Supreme Court of India
IN RE: PROBLEMS AND MISERIES OF MIGRANT LABOURERS versus IN RE: PROBLEMS AND MISERIES OF MIGRANT LABOURERS on 21 July 2022
IN RE: PROBLEMS AND MISERIES OF MIGRANTLABOURERS
(Miscellaneous Application No. 94 of 2022 inSuo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 6 of 2020)
JULY 21, 2022
[M. R. SHAH AND B. V. NAGARATHNA, JJ.]
Migrant Labourers – Problems and Miseries of – Incompliance of directions issued by Supreme Court, Ministry ofLabour and Employment developed a “National Database ofUnorganised Workers (NDUW) portal” and “eShram portal” forregistration of unorganised workers including migrant workersspread over 400 occupations – Some States such as State ofMaharashtra, State of Tamil Nadu, State of Telangana, State ofGujarat and State of Karnataka failed to achieve the target –Therefore, directions issued to those States, who have not been ableto achieve the target for registration of the unorganised workers,to do so and cooperate with the Union of India – Ministry of labourand Employment and to ensure that unorganised labourers/ workersin different sectors are registered in the eShram portal – The exerciseto be completed within a period of six weeks – The concerned States/Union Territories to submit the report to the Union of India –Ministry of Labour and Employment on completion of six weeks sothat the Union of India – Ministry of Labour and Employment canfile a further Status Report on the aforesaid – Union of India furtherdirected to come out with a formula and/or appropriate policy/scheme, if any, so that the benefits under National Food SecurityAct are not restricted as per the census 2011 and more and moreneedy persons/citizens get the benefit under the National FoodSecurity Act, keeping in mind that “Right to Food” is a fundamentalright available under Article 21 of the Constitution – UnionGovernment may look into the same by considering the figures/projection of population increase during the decade 2011-2021,which would be on an assessment of increase in population and fileresponse on the next date of hearing.
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Miscellaneous ApplicationNo. 94 of 2022 in Suo Moto Writ Petition (Civil) No. 6 of 2020.
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[2022] 6 S.C.R.
AUnder Article 32 of The Constitution of India By Courts Motion
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG, Tapesh Kumar Singh, GauravLiberhan, Anil Grover, Amit Anand Tiwari, AAGs, Mrs. AnkitaChaudhary, Dy. AG, Dr. Mansh Singhvi, Ms. Manisha Lavkumar, Sr.BAdvs., Prashant Bhushan, Ms. Cheryl D’Souza, Kanu Agrawal, RajatNair, Saurabh Mishra, Krishnakant Dubey, Vatsal Joshi, Anuj SrinivasUdupa, Aman Sharma, Manvendra Singh, Arvind Kumar Sharma, AmrishKumar, Sandeep Kumar Jha, Divyansh Tiwari, Ms. Nupur Kumar,Raghvendra Kumar, Anand Kumar Dubey, Rajiv Kumar Sinha, SimantaCKumar, Nishant Verma, Ms. Rajlakshmi Singh, Sunil Saraogi, Varun Singh,Narendra Kumar, Ms. Uttara Babbar, Rituraj Biswas, Rahul Chitnis,Sachin Patil, Aaditya A. Pande, Geo Joseph, Ms. Shewtal Shepal, G.Prakash, Tapesh Kumar Singh, Sukant Vikram, Aditya Pratap Singh,Aditya Narayan Das, M. Shoeb Alam, Satya Mitra, Kumar Anurag Singh,Anando Mukherjee, Shwetank Singh, Raj Kishor Choudhary,DDr. Abhishek Atrey, Ms. Ambika Atrey, Akash Giri, Krishnan Mishra,R.K. Rathore, Ms. Ranjeeta Rohatgi, Ms. Samten Doma, Avijit ManiTripathi, Upendra Mishra, K.V. Kharlyngdoh, T.K. Nayak, P.S. Negi, S.R. Kochhar, Ms. Marbiang Khongwir, B. V. Balaram Das, Ejaz Maqbool,Sumeer Sodhi, Abhishek Lalwani, Debashish Tiwari, Mahfooz AhsanENazki, Polanki Gowtham, Shaik Mohamad Haneef, T. Vijaya BhaskarReddy, K.V. Girish Chowdary, Ms. Rajeswari