Plight of Migrant Labourers amidst COVID Pandemic - Legal issues and challenges

Mr. Sachin Menon, Asst. Professor  in  Co-operative School of Law, Kerala, was the guest lecturer for this webinar. The webinar was attended by almost 47 people. The session was started off by a welcome address by Mahima Makhija, followed by which Sachin Sir expressed his gratitude towards our College for giving him this opportunity. He started off his lecture by  addressing the difficulties faced by the migrant labourers. He stated that “this pandemic is a human tragedy of the greatest extent”. He also categorised the migrants into different levels and called them to be a part of the vulnerable group of our society. Further, he spoke about the steps taken by the Apex Court for the migrant labourers, such as the Shramik trains facility throughout the whole of India as an attempt to relocate these migrants from their workplace to their hometown. He then spoke about the failure of the measures taken by the State Government of Delhi in relocating these labourers as he said that this failure should be treated as a legal issue. He further stressed upon the need of having a proper mechanism for such migrants and that the government is required to be accountable and transparent. He also said that the Indian Constitution is the Supreme Law of our country and there is no law beyond that. He then concluded his talk with a positive note by stating the order that was passed today in relation to the relocation of the migrant labourers in our country. The participants then enthusiastically asked questions and Mr. Sachin appreciated one question that is, with regard to the possibility of enforcing a task force for these migrant labourers. Overall, the session was very informative and interactive.