Human Rights of migrant labourers under the purview of constitutional law

The right to life is a fundamental principle of international human rights law. Article 3 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that “everyone has the right to life,
liberty, and security of person.”

“Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees the life and personal liberty to all persons. It

guarantees the right of persons to life with human dignity. Therein are included, all the
aspects of life which go to make a person's life meaningful, complete, and worth living.

According to the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy of the Indian
Constitution, it is the responsibility of the State to grant the citizens, both men and women,
the right to adequate means of livelihood, equal pay for equal work, protection against abuse
and exploitation of workers, economic necessity, protection of their health and strength, to
secure for children opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in
conditions of freedom and dignity and protect children and a youth against exploitation and
moral and material abandonment.

These basic human rights directly contradict with the situation of migrant labourers who lost
their lives during commuting from their work cities to their hometown. Indian migrant
workers during the COVID-19 pandemic have faced multiple hardships. With factories and
workplaces shut down due to the lockdown imposed in the country, millions of migrant
workers had to deal with the loss of income, food shortages and uncertainty about their
future. Following this, many of them and their families went hungry. Thousands of them then
began walking back home, with no means of transport due to the lockdown. 198 migrant
workers died due to the lockdown, with reasons road accidents.

There are an estimated 139 million migrants in the country, according to the World Economic
Forum. The International Labour Organization (ILO) predicted that due to the pandemic and
the lockdown, about 400 million workers would be poverty-stricken. Most migrants in the
state originate from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, followed by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
The cities of Mumbai and Delhi attract the highest number of migrants. While most men
migrate for work, women migrate due to marriage.

According to Item No. 81 of the Union List, Inter-State migration falls within the purview of
the Union. Hence, it can be correctly stated that it was the responsibility of the Union
government to ensure proper conditions for migrated workers and before announcing a
lockdown. Considering the fact that a lockdown was necessary, such chaos was to be
expected because it is an unfortunately dare reality that a lot of employers and contractors
would avoid registration of their laborers so as to escape from the liabilities imposed upon
them.

The initial phase of lockdown resulted in a huge loss of economy and the migrant workers,
having no source of income, were compelled to get back to their villages to resolve
sustenance issues. Millions of migrant laborers have had to walk unimaginable distances and
spend all their money in mobile phone recharges so that they can remain connected with their
family members. It should also be taken into consideration that they are not necessarily
educated enough to understand the severity of COVID-19. They are people who struggle with
all sorts of ailments just to earn their daily wages. The understandable angry outbursts of
millions of migrant laborers stranded in these economic centres have created volcanic
situations that can create a serious law and order problem in the country.

We have to understand that right to life as enshrined under Article 21 of our constitution
doesn’t discriminate between “have” and “have nots.” The Lockdown has led to a severe hit
in the form of a direct loss of migrants’ earnings necessary for their bare survival. While
lockdown itself is a policy decision which is meant for the greater good, who will take
responsibility for snatching the means of survival from these poor people? Can they be just
left to their own fate? Are they not entitled, within the meaning of Article 21 of our
constitution, to a life with dignity?