SC seeks response from Centre on plea by activists for payment of wages to migrant workers

The Supreme Court has expressed concern over the plight of migrant workers, especially in the unorganised sector, during the lockdown and asked the Union government to respond by April 7 to a petition demanding that Central and State governments should pay them minimum wages.

A Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao, through videoconferencing, took serious note of a petition filed by activists Harsh Mander and Anjali Bhardwaj, who said that the declaration of the 21-day national lockdown without prior information “precipitated an unprecedented humanitarian crisis” for migrant workers, resulting in their mass exodus to their hometowns.

The petition said the Centre and the States should, either jointly or severally, take responsibility to pay migrant workers at least a week’s wages for their sustenance.