An Interdisciplinary Study On The Legal And Psychological Challenges Of Migrant Workers In Post-Pandemic India
Tanisha Mathur, Christ University, India
Trisha Mathur, Christ University, India
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 crisis revealed the vulnerabilities of migrant workers in the socio-economic structure of the country. The lockdown and restrictions on mobility caused one of the largest mass migrations in independent India and highlighted gaps in labor regulation, social security protection, and portability of welfare. This article assesses the post-pandemic legal rights and challenges of migrant workers and their issues from a legal and psychological lens. Legally, the discussion engages with the changes from the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, to the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, and an incomplete territory for protection under the Code of Social Security, 2020. In spite of codification, numerous barriers remain in access, registration, and enforcement. Judicial intervention and constellated implementation of the “One Nation, One Ration Card” scheme, mandated by the Supreme Court, to assess the effects on welfare needs, are also discussed.
The most aggrieved group of people during the pandemic were the migrant workers, who faced severe trauma as they had faced unexpected job loss, stigmatization, and difficult journeys home without proper public or private transport; they had to walk on foot to their hometowns. Align with the job, they faced insecurity due to exclusion from health systems and housing, and social isolation that led to an increase in stress and negatively impacted mental health. The key point of the paper argues that a broader framework for the protection of migrants is needed, accounting for both legal entitlement and psychosocial well-being. Recommendations to this end include strengthening portability of social security, providing access to housing and healthcare, and allowing welfare policies to address mental health. The study, after due comparisons, concludes that India needs to change its laws to recognize its migrant workers as a temporary workforce to people with dignity, equality, and holistic protection in the post-pandemic world.
Keywords: migrant workers, labor law, post-pandemic challenges, social security, mental health, constitutional rights.
