The Centre on Tuesday notified the Supreme Court there is a possibility that 3 out of 10 migrant workers who are going back to their respective villages may carry the deadly virus along, as per media reports.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench of Chief Justice of India S A Bobde and Justice L Nageshwar Rao that 22.88 lakh migrant labourers have been provided basic amenities, including makeshift shelter homes and food by state governments across India after they were directed to seal state borders so as to restrict travelling that can cause the virus to spread further.

SG Mehta also told SC that so far as many as 28 lakh have been screened at airports and seaports and more than 3.5 lakh persons are being examined.

This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed the nationwide lockdown to curb the novel coronavirus. This has brought distress and panic among migrant labourers and daily wage workers.

Recently a daily wage worker in Delhi named Ranveer Singh died while walking to his native town Muraina, Madhya Pradesh. Singh collapsed and made the last call to his family requesting them to come and pick him up or else he would walk the whole way, as per the Indian Express report.

Another incident was of an 11-year-old Dalit boy who died of hunger at Mushahar Tola in Bihar’s Ara district on March 27, claimed a report put out by the CPI(ML). The report sought to link the alleged hunger death to the ongoing nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Meanwhile, an investigation is also underway against Uttar Pradesh officials who doused migrant workers in a chemical solution that they claimed work as a disinfectant against the coronavirus.

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