NEW DELHI: As a PIL sought a direction to the Centre and the Delhi Government to grant Rohingya refugees’ children access to public schools, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said no child would be discriminated against in education.
Noting that it just wanted to know where these Rohingya families were living, a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh posted the matter for further hearing after 10 days. On behalf of petitioner Rohingya Human Rights Initiative, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves said he had filed an affidavit giving details and that the Rohingya refugees had UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) cards.
Gonsalves said Rohingya refugees resided in Shaheen Bagh, Kalindi Kunj and Khajuri Khas areas of Delhi. “In Shaheen Bagh and Kalindi Kunj, they are residing in slums, and in Khajuri Khas, they are residing in rented accommodation,” he told the Bench.
“They are refugees having UNHCR cards and therefore they can’t have Aadhaar cards. But for want of Aadhaar, they are not being granted access to public schools and hospitals,” Gonsalves submitted.
However, the Bench asked him to furnish particulars such as names and addresses of parents of the Rohingya children before it could issue any directions. On January 31, the top court asked the petitioner to inform it about the places where these Rohingya refugees are settled in Delhi and the facilities accessible to them. It had asked Gonsalves to file an affidavit indicating their places of settlement in Delhi.
The NGO has sought access to public schools and hospitals for Rohingya refugees as they were denied the access due to lack of Aadhaar cards, Gonsalves had submitted.
The PIL sought a direction to government authorities to grant admission to all Rohingya children free of cost irrespective of Aadhar cards and allow them to participate in all examinations, including class 10, 12 and graduation, without government insistence on the ID proof.
The PIL also sought extension of all government benefits such as free health services in government hospitals, subsidised food grains as available under Antyodya Anna Yojana scheme and benefits under the Food Security Act to Rohingya families as available to other citizens, irrespective of citizenship.