3
Various
dealing
other
with
providing
the
measures
needs
basic
of
taken
the
amenities
by
lower
viz.,
the
Central
strata
food,
of
clean
Government
the
society
drinking
in
by
water,
medicines, etc. have been dealt with in the status report.
Apart from the announcement of the relief package totalling
Rs.1.70 lakh crore under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, the
Status Report refers to other schemes which were formulated to
ensure that the persons in need are taken care of.
In the instant writ petitions, we are concerned about the
migrant labourers who have started leaving their places of work for
their home villages/towns located at distant places. For example,
thousands of migrant labourers left Delhi to reach their homes in
the States Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, by walking on the highways.
We are informed that the labourers who are unemployed due to
lock
down
were
apprehensive
about
their
survival.
Panic
was
created by some fake news that the lock down would last for more
than three months.
The initial reaction of the State Governments and the Union
Territories was to transport migrant labourers from their borders
to
their
Affairs
villages.
has
transportation
Later,
issued
of
on
29.03.2020
a
Circular
migrant
labourers
the
Ministry
prohibiting
in
overcrowded
of
movement
buses
Home
as
would
cause more damage than help to the migrant labourers. The very idea
of lock down was to ensure that the virus would not spread. It was
felt that transportation of migrant labourers would aggravate the
problem of spread of the Virus.
In such view, the movement of