Focus: GS-II Social Justice
Why in news?
- The Centre informed the Parliament that no data was available on the deaths of migrant workers caused due to the sudden nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country this year.
- Additionally, the government said that it had also not kept track of the job losses amid the pandemic.
Details
- According a World Bank report in April this year, the nationwide lockdown has impacted the livelihood of nearly 40 million internal migrants.
- Small traders, hawkers and daily wage labourers were the worst hit by the lockdown in April, comprising more than 90 million of the jobs lost from the total loss of 120+ million in April 2020.
- Large numbers of these people lost their source of livelihood so quickly because their employment is almost entirely informal.
- Data from the states where nearly 63+ lakh stranded migrants reached on Shramik Specials indicate that the 110-odd deaths were caused by a variety of reasons, including pre-existing illness and Covid-19.
-Source: Indian Express, The Hindu