Mukherjee, PranavSachdeva, S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, Ms. Sweena Nair, P. Mohith Rao,Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, Karun Sharma, Ms. Anupam Ngangom,Wahengbam Immanuel Meitei, Ms. Pinky Behera, Ashish Yadav, VishalBanshal, Ms. Rajeshwari Sarkar, Subhranshu Padhi, Chirag M. Shroff,FAmandeep Mehta, Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Shadan Farasat, RameshThakur, Mrs. Mrinal Elker Mazumdar, Ms. Himanshi Shakya, RajBahadur Yadav, Ms. Noopur Singhal, Rahul Khurana, Satish Kumar,Suresh Kumar Bhan, Sanjay Kumar Visen, Manish Kumar, HarshChoudhary, Abhimanyu Tewari, Ms. Eliza Bar, Ms. Taruna ArdhendumauliGPrasad, Ms. G. Indira, Suhaan Mukerji, Nikhil Parikshith, Vishal Prasad,Abhishek Manchanda, Sayandeep Pahari, Tanmay Sinha, for M/s. PLRChambers and Co., Karan Bharihoke, Abhinav Mukerji, Mrs. BihuSharma, Akshay C. Srivastava, Ms. Pratishtha Vij, Ms. Ruchira Goel,Sibo Sankar Mishra, Ms. Kanika Chugh, Umakant Mishra, Rajesh KumarNayak, Niranjan Sahu, Debabrata Dash, Nitin Mishra, Nikhil Goel, ArnavH
Singh Deo, Shuvodeep Roy, Rakesh Dahiya, Ms. Astha Sharma, Biju PRaman, M. Yogesh Kanna, Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, Amit Kumar Singh,Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Sunny Choudhary, Divyansh Tiwari, SunilFernandes, Mohit Paul, Hitesh Kumar Sharma, S.K. Rajora, AkhileshwarJha, Dr. Vivek Sharma, D. Kumanan, Sheikh Fakhruddin Kalia, Ms.Mary Mitzy, Ms. Devyani Gupta, Ms. Tanvi Anand, Nishe Rajen Shonker,Mrs. Anu K. Joy, Alim Anvar, Siddhesh Kotwal, Mrs. Ana Upadhyay,Ms. Manya Hasija, Akash Singh, Nihar Dharmadhikari, Nirnimesh Dube,B.K. Satija, Sarad Kr. Singhania, Vatshal Joshi, Bhuvan Kapoor, KrishnaKant Dubey, G.S. Makker, Advs. for the appearing parties.
Applicant-in-person
The Order of the Court was passed by
M. R. SHAH, J.
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1. That while disposing of Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 6 of2020 – In Re: Problems and Miseries of Migrant Labourers, this Courtissued the following directions:-
(i) It is directed that the Central Government to develop thePortal in consultation with National Informatics Centre(NIC) for registration of the unorganized labourers/migrantworkers. We also impress upon and direct that the CentralGovernment as well as the respective States and the UnionTerritories to complete the process of Portal for registrationunder National Data Base for Unorganised Workers(NDUW Project) as well as implement the same, which byall means may commence not later than 31.07.2021. Wealso impress upon and direct that the process of registrationof the unorganized labourers/migrant workers is completedat the earliest, but not later than 31.12.2021. All theconcerned States/Union Territories and the LicenceHolders/Contractors and others to cooperate with theCentral Government to complete the process of registrationof migrant workers and unorganized labourers so that thebenefits of the welfare schemes declared by the CentralGovernment/State Governments/Union Territories beavailable to migrant workers and unorganized labourers forwhose benefits the welfare schemes are declared.
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1092SUPREME COURT REPORTS
A(ii)The Central Government having undertaken to distributeadditional quantity of foodgrains as demanded by the States/Union Territories for distribution to migrant labourers undersome Scheme framed by the States, we direct the CentralGovernment, Department of Food and Public Distribution(Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution)Bto allocate and distribute foodgrains as per demand ofadditional food-grains from the States for disbursement ofdry foodgrains to migrant labourers.
