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Complete prohibition on interstate migration: Government tells Supreme Court amid COVID-19 lockdown

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Mar 31, 2020, 03:48 PM IST
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Photograph:(AFP)

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The Supreme Court on Monday had sought a status report from the Centre on the measures taken in view of the large-scale migration of labourers 

Supreme Court on Tuesday heard a petition seeking directions to provide food and shelter to migrant workers amid the coronavirus lockdown in the country.

The petition was filed by lawyer AA Srivastava as the migrants continued to move around the country after the country was lockdown last week.

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Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told India's top court that there was a complete prohibition on interstate migration.

"We are considering providing counseling to address the panic,"Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told India's apex court while adding, "Over 22 lakh, 88 thousand people being provided food. These are needy persons, migrants, and daily wagers.They have been kept in shelters.

The Supreme Court on Monday had sought a status report from the Centre on the measures taken in view of the large-scale migration of labourers from cities to their native villages after the nationwide lockdown last week.

The court had said that panic and fear by the labourers in different parts had become a bigger problem in the fight against the virus.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justice L Nageswara Rao had taken up two separate PILs filed by advocates Alakh Alok Srivastava and Rashmi Bansal on the issue of migration of labourers through video-conferencing on Monday.