity or another. These, however, are extraordinary times, with covid spasmodically barring the livelihood of millions. While we had multitudes of beggars and homeless folks even pre-pandemic, we must reflect upon the state’s moral onus when its curbs restrain people from making a living. Relief is a must. And the coverage of a safety net with the basics of sustenance must extend to all, with a beneficiary’s will to work (or lack thereof), like the ability to find any, held as irrelevant. What we can do to help, we must.
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