On Thursday, August 5, the Bombay High Court (HC) asked the Maharashtra government to consider providing a “common card” to fully inoculated people to allow them unrestricted travel and work.
This will help in identifying and segregating those who have taken both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the rest.
The bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni directed the Uddhav Thackeray government to consider allowing people who have received both doses to travel in local trains and resume normal activities.
Responding to this, the counsels for the state and Centre replied they would discuss the proposal but also mentioned that the large number of daily commuters on Mumbai’s local trains, which is nearly 70 lakhs had to be borne in mind before implementing any new system.
The bench also noted that the state and the Centre must consider issuing a “common card” that identifies a citizen as fully vaccinated and permits him or her to travel and work unrestrained. It was in the reference to an interview with Maharashtra COVID-19 task force member Dr Shashank Joshi.
Meanwhile, advocate-general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, who appeared for the Maharashtra government, told the court that a letter from the state disaster management authority would be issued for lawyers and registered judicial clerks, based on which the railways would give them travel passes.
Dr Joshi said one-third of Maharashtra’s population was still susceptible to the coronavirus, and unrestricted local train travel could not be permitted yet as identifying the fully vaccinated was cumbersome.
If Dr Joshi says it (train travel) can be done subject to identification, it is for the state and the Centre to identify the fully vaccinated (people), the court added.
The bench stated that travel is a serious issue in Mumbai and train travel is most economical.
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