No migrant should be denied opportunity to return home: Karnataka HC

The Karnataka High Court has ordered that no one should be deprived of an opportunity to go back to one’s own state even if they had no capacity to pay for the transport. The order comes following complaints that many migrant workers were forced to pay for their travel back home in government-run buses and trains.

“Apart from the Central government, even the state of Karnataka must look into the issue and take immediate decision on the question of paying railway fare of those migrant workers who are not able to travel due to their inability to pay,” the court said.

Justice BV Nagarathna, considering the constitutional rights of the workers, reasoned that the inability of the workers to pay for travel was due to loss of livelihood. He further asked the state to look into the grievances about the non-payment of the wages.

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The Karnataka government submitted that migrant workers from other states would be permitted to travel back to their respective states. “Perhaps if such an assurance is communicated to the migrant workers, they will not be forced to make an attempt to travel by road to their respective States,” the court noted.

It asked the state government to take help of all trade unions and NGOs working on the ground to help migrants. Besides, it ordered the government to convene a meeting of all the trade unions, employers’ associations and NGOs to ascertain whether any contribution could come from them.

On the matter of violation of the rights of labourers employed in the metro rail project in Bengaluru, the court asked authorities to place before it the number of contractors and workers engaged under them as on March 24, 2020.

Further, it said the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) must place on record whether food and other necessities were being supplied to those workers who had been working prior to the lockdown and who had not resumed the work.

It posted the matter for next hearing on May 18.