COVID-19 AND MIGRANT WORKERS: A CONSPECTUS ON ASSESSING ACCOUNTABILITY AT THE HANDS OF THE GOVERNMENT IN INDIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i1.2024.4532Keywords:
Migrant Workers, Covid-19, Indian Labor Laws, Government Accountability, Legal ProtectionsAbstract [English]
The plight of migrant workers in India during COVID-19 pandemic is inextricably intertwined with legal and policy failure of systemic nature. This sudden imposition of lockdown in millions of people were deprived where thousands of migrant labours stuck with no jobs, no healthcare and no social security. A few weeks ago, Liz Murray posted a great article that critically examined the nature of government action and legal structures pertaining to migrant workers’ rights in the importance context of the pandemic. It assesses the gap between the existing labor laws, the court interventions and the policy responses — and implementation and accountability are examined against these benchmarks. It examines the obligations of the Indian government, under the Constitution and International Human Rights Law to protect the rights of migrants. This article attempts to assess the legal loopholes and possible reforms needed to protect the rights of migrant labourers by examining landmark cases, statutory instruments, and welfare measures of the state in the backdrop of the crisis. The results indicate that although certain measures were put in place to address hardships, these measures did expose migrant workers to long-term insecurity and injustice. The article ends with a call to reinforce labor legislation, the social protection mechanism, and accountability in crisis management.
References
The death of migrant workers in India during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. (2023). Mental Health and Social Inclusion. https://doi.org/10.1108/mhsi-08-2023-0086 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-08-2023-0086
Parveen, S. (2024). The unseen struggle: a study of the problems and challenges faced by migrant workers during the pandemic. ShodhKosh Journal of Visual and Performing Arts, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i1.2024.3042 DOI: https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i1.2024.3042
Hirudayaraj, M., Barhate, B., & McLean, G. N. (2023). Work conditions of interstate migrant workers in India: A critical realist exploration. Human Resource Development Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21515 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21515
KALPANASRI, S., & TIWARI, M. S. (2023). Working and Living Conditions of Interstate Migrant Workers during Pre- and Post-COVID-19. Asian Journal of Human Services, 25(0), 82–100. https://doi.org/10.14391/ajhs.25.82 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14391/ajhs.25.82
Munjal, K., & Bamba, I. (2023). Migration, Vulnerability, and Protection: Changing Labour Law Regime in Contemporary India. Asian Studies Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2023.2289119 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2023.2289119
Did Labour Migration Programs and Policies Perform or Reform? Circular Migration in India during the COVID-19 Pandemic. (2023). https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2709209/v1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2709209/v1
Pathak, A., & Purohit, N. (2023). Migrant Workers and Their Challenges: How the Crisis Went From Bad to Worse. International Journal of Law and Social Sciences, 47–54. https://doi.org/10.60143/ijls.v8.i1.2022.75 DOI: https://doi.org/10.60143/ijls.v8.i1.2022.75
Pereira, J. R. da S. (2023). The Role of Contemporary Neoliberal Government Policies in the Erosion of Migrant Labor Rights During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Examination of Executive, Legislative and Judicial Trends in India and the United States (pp. 27–49). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7384-0_2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7384-0_2
Anurag, A., Khawas, A., & Choudhury, B. (2022). Labour law, public policy, and migrant workers displacement during COVID-19. International Journal of Health Sciences (IJHS), 6785–6797. https://doi.org/10.53730/ijhs.v6ns4.9632 DOI: https://doi.org/10.53730/ijhs.v6nS4.9632
Narayana, S. C., & Chaly, N. S. (2022). India’s Handling of the Covid-19 Crisis: Could a Rights-Based Approach Overcome Systematic Inadequacies? Asian Affairs, 53(4), 873–887. https://doi.org/10.1080/03068374.2022.2123135 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03068374.2022.2123135
Internal Migrant Enumeration and Service Provision (pp. 305–319). (2022). Routledge eBooks. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003315124-16 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003315124-16
Socio-Legal Study of the Migrant Workers: A Special Reference to Covid-19. (2022). Medico-Legal Update, 22(2). https://doi.org/10.37506/mlu.v22i2.3244 DOI: https://doi.org/10.37506/mlu.v22i2.3244
Impact of COVID-19 on Indian Migrant Workers and the Informal Sector. (2022). Advances in Finance, Accounting, and Economics Book Series, 133–153. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-3374-4.ch007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-3374-4.ch007
Lepsa, M. I. (2022). Livelihood of Internal Migrants of India during Covid-19 Pandemic (pp. 72–86). Routledge eBooks. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003300762-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003300762-7
Carswell, G., De Neve, G., & Subramanyam, N. (2022). Getting home during lockdown: migration disruption, labour control and linked lives in India at the time of Covid-19. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48, 4603–4621. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2022.2099360 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2022.2099360
Jana, S. K., Naru, S., & Paul, P. Kr. (2022). COVID-19 and the Livelihoods of the Migrant Workers (pp. 172–189). https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-6900-9.ch008 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-6900-9.ch008
Misra, Y. V. (2022). The long walk home: India’s migrant labor, livelihood, and lockdown amid COVID-19. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 50(sup1), S10–S17. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2022.2079916 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2022.2079916
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Moniga.S, Dr.B.Someswara Rao
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
With the licence CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, re-print, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author.
It is not necessary to ask for further permission from the author or journal board.
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