(iii) We direct the States to bring in place an appropriate schemefor distribution of dry ration to migrant labourers for whichCit shall be open for States to ask for allocation of additionalfoodgrains from the Central Government, which, as directedabove, shall provide the additional foodgrains to the State.The State shall consider and bring an appropriate Scheme,which may be implemented on or before 31.07.2021. SuchDscheme may be continued and operated till the currentpandemic (Covid-19) continues.
(iv) The States, who have not yet implemented “One NationOne Ration Card” scheme are directed to implement thesame by not later than 31.07.2021.
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(v) The Central Government may undertake exercise underSection 9 of the National Food Security Act, 2013 to re-determine the total number of persons to be covered underthe Rural and Urban areas of the State.
(vi) We direct all the States/Union Territories to register allFestablishments and license all contractors under the Act,1979 and ensure that statutory duty imposed on thecontractors to give particulars of migrant workers is fullycomplied with.
(vii) The State/Union Territories are directed to run communityGkitchens at prominent places where large number of migrantlabourers are found for feeding those migrant labourers whodoes not have sufficient means to procure two meals aday. The running of the community kitchen should becontinued at-least till pandemic (Covid-19) continues.
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2. Thereafter, the matter was again heard on 18.05.2022 and thisCourt passed the following order:-
“Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, learned ASG, appearing for theCentral Government prays for some time to place on record thecompliance report. She has stated at the Bar that, as such, theCentral Government has already developed the Portal inconsultation with the National Informatics Centre for registrationof the unorganized labourers/migrant workers pan-India. She hasstated at the Bar that approximately 27.45 Crores are registeredin the portal on the basis of the information given by the respectiveconcerned States. How the Central Government and the concernedStates are going to take the advantage and/or the benefit of theregistration of the unorganized labourers/migrant workers toprotect the interest of the unorganized labourers/migrant workers?One of the object and purpose of the registration is to ensure thatthe benevolent schemes which are declared by the Government/Governments reach the concerned unorganized labourers/migrantworkers.
We had also directed all the States/Union Territories toregister all establishments and license of all contractors under theAct of 1979 and ensure that the statutory duty imposed on thecontractors to give particulars of the migrant workers is fullycomplied with. Many of the States have not complied with thesaid direction.
The Central Government to obtain all the requiredinformation from all the States so that a further order can bepassed to protect the interest of the unorganized labourers/migrantworkers. All concerned States/Union Territories are directed tofurnish all the required particulars which are needed by the CentralGovernment so that the Central Government may file a compositereport before this Court on the next date of hearing.
Now our endeavor should be to consider the larger issue toprotect the interest of the unorganized labourers/migrant workersand how their rights are to be protected.
The Central Government to file a composite report incompliance of all the directions issued by this Court in the orderdated 29.06.2021. All the States shall cooperate and submit all theparticulars which are called for.
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Learned counsel for the respective States to give copy oftheir counters to Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, learned ASG so that shecan 7 file a composite report.
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Put up on 20.07.2022.”
3. Pursuant to our earlier orders, an affidavit has been filed onBbehalf of Union of India dated 18.07.2022 affirmed by the Deputy DirectorGeneral, in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.Various steps taken by the Union of India has been stated in the affidavit.It is stated in the affidavit/compliance report that in compliance of thedirections issued by this Court, Ministry of Labour and Employment hasCdeveloped a “National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW)portal” and “eShram portal” for registration of unorganised workersincluding migrant workers spread over 400 occupations such as Buildingand other Construction workers, Agricultural workers, Self-Employedworkers, Asha workers, Anganwadi workers, Fisherman, Dairy workersetc.D
4. It is stated that vide DO letter dated 13.08.2021 to all theStates and Union Territories, the Ministry provided the comprehensiveguidelines for mobilisation of the workers through District LevelImplementation Committee and State Level Monitoring Committee,registration targets to be achieved by the States by 31.12.2021 alongwithEthe one-time financial assistance for setting up of required ITinfrastructure, call centres etc. In order to mobilize the unorganisedworkers for registration on eShram portal, States/UTS have been providedwith funds of Rs.19.07 crores and information, education andcommunication materials. It is pointed out that the eShram portal formallyFcommenced the registration on 26.08.2021 in all the States/UTs and thesame was conveyed to all the States by Ministry’s letter dated 31.08.2021.Various further steps have also been taken by the Union of India so thatthe maximum unorganised workers/migrants are registered with theeShram portal. Ms. Bhati, learned ASG has pointed out the Statewisetargets and registrations. On going through the Statewise targets andGregistration, it appears that many States have failed to achieve the target.Many of the States have achieved less than fifty per cent target. Forexample, State of Maharashtra has achieved only 36.97% target, Stateof Tamil Nadu has achieved 34.84% target, State of Telangana hasachieved only 34.90% target, State of Gujarat has achieved 48.40% target,HState of Karnataka has achieved 36.19% target.
