Helpline for migrant workers launched — legal aid, police support and dispute resolution among services provided

A helpline has been launched to provide assistance to informal sector workers in distress. It promises to provide the first level of counselling/intervention over the phone to workers in times of crisis during the pandemic.

Gaon Connection
| Updated: September 18th, 2021

The helpline has been launched in view of the plight of migrant workers during the pandemic. Photo: Gaon Connection

India labourline — a helpline for migrant workers — has been formally launched today with an aim to provide dispute mediation and legal assistance to the workers across the country.

Launched by the networks working for the rights of informal sector workers — Working People’s Charter (WPC) and Aajeevika Bureau — the helpline has been operational since July 16 this year. In the last two months the helpline (1800 833 9020) has received 2,497 calls and provided mediation to 507 workers in distress from states including Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu.

“The India Labourline is a direct response to the support needed by migrant workers and all those working in the informal sector in India who were abandoned during the lockdown. These workers, in particular, were forced to fend for themselves in this pandemic because of a complete lack of governmental support,” read the statement dated September 18.

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How does the labour helpline function?

The helpline is expected to address deep-rooted vulnerabilities in terms of access to basic necessities in times of crisis as was seen during the COVID19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns. The helpline will provide information, advice, mediation, and legal aid as needed.

It is also expected to assist workers by connecting them to appropriate stakeholders, such as, police and the labour department.

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In addition, the tele-counsellors on the helpline are claimed to have been trained to provide an elementary level of counselling and an intervention in disputes.

Thereafter, the cases of the workers are handed over to the concerned ‘State Facilitation Centres’ which are responsible for undertaking field-level interventions in legal disputes registered with the helpline. As of now, such state centres are functional in Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana.

Also Read: ‘Almost 50% informal workers didn’t receive full wages in the second wave lockdowns’

During the national launch of the helpline today on September 18, Indira Jaising, former Additional Solicitor General of India, reminisced about the plight of migrant workers last year when nationwide lockdown imposed as a measure to contain the outbreak of COVID19, put the fate of millions of migrant workers in jeopardy.

“The memory of the mass exodus that occured last summer is still fresh in our minds. We must remember that workers build our country and we must make all attempts to ease their pain during this crisis,” Jaising said.

It is also expected to assist workers by connecting them to appropriate stakeholders. Photo: Gaon Connection

Gaon Connection Survey

A survey by Gaon Connection conducted last year across 23 states documented the impact of COVID19 lockdown on rural India. It revealed that 23 per cent of the migrant workers returned home walking during the lockdown, 18 per cent by bus, and 12 per cent of them by train. Due to the nationwide lockdown, all transport modes were shut down forcing people, including pregnant women and young kids, to walk hundreds of kilometres.

While on their way home from the cities, 12 per cent migrant workers were reportedly beaten by the police. About 40 per cent of this workforce faced food scarcity during its journey back home, found the national survey.

Also Read: Almost every fourth migrant worker returned home on foot during the lockdown