For Ration, Aadhar and Voter Cards: Sex Workers have an Identity Too!
Recently in Budhadev Karmaskar v. State of West Bengal, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India directed the State Governments and Union Territories to commence the process of issuance of Aadhar Cards, Voter Identity Cards, and Ration Cards to sex workers, as per the list maintained by the National AIDS Control Organisation. An NGO called 'Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee’ filed the petition, which underlined the destitution that sex workers are facing as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and demanded help for nearly nine lakh female and transgender sex workers across India. To provide more context on the importance of these documents - the Aadhar card is a biometric identification card that records an individual's personal data in a government database and is the government's base data for various kinds of welfare services. Voter identity cards, as the name suggests, are issued to citizens of India aged 18 (“eighteen”) and above to exercise their constitutional right to vote, whereas, ration cards enable citizens to purchase food grains at a subsidized rate National Food Security Act (NFSA).
Sex workers in India face severe social disapproval, to the extent that they are exposed to a range of abuse including physical attacks and harassment by clients, families, society, and state authorities. Moreover, sex work is coalesced with trafficking for sexual exploitation and both the Indian Penal Code and the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act criminalize the practice of sex work. The argument that promoting/validating sex work would amount to purporting trafficking for sexual exploitation is unfounded and the Supreme Court very rightly held that the “right to dignity is a Fundamental Right that is guaranteed to every citizen of this country irrespective of his/her vocation. There is a bounden duty cast on the government to provide basic amenities to the citizens of this country.” The Supreme Court expressed its displeasure in the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities on the delay of the implementation of its order in 2011, immediately ordered the State Governments and Union Territories for issuance of Aadhar cards, voter identity cards, and ration cards to sex workers. The latter, in the court’s opinion, would help in the uniform distribution of the minimum quantity of dry rations to the sex workers. Given the paltry income of sex workers and regular exploitation across the country, access to dry rations would mean that they would be able to consume the same at a subsidized price. More than 50% of workers across India do not have ration cards, or any such documentation - hence, the order of the SC comes as a massive relief to them.
It is not for the first time that courts in India have stood up for the rights of sex workers. In 2012, the Delhi High Court overturned forcible detention and transportation of adult sex workers citing violation of their right to dignity. In 2019, the Supreme Court opined legalizing the sex industry, highlighting the failure of the government authorities in curbing the same.
Although the instant order of the Supreme Court was limited to the issuance of identity cards vis-a-vis the right to dignity and distribution of dry rations, the author believes that this order could have wide-ranging, instant, and positive implications. In fact, right after the instant order, the Chief Electoral Officer for the State of Telangana sought a list of voter cards to be distributed to sex workers, and in Kerala, the government announced priority ration cards for sex workers. Moreover, it is mandatory to produce a valid identity card to get a Covid 19 vaccine in India. At a broader level, lack of identification cards cause restrictions to property and inheritance rights, access to education, healthcare, housing, and freedom of movement, all of which have been interpreted to be under Part III (Fundamental Rights) and Part IV (Directive Principles of State Policy) of the Constitution of India by numerous judicial decisions. Further, Article 326 of the Constitution of India provides for the universal adult franchise for all citizens irrespective of their vocation, but the voting rights cannot be exercised without a valid Voter ID card. Issuance of Aadhar would also enable sexual workers to link the same with their PAN Card, which would help both the government and the sex workers in tax compliance.
The relief to sex workers by the SC couldn’t have come at a better time. The pandemic and consequential lockdowns have landed a critical blow to the state of sex workers in India. A recent study reveals that over 90 percent of sex workers across three Indian states are victims of debt bondage and slavery. This unprecedented catastrophe has caused a loss in livelihood as well social marginalization of the sex workers. The judicial intervention couldn’t have come at a better time to the rescue of the marginalized sex workers.
Mayank Barman is an Associate (TMT) at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.