Stranded migrant workers who have forcibly been kept in relief camps and who have tested negative for COVID-19 should be allowed to return to their native places. The authorities should not stop them from going home to their loved ones, a petition in the Supreme Court has said.
The petition was filed jointly by Jagdeep S. Chhokar, a former faculty member of the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), and Gaurav Jain, a Delhi-based advocate. It said the continued restraint on migrant workers during the lockdown, extended till May 3, was an “unreasonable restriction” on their fundamental rights to equality and dignity.
“This extension of the lockdown is casting an unreasonable and heavier burden on the migrant workers stranded in cities, compared with those living with their own families at their own residences. This is violative of Article 14 [equality] of the Constitution. Further, Article 21 [right to life and dignity] envisages the right to live with dignity, and the same is being denied to migrant workers,” said the petition, which was represented by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi.
The petition said migrant workers were among the worst-affected by the lockdown. They were kept away from their families, and probably, a source of shelter and livelihood at their villages. The lockdown caused them more sufferings than the average-earning citizen ensconced in their homes. Frustration among the workers over their conditions had recently led to protests. The rush and chaos at various terminals soon after the first phase of the lockdown was announced on March 23 showed their evident desire to leave the cities for their villages.
“The fundamental right of migrant workers to move freely throughout the territory of lndia and their right to reside and settle in any part cannot be suspended for an indefinite period,” the petition said, urging the government to arrange for their safe transport to their villages.
