Kochi: A single judge of Kerala High Court on Monday referred a case to the Division Bench to initiate a suo motu case to address the woes of migrant labourers coming from various parts of the country, including their living conditions. Isolating the migrant labourers and treating them as second class citizen could only lead to a backlash by way of crimes against civil society and resulting in deleterious consequences, including the spread of epidemics, the court observed.
Justice K. Vinod Chandran observed that the pathetic conditions of a migrant labourers’ camp brought to the notice of the court indicated a social malady affecting the state. Such incidents often are brought to public scrutiny through the problems of the migrant labours with an emphasis laid on the crimes in which they are involved.
“What comes to the public eye is the crime in which such migrant labourers are involved. The exodus of such labourers into the state cannot be wished away,” he said. “While highlighting the criminal acts of such migrant labourers, the persons who bring them into the state treat them dismally and house them in inhuman conditions,” the court observed.
The case related to the pathetic conditions of migrant labourers living at Ambalamedu in Kochi. The judge also ordered the Vadavukode Punthkurizhu panchayat to close down a camp functioning in an unhygienic condition in a building in the panchayat area and rehabilitate the migrant workers.
