The court grilled both the centre as well as the Tamil Nadu state governments for failing to take care of migrant workers safety and well-being
Migrant workers and their family members queue to enter inside a railway station to board on the Shramik Express directed to the Indian state of Bihar, during a government imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by Money SHARMA / AFP)
Madras High Court on Saturday delivered strongly-worded comments on the migrant workers crisis and said that the pathetic condition of the migrant workers is nothing but a “human tragedy”.
The court grilled both the centre as well as the Tamil Nadu state governments for failing to take care of migrant workers safety and well-being. It further demanded to see the state-wise data on the migrant crisis.
It is a pity to see the migrant labourers walking for days together to reach their native places and in the process, some of them had lost their lives due to accidents. All states should have extended their human services to those migrant labourers,” Justices N Kirubakaran and R Hemalatha was quoted as saying by NDTV.
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“One cannot control his/her tears after seeing the pathetic condition of migrant labourers shown in the media for the last month. It is nothing but a human tragedy,” the court added.
Earlier, the Madras High Court had taken suo moto cognisance on the migrant workers crisis and has given a date to the centre and state till May 22 to respond on the steps they have taken to handle the crisis.
It also asked the centre for any data regarding migrants in each state, pointing out that this would be invaluable in identifying them and helping them to get home.
The court demanded to know how many migrants have died so far, which states they belonged to and if there was any plan to compensate their families.
Today, after the Madras High Court’s comments, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami appealed the migrants to stay put in camps and let the government help.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court had dismissed a petition asking for the lakh of migrants walking hundreds of kilometres home to be identified and take care for.
“Let the state decide. Why should the court hear or decide? It is impossible for this court to monitor who is walking and not walking,” the court had said.
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