Punjab govt not spending enough on dental health schemes for poor: Justice Thakur

Chandigarh, Supreme court judge Justice TS Thakur on Saturday criticised the Punjab government for spending enough on dental health schemes for construction workers.
Coming down on the state government’s schemes for the welfare of construction workers: “Out of Rs 750 crore collected as cess in Punjab, you have not spent even Rs 50,000 on dentists schemes on these sector. Does a poor man not have dental problem or they do not have teeth at all,” the apex court judge, who is also the Executive Chairman of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), said. He was addressing a Colloquium on ‘Workers in Unorganised Sector: Challenges and Way Forward’.
Justice Thakur said there was a general lack of sensitivity about the laws and schemes made for the welfare of poor people.
“There are laws and legislations in the books. The Construction Workers Protection Act is there, rules are there, schemes are there but what is lacking is the sensitivity about these laws. There is no sensitivity,” he said, pointing out that the government had not spent any money on these schemes from 2008-09 till 2012-13.
Poverty must not be an impediment to providing justice to the weaker section of society.
“There is a commitment to ensure that he (poor man) has equal access to justice. He should be equal in the matter of demanding or getting justice. He should be equally placed with rich man,” said Justice Thakur in his speech.
“When we talk of reforms and talk of justice to all sections of the society…regardless of the class and creed to which they belong, we cannot ignore any particular class, section or community,” he said.
Out of 125 crore of country’s population, almost 48 crore of people or one third of population lived below the poverty line.
“The real challenge is in legal awareness of rights of poor people and enforcement of their rights. It is a challenge because India is not a small country.
It is a very large country. In country with population of 125 crore, where number of poor living BPL are almost 48 crore or one third of population live below poverty line… To reach out to them to educate them about their rights and their entitlements is not an easy job. It is a very, very tough job,” he said.