Can the State let employers walk away from lockdown wages?

If the government is serious about standing with the migrant workers, then it cannot leave them to the vagaries of unequal negotiations with employers.

“Dear migrant labourers and daily wage earners…. the country stands with you!” proclaims a Central government advertisement in the newspapers. Notwithstanding this public protestation of solidarity with migrant workers, the government is ready to remove the mandatory wage protection it had offered earlier for the pandemic-induced lockdown period. Attorney General K K Venugopal has requested the Supreme Court to suspend the government’s earlier order on full lockdown wages. Eventual payments he suggested, could be settled through negotiations between workers and employers.

Government ads enumerating its welfare measures for migrant workers list over Rs.1 lakh crore allocation under MGNREGA for employment