Supreme Court ruling comes to rescue migrant Indian population

Last updated on February 14th, 2023 at 11:09 am

The Supreme Court has stepped in to help with the state of migrant workers in India. They have been considered the worst hit by the pandemic. According to the Supreme Court ruling, the Centre has to now ensure it registers all the migrant workers, and give them the facility to board any train or bus free of cost and also provide them food, shelter and water until they reach their native place.

The Supreme Court ruling has been reinforced by the United Nations who has said, it becomes the duty of the nation to adhere to the court ruling that has left more than a 100 million migrant workers suffering with hardships, no money or mode of employment due to pandemic induced lockdowns. Most of them are now trying to reach back their native places and are facing extreme hardship.

The worst hit is the marginalized minorities and castes that have seen stigmatization running rampant at lockdown times. The government seemed to have not done anything about this. Police brutality seems to have exasperated the situation even more.

While others have applauded relief packages for the needy, especially the migrant populations, the same have not been enough to handle the grief and fear gripping these marginalized lots in India.

The Supreme court ruling has ensured that no migrant worker is ignored or left out. The State governments have to ensure that all migrant workers receive transport to return back home and no one has to walk to their native place. Food and water has to be provided to all, whether travelling by bus or train. All have to be registered with their respective state government records with full information given. Harrowing tales of migrants losing their lives to walking thousands of kilometers to collapsing on railway stations without food and water, have rocked the city and social media. The court ruling has been put into place since end of May.

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Some parts of the country are lifting the lockdowns but the sense of normalcy will take time to come. Also, there is no guarantee of jobs for the migrant population which is now hoping to get jobs back in their home states. Many states are now relaxing labour laws in order to create more jobs for those returning back from cities.