The Supreme Court, in June 2021, pronounced its judgment in the migrant labourers case.
While the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court are welcome, they require robust systems to implement.
What is the case about?
The case was initiated in 2020 after the national lockdown was announced.
Thousands of landless labourers had started walking towards their home States.
They faced loss of employment and income.
The Supreme Court took cognisance of the matter.
It rightfully acknowledged the plight of the workers in light of the strict lockdown.
It laid down numerous guidelines to provide relief to workers and efficiently tackle the problem till the threat of COVID-19 subsides.
What are the key SC guidelines in this regard?
Two key components to protect the migrants during this time were the food and travel arrangements.
Under the National Food Security Act, migrant workers are issued ration cards.
They are entitled to dry ration under various government programmes, such as the Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme, during the pandemic.
In furtherance of the above, the court asked the States to formulate their own schemes and issue food grains to migrants.
The Court laid down that dry ration be provided to migrants who want to return to their homes.
Further, the court said that identity proof should not be insisted upon by the governments.
The court also called upon the State governments to arrange transportation for workers who need to return to their homes.
What are the shortcomings?
There are no normative data that would allow the States to identify eligible migrants to provide dry ration to them.
The court took cognisance of this.
It fixed July 31, 2021 as the deadline for the States to implement the ‘One nation One Ration Card’ scheme.
And it thus directed the Ministry of Labour and Employment to ensure that the National Database for Unorganised Workers is updated by July 31.
But it is unlikely that a standardised system can be developed within the deadline prescribed by the court.
Apart from dry ration, the top court also directed the State governments to run community kitchens for migrant workers.
However, there are administrative problems in implementing these measures.
Migrant workers keep moving in search of employment.
So, it is difficult to cover them all under the scheme.
Also, many States do not have the necessary infrastructure to run and maintain community kitchens on such a large scale.
The Court also recognised the need for direct cash benefit transfer to workers in the unorganised sector.
But it did not issue any guidelines for the same as the workers need to be covered by the States themselves.
What is the way forward?
In order to efficaciously implement the orders of the court, the State governments need to work with the Centre closely.
With the third wave of COVID-19 infections looming, the government machinery has to work to its full potential, and robust systems must be developed to withstand the challenges.
