Supreme Court asks Centre to file status report on migrant workers

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to file a status report on steps taken after a large number of migrant workers came out on roads to leave for their respective native places on the announcement to impose 21-day lockdown to contain COVID-19 spread.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justice L Nageswara Rao said we are not going to add to the confusion by issuing orders at this stage when the situation is taken care of by the government.

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"The fear and panic is a bigger problem than the coronavirus," the bench said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta says this migration needs to be stopped because if there is a transmission of the virus it will be unstoppable.

"We will be filing a status report by Tuesday," he told the court in a hearing on a couple of PILs held through video conferencing.

"Let the message not go that we are trying to smoothen the migration. The migration has to be stopped. The message cannot go out that the Supreme Court was trying to help migration," Mehta said.

Advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, who filed the PIL, contended there was a lack of cohesion and cooperation between states. The state of Uttar Pradesh provided buses two days ago to take people from Delhi-UP border but then stopped.

Another petitioner Rashmi Bansal said the medical and safety measures were required for these migrant labourers.

There could be sprinkling of sanitiser on the group of migrant labourers who were trying to travel, she said.

The court put the matter for further consideration on Tuesday.

The Centre on Sunday asked the states to stop migrant labourers and workers to leave for their native places, as it might jeopardise the efforts made to stop Covind-19 outbreak. Large number of workers came out on street in various parts of the country days after Prime Minister announced imposition of 21-day lockdown from March 25.