The Kerala High Court on Tuesday ordered the state government to submit a report on the provisions made to provide food and shelter to migrant workers in the state.
The High Court was hearing a plea filed by amicus curiae Paravathi Sanjay raising apprehensions on the condition of migrant workers in Kottayam and Ernakulam district.
On Sunday, despite the lockdown, a major protest broke out among migrant labourers of Paippad in Kottayam district, with hundreds of them taking to streets demanding a return to their villages. It was only after the intervention of police and district administration that the labourers were finally pacified and sent back to their camps.
Justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Shaji P Chaly, who heard the Additional Advocate General and senior government pleader, stated that “a statement has to be filed with respect to Ernakulam district and Kottayam district concerning the steps taken by the State of Kerala to provide food and shelter to the migrant workers.”
Ernakulam district’s Perumbavoor is one of the places in the state with a huge number of migrant population. After the Kottayam incident, the district administration in Ernakulam had visited the labour camps in Perumbavoor to make sure that no untoward incidents happen.
Meanwhile the court also asked the state government to provide a report on the measures taken for migrant workers in other Kerala districts.
“It is also submitted that the state has already taken steps in this regard, including adequate provision for recreation. This is recorded,” the court said in the order.
The case has been posted for hearing through video conferencing on April 3.
The state government has already announced that it has opened more than 5,000 camps for migrant workers in the state following the lockdown. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also announced that migrant labourers will be given special identity cards and they will be allowed to procure the benefits of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Read:
Watch: