LABOUR LAW II

ARTICLE : Social Security and Health Rights of Migrant Workers in

India
KIRTI GOYAL

BBALLB(h)

SEM: 8TH

A21521518021

INTRODUCTION
Indian society and its national government as well as various State governments need to
understand and address problems of vulnerable interstate migrant workers who are seen across
both rural and urban areas in India. The major chunk of migrant workers is unskilled and
employed in unorganised sector. Major States which send interstate migrant workers are West
Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Some migrant
workers come under the definition of child labourer while a few undergo school education along
with part- time work. Interstate migrant workers in India are confronted with a wide range of
problems. These include non- provisioning of entitlements of government schemes, poor access
to available schemes and services, inadequate and inappropriate safeguards at worksites, poor
quality of accommodation, long working hours, low wage compared to local workers, limited
access to health care services, social exclusion, poor social interaction and lack of integration
with the local community.
Social protection and health care of interstate migrant workers is totally neglected as significant
number of them lives in unhealthy conditions facing various health related risks. A large number
of them lives in labour camps and housing clusters where environment cleanliness is not
maintained. Most of the migrant workers, especially in the construction workers, are
accommodated in crowded rooms with minimum basic facilities. Access to healthcare services
for migrant workers is inadequate causing the spread of the disease. Overtime work causes
several health problems to a significant number of interstate migrant workers. The typical life
cycle of migrant workers requires special provisions for their social security to ensure that they
can adequately manage their risks. They move between States and hence between different
labour markets and social security systems, which creates specific vulnerabilities. Newly arrived
migrant workers are in a vulnerable position as they are away from their home community and
have no access to social networks and safety nets. In addition, access to social and basic services
in the new host State is often restricted for many reasons. The lack of access to basic services
and portability of social security for interstate migrant workers raises serious concerns about
their vulnerabilities. Lack of access to rights and entitlements pose serious problem for migrant
workers. Both employers of migrant workers and government institutions at State level or
national level do not pay any attention in providing welfare measures to them. There is a lack of
awareness about the existing legal and social security measures. Migrant workers do not have
access to health services, welfare schemes and social security schemes. It is the non-provisioning
of entitlements and non- portability of benefits provided by Central Government and home State
which create problems for the migrant workers. There is a need for a strong legal framework to
address various health and welfare needs of interstate migrant workers.

According to Government of India’s Report of the Working Group on Migration (2017),

migrants are exposed to health risks including communicable diseases like malaria and
tuberculosis. They are also exposed to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, and occupational
health hazards such as respiratory problems, lung diseases, allergies, kidney and bladder
infections, back problems and malnutrition. They are resultantly stigmatised as being carriers of
disease. Simi Sunny in her paper on “Social And Economic Integration Of Migrant Labour: A
Policy Response” stated that social security measures for interstate migrant workers in India is
limited While many countries across the world have introduced social security programmes to
assist the vulnerable transnational and internal migrants. In India, the Employees State Insurance
Act, 1948 and the Employees Provident Fund Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1952 are considered
landmark legislations for social security.

LEGAL REMEDIES FOR INTERSTATE MIGRANTS

Naturally, worldwide and between state movements are unavoidable elements of the Union. The
augmentation of the “incredible lockdown” as a reaction to the COVID emergency has involved
monetary interruption, along these lines increasing the compassionate emergency of between
state transient labourers. In the open approach system of “life versus vocation”, the focal and
express governments’ reaction to the issue of vagrants’ predicament has terrified many. The FM
declared that their predicament “pulls at her heartstrings”, and later reported that eight crore
vagrants will be qualified with the expectation of complimentary rice/wheat and heartbeats,
costing the exchequer Rs 3,500 crore.

The UN sets up that the state must arrange food or the way to purchase food to its populace
wherein the base commitment is an opportunity from hunger. It characterizes the privilege as far
as the state’s obligation to regard, ensure, and satisfy (encourage and give) the person’s
entitlement to food. NFSA (2013) ensures exceptionally financed month to month proportions of
rice, wheat or millets to 75% of provincial and half of the urban populace around 800 million
individuals partitioned as Priority (BPL) and Antyodaya family units. It likewise orders the
making of complaint review frameworks for the requirement at national, state, and area levels.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in a mediation application Friday, caused the
Supreme Court to notice a 41-year-old law that could have been utilized to defend the interests of
transient laborers, had it been actualized viably. The commission looked for “appropriate and
successful usage” of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and
Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, which was encircled to forestall misuse of between state
vagrant specialists, ensure their privileges and make a database of transient workers. It
additionally summoned the law to give venture recompense to vagrant specialists and educated
the consideration regarding another condition in the law to give crisis measures in circumstances,
for example, the Covid-19 pandemic. The focal government had postponed another bill in
Parliament the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2019 (OSHWCC) to
supplant the current law.

