The Supreme Court judgment on the problems and miseries of migrant workers (June 29) will go down in history as a radical judgment to reduce human suffering in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Rarely do we see government agencies being publicly admonished for their lack of performance, but Justice Ashok Bhushan did exactly that, and did not mince his words in this swansong judgment.
The order explicitly recognises the critical contribution of migrant workers to the economy, even though they are often employed in precarious jobs. It reminds us that workers in the unorganised sector (around 93 per cent, including most migrants in lower-end jobs) need to be able to access numerous welfare schemes in existence. The main barrier preventing access is the delay in registering workers on the national database of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
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