BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday directed the State government to provide data on the number of migrant workers in mustering centres as on Thursday and the transport arrangements made for them.During the hearing of a PIL on Covid-related issues, the Additional Advocate General informed a division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar, that the State government had sent SMSs to 6,54,406 workers as on June 30, asking them to report to mustering centres if they still intended to go back to their homes states.
Noting the submission of the AAG that the State government must stop making transport arrangements at some point, the bench directed the state to make a policy decision and place it on record. Referring to the figures provided by the State government, the bench said that half of nine lakh migrant workers registered on Seva Sindhu had chosen to remain in the state, and directed the petitioners, AICCTU, to place on record, all information regarding whether or not they had received the benefits of labour laws applicable to them.
