Rajasthan HC ‘dissatisfied’ over non-identification of people without valid IDs for vaccination

By PTI
JODHPUR: Amid uncertainty over anti-Covid vaccination of Pakistani Hindu migrants in Rajasthan, the state government on Friday sought some more time from the high court here to identify them for their inoculation.

State’s Additional Advocate General K S Rajpurohit sought time from a Jodhpur bench of the high court after it made a critical observation against the government over the delay in the identification of the community.

Despite the Centre’s special operation procedure providing for vaccinations of people having no prescribed identity cards, the state government was yet to take steps to identify them for the vaccination, the bench of justices Vijay Bishnoi and Rameshwar Vyas said.

The bench said it while examining the issue of vaccination and food supply to migrants that the court had taken suo moto cognisance of and had sought the Centre and state government’s stands over it.

Following this observation, AAG Rajpurohit sought some time to furnish details about the steps taken by the state government in every district to identify people having no prescribed identity cards for vaccination.

Following the state law officer’s submission, the court adjourned the matter for the next hearing on June 3.

AAG Rajpurohit had earlier told the court that the Centre’s May 6 SOP was silent on the Pakistani minority migrants and the state government has sought the Centre’s clarification on the issue of vaccination to the people who have not been granted citizenship.

The Centre’s law officer, Additional Solicitor General Vipul Singhvi, however, had earlier countered the AAG submission earlier in an affidavit.

The Centre has already issued a detailed SOP on COVID-19 vaccination of people having no prescribed identity cards after registering them on the CoWIN app after receiving the requisite information from the state and district administration regarding various groups.

Concurring with the ASG’s submission in the affidavit, the bench observed, “We also have noticed that several directions regarding the identification of groups of people included in the SOP have been given but the state has not submitted any details regarding the identification of such groups.”

Adjourning the matter for June 3, the court directed AAG Rajpurohit to submit a detailed report regarding the compliance of the Centre’s SOP guidelines in the state.