JOIN USPathetic that states failed to provide basic amenities to migrants: Madras HC
“One cannot control his/her tears after seeing the pathetic condition of migrant labourers shown in the media for the past one month. It is nothing but a human tragedy.”
These are the words of a division bench of the Madras High Court on migrants who have walked hundreds of kilometres to reach their native villages and towns braving the hot sun. It also rued “nothing happened for the past one month as there was no coordinated effort between the States” in sending back the migrants who were stranded due to the lockdown.
Justices N Kirubakaran and R Hemalatha passed the orders over a petition that sought to bring home several hundred migrants from Tamil Nadu who are stranded in Maharashtra.
They also posed several uncomfortable questions to state governments while observing that it was “very pathetic” to note that neither the native states nor the states through which the migrants were walking failed to provide even the basic amenities during the COVID-19 lockdown. Even if it was provided, it was negligible, the bench noted.
While sympathising with the migrant labourers, the division bench observed that these people were neglected by all authorities and they started migrating “by foot” after waiting for a “considerable time.”
“Even after the sorrow and sufferings of the migrant workers were reported in the media, nothing happened for the past one month as there was no coordinated effort between the States,” the bench observed.
The division bench said it is not only the duty of the native state of the migrant workers but also the duty of the states where they were working to care for their safety and wellbeing.
“…it is a pity to see the migrant labourers walking for days together to reach their native places and in the process, some of them had lost their lives due to accidents,” the bench said, observing that Government authorities of all the states should have extended their human services to those migrant labourers.
It also sought to know whether the Centre was maintaining any details of migrant workers working in each State/UT, the number of migrant workers stranded in each state, the assistance provided to them and how many migrant workers died on their way to the native states among several questions.
The bench also referred to 16 labourers, who were sleeping on rail tracks in Maharashtra on their way to Madhya Pradesh, being crushed to death.