As indicated by the law, contractual workers and foundations that utilize transient labourers need
to get a permit from the state where the worker has his/her residence (home state), just as the
state in which they are proposed to be utilized. The permit may contain conditions regarding
courses of action under which the between state vagrants will be selected, the compensation
payable, long periods of work, the obsession of wages, and other basic civilities to be given.
Before employing the labourers, the foundations are required to get a testament to enrollment.
During 15 days of employment, the temporary worker is required to give total subtleties of
transient specialists to the enlisting authority. It is the officeholder upon the temporary worker to
keep up information on every vagrant specialist and give them a passbook containing subtleties
of their business.

A portion of different measures under the law incorporates an arrangement of a reviewer to visit
the foundations where labourers are utilized, an express arrangement concerning the due date by
which wages are to be paid, a vagrant’s qualification to a dislodging remittance, appropriate
private settlement, satisfactory clinical offices, and defensive dress. The new OSHWCC holds a
few arrangements of the law, including contractual workers getting licenses, removal, and
excursion recompenses for labourers. Nonetheless, corrective arrangements have been avoided.
The parliamentary board had prompted that each state ought to likewise have a helpline number
for the labourers.

THE UNORGANISED WORKERS SOCIAL SECURITY ACT,

2008
The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008, was authorized on 30th December 2008
with a means to guarantee standardized savings and government assistance of sloppy specialists
and to execute the national Security Social Scheme. The Act explicitly expects to take into
account the necessities of the laborers of chaotic areas and commands the Central Government to
detail plans for the sloppy laborers on issues identifying with:

 Life and inability spread;

 Wellbeing and maternity benefits;

 Mature age assurance; and

 Some other advantages might be controlled by the Central Government.

THE CONTRACT LABOUR (REGULATION AND ABOLITION)

ACT, 1970
Receiving freedom, India attempted to develop its independent economy. The worldwide
industrialization had its impact on India too and thus there was an interest in labourers in
horticultural fields as well as in enormous mechanical plants, mines, and so on. Along these
lines, a huge lump of labourers relocated from less created States (UP, Bihar) to mechanical
States (Gujarat, West Bengal, Orissa) and urban communities. There was an ensuing need for
control over the working conditions of such transient workers, hence this Central labour
enactment was instituted.

LABOUR LAWS AND MIGRANT WORKERS DURING

COVID-19
On 24th March 2020, the Prime Minister declared a nation-wide lockdown in India. Such a
severe move was made as a preparatory activity to forestall the enormous scope COVID-19
episode. What followed was the departure of transient specialists across the States. These vagrant
specialists had a place with both the composed and sloppy division. A large part of the vagrant
labourers is the ones who worked at building areas, truck pullers, family unit workers, etc. They
were subject to a day by day wellspring of pay for their everyday endurance.

A writ appeal was documented by Harsh Mander, an Indian author, columnist, researcher,
teacher, and social activist working with survivors of mass violence and hunger, as well as
homeless persons and street children, under the watchful eye of the Supreme Court mentioning it
to give a course to the Central/State Governments to guarantee insignificant wages for all the
vagrant specialists. In the meantime, the Union Home Ministry guided the businesses to pay
wages to their labourers in their work environment without a conclusion during the time of
lockdown. The request additionally forgoes landowners gathering rent from the transient
labourers living in the rental settlement.

The Supreme Court vide request guided the Center to guarantee the availability of fundamental
necessities and clinical offices for transient specialists taking into account the nationwide
lockdown. Migrant labourers have a place with both the sloppy and composed segments. A large
share of them works in the development segment. An expression of alert to the perusers that the
other work enactments additionally apply to the composed area transient labourers which are not
managed here, for example, the Minimum Wages Act.
CONCLUSION
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and
Members of their Families, 1990, was presented with a target of government assistance of
vagrant workers all over the world. Aside from International command, according to the
Directive Principles of State Policy likewise, the State is required to make sure about the
residents, and there is a satisfactory method for deciding on occupations, equivalent
compensation for equivalent work for the two people, insurance against misuse and abuse of
laborers, financial need, assurance of their wellbeing and quality.