'Nothing In Centre's Status Report To Ensure Payment Of Minimum Wages To Migrant Workers': Harsh Mander And Anjali Bharadwaj Tell SC [Read Rejoinder]

In their rejoinder to the Centre's status report on the issue of the welfare of migrant workers, petitioner-activists Harsh Mander and Anjali Bharadwaj point out that the report does not "in any way deal with the issue of ensuring payment of minimum wages to migrant workers". Instead, it is asserted that the government has only engaged in making "unfounded allegations" and "appears to give advice to the Supreme Court on how to deal with the present matter". The Centre had earlier urged that such filing of petitions and sitting in appeal over every action of the government ought to be discouraged as it diverts attention and effort from statutory functions and that the Court may not allow itself to be deviated from its Constitutional functions and divert the Human Resources of the Central and State governments to answering such "sceptical contentions" and "vague pleas". The petitioners have countered as misleading the Centre's assertion of "fake or inaccurate reporting either in electronic, print or social media and particularly in web portals" that has the "inevitable potential of causing panic in large sections of the society", resulting in the massive movement of migrant workers after the lockdown. It is advanced that the panic was on account of the hardship that these workers were flung into on the very first day of the lockdown. "Their ability to undertake their daily work or report to work, was taken away, and with it the potential for them to earn their daily wage. This created the panic and mass exodus since these migrant workers form one of the poorest segments of our society, survive on daily wages to meet their basic needs", the rejoinder reads. "There are various needs such as their health care, food, education of their children and sustenance of their families (living with them or in their villages) that is met by them through their wages. Provision of drinking water, food and medical facilities in shelter homes for the migrants is not just inadequate, but also caters to only that segment of the migrant workers who have been stopped while migrating to their homes and quarantined in shelter facilities", it is sought to be submitted. "They were stranded suddenly with just 4 hours' notice with no work, no assured income, no assured food, and fear of infection and death far away from home...the economic package was announced 36 hours after the sudden lockdown and therefore none of the workers who began migrating soon after the lockdown was announced were aware of it at that time. Considering that the vast majority of migrants are in the unorganised sector and are devoid of any access to any form of social security, the government needed to have given them sufficient time to prepare for this uncertainty", it is insisted. As for the financial package of Rs 1.70 Lakh Crores under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana announced by the Central government, it is contended that Rs. 1.70 lakh crores constitute only around l% of the GDP of India. Further, many elements of the scheme are merely front-loading instalments of existing schemes or disbursement of cess funds already earmarked for welfare of particular sectors' or programs that were in any case in the pipeline. So far as the announcement of additional rations is concerned, it is submitted that 1 kg pulse free of cost for next three months is to be given per ration card and not to each person covered under the Public Distribution System. This means that the 23 crore ration cards will be given one kg pulse each and not each of the 80 crore persons covered under the PDS. "...a large section of migrant workers is excluded from the PDS as the system is a domicile based entitlement Also, there is the absence of any system of inter-state portability of ration cards", it is pointed out. "To ensure that each person is abre to get a modicum of food security, there is an urgent need to universalise access to food grains, pulses, cooking oil and soap, and provide it to everyone desirous of obtaining these, irrespective of whether they have a ration card or not", it is suggested. Further, the announcement of ex-gratia of Rs. 500 to 2O.4 crore women who have Jan Dhan accounts is claimed to be extremely inadequate in terms of the quantum and will only benefit those who have functional accounts and the necessary instruments to withdraw funds from their accounts. "Every Jan Dhan account holder should be paid wages for the next three months (calculated using the daily wage rate of notified agricultural minimum wages of states for 26 days per month). This must be made universal and not to only 'poor households' identified by the government", the petitioners have recommended. As for the declaration that separate financial support would be made available for those earning less than Rs 15,000 in the organised sector and working in businesses having less than 100 workers by way of 24% of their monthly wages being paid into their PF account for the next...

'Nothing In Centre's Status Report To Ensure Payment Of Minimum Wages To Migrant Workers': Harsh Mander And Anjali Bharadwaj Tell SC [Read Rejoinder]

Mehal Jain

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