ENSURING RIGHTS AND DIGNITY: PROTECTING MIGRANT WORKERS OF BENGAL

Millions of migrant workers, including workers from West Bengal, leave their home states and, as part of the informal labour force, significantly contribute to various sectors and economic growth across the country.

- ABHINAV MEHROTRA & AMIT UPADHYAY

Yet, their contributions often go ignored, and their rights are violated. They face heightened vulnerabilities on account of their socioeconomic status concerning their safety, living standards, and protection of human rights after recent developments concerning their profiling and possible deportations. The recent resolution passed by the West Bengal Assembly advocating for safety and accountability towards migrant workers has renewed the focus on this urgent issue of grave concern about how India can ensure that its citizens, while moving within the country, are treated with dignity and adequately protected and respected, ensuring their constitutional and legal guarantees.

Over the years, millions of workers from West Bengal have migrated to states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Punjab in search of economic opportunities and higher wages, which are inadequate in Bengal. For several of them, migration is not a choice but a compulsion that exposes them to unsafe workplaces, exploitative employment practices, inadequate housing, limited healthcare, and social exclusion. Especially women migrants who face high risks of harassment and trafficking, which constitute violations of fundamental human rights, including dignity, safety, and nondiscrimination.