Send migrant workers home, Supreme Court tells Centre, states

India’s migrant workers were the worst affected due to the lockdown. Many of them, along with their families, walked back thousands of kilometers to their homes. At least a hundred of them died in various accidents. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of India (SC) said that states and union territories must take initiative to send all migrant workers to their homes within 15 days. All the cases that have been registered against them for breaking lockdown rules must also be withdrawn.

The states and Union Territories have been asked to prepare a list of number of migrant workers. The work that they were doing before lockdown must also be mentioned in the report. State and central governments must provide a detailed report about the type of work that migrant workers can involve in after lockdown gets over.

SC has also asked governments to not charge migrant workers any train or bus fare. All their transport must be borne by the state. Their food and water must also be taken care of. Those who needs counselling must be provided that as well.

Many migrant workers had died while walking on their way back home. Most of them lost jobs due to lockdown. The central and state governments had received a lot of criticism for not taking enough care of needs and requirements of migrant workers during the lockdown.

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