Kriti Agrawal
The Supreme Court questioned the state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi about measures taken to alleviate the plight of migrant workers who lost their jobs during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
While the Supreme Court stated that it would issue directions to Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Haryana on this issue today, it gave other states a week to provide a record of what steps they took in response to the Supreme Court’s orders on the migrant crisis last year.
The Supreme Court asked the three state governments to provide information on the measures they had taken to assist migrant workers who had to suffer as the pandemic slowed industrial operations, causing them to lose earnings.
The Court said, “There have been allegations of migrant workers being fleeced by private carriers when they tried to return to their homes.”
The governments must ensure that no one is overcharged, and there must be some provision for those without money to receive cooked food or rations, according to the Court’s directive to the states.
Last year, the Supreme Court ordered the Centre and state governments to ensure that there are no delays in arranging transportation for migrants wishing to return to their home states.
The Court also ordered governments to provide opportunities in migrants’ home countries based on their skillset and the work they were doing before the lockdown took their jobs.