5. In our earlier directions/orders, we have emphasised the needfor registration of the migrants/unorganised workers in different fieldsand one of the objects is to see that all benevolent schemes announcedby the Union of India and/or the concerned States, the benefits of whichshould reach to such unorganised workers. We appreciate the workundertaken by the Union of India – Ministry of Labour and Employment.However, as observed hereinabove, still some States such as State ofMaharashtra, State of Tamil Nadu, State of Telangana, State of Gujaratand State of Karnataka have to achieve the target. Therefore, we directthose States, who have not been able to achieve the target for registrationof the unorganised workers, to do so and cooperate with the Union ofIndia – Ministry of labour and Employment and to ensure to it that thoseunorganised labourers/ workers in different sectors are registered in theeShram portal. The said exercise shall be completed within a period ofsix weeks from today. The concerned States /Union Territories aredirected to submit the report to the Union of India – Ministry of Labourand Employment on completion of six weeks so that the Union of India– Ministry of Labour and Employment can file a further Status Reporton the aforesaid.
6. So far as, one another direction issued was additional allocationof foodgrains as demanded by the States/Union Territories for distributionto migrant labourers. It is pointed out in the affidavit that the requiredquantity of foodgrains as per the locally assessed need has been providedthrough Food Corporation of India under the “Open Market SalesScheme”. It is further pointed out that facility of “One Nation One RationCard” has been enabled in all the States/ Union Territories covering about80 crores NFSA beneficiaries.
7. Now, so far as re-determining the coverage under the NationalFood Security Act (NFSA), 2013 and to undertake an exercise underSection 9 of NFSA, 2013 and to re-determine the total number of personsto be covered under the Rural and Urban areas of the State, it appearsthat at present the total number of persons to be covered in the Ruraland Urban areas of the State is calculated on the basis of populationestimates as per the 2011 census. It appears that at the time ofimplementation of the NFSA, latest published figures of census pertainedto the year 2011 and it is used to determine the coverage of all States /Union Territories considering Section 9 of the NFSA.
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AShri Prashant Bhushan, learned counsel appearing on behalf ofthe petitioner has pointed out that after 2011, the population has increasedand therefore the beneficiaries under the NFSA also have increased. Itis submitted that therefore many eligible and/or needy beneficiary in theRural and Urban areas will be deprived of the benefit under the NFSA.It is also pointed out that in some of the cases, because of not having theBration cards, the migrants/unorganised labourers/workers are deprivedof the benefit of the food/foodgrains under the NFSA.
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8. The aforesaid grievance seems to be genuine and justified. TheUnion of India to look into the same and come out with a formula and/orappropriate policy/scheme, if any, so that the benefits under NFSA areCnot restricted as per the census 2011 and more and more needy persons/citizens get the benefit under the National Food Security Act, keeping inmind what has been observed and held by this Court in a catena ofdecisions that “Right to Food” is a fundamental right available underArticle 21 of the Constitution of India. The Union Government may lookDinto the same by considering the figures/projection of population increaseduring the decade 2011-2021, which would be on an assessment ofincrease in population and file their response on the next date of hearing.
Put up on 27.09.2022.
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Bibhuti Bhushan Bose
(Assisted by: Shubhanshu Das, LCRA)
Directions issued.
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