ARTICLE | Migrant Labourers
Not everyone is equally affected! The section of the society that is most commonly affected by a catastrophe is the people working in the unorganised sector. Without any legal structure in place to address their issues, it becomes extremely difficult for them to avail any government benefits. What is their condition during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic? Who is taking care of their safety and what is being done to help them survive? Ashley Paul Reporter
I
t was only in January 2020 that the Government of India decided to work on creating a centralised record of all those employed in the informal sector and the migrant workers. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the task, which was supposed to
36 May 2020 | www.urbanupdate.in
take atleast a year to complete, was stalled completely. It was only after the completion of this centralised database that the government would have been able to work on relief measures, economic and financial provisions and sector-specific labour laws for the informal and migrantlabour sector. The onset and spread of the pandemic did not only stall a chance for these workers to finally get help from the government but worsened their survival conditions,
being highly vulnerable to being affected by the coronavirus.
The reality of the informally employed
Due to the lockdown, most shops, factories and offices have been shut. Along with this, all modes of privately-owned public transport and unregulated sellers have been banned from functioning. These include rickshaw pullers, drivers of e-rickshaws,
