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An article in 'The Hindu' stated that about 70% of 500-odd villages in Beed, Osmanabad, Jalna, Latur, and some parts of Nanded and Parbhani districts are emptied every winter.
A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep V Marne has taken suo motu cognizance of the plight of the migrant workers in the Marthwada Region of Maharashtra.
The suo motu cognizance was taken on the basis of a report from the daily newspaper “The Hindu”.
“A disturbing article in the daily newspaper “The Hindu” dated 8th March, 2023 has been brought to our notice under the heading 'Sugar-belt shocker: The financial and sexual abuse of Maharashtra's migrant workforce'. The article deals with the plight of the migrant workers from the drought affected area of Marathwada Region, wherein they are required to migrate to western Maharashtra’s Sangli, Kolhapur, Pune, Satara, Solapur and Ahmednagar, known as the sugar belt” the order read.
The article in the newspaper stated that about 70% of 500-odd villages in Beed, Osmanabad, Jalna, Latur, and some parts of Nanded and Parbhani districts are emptied every winter. The toils, groups of workers, either stay on the sugar factory premises or in the sugarcane fields. Further, it also said that families move into temporary structures that provide little shelter as winter turns to summer and then the rains arrive, flooding their makeshift homes
Therefore while taking cognizance of the same the high court noted,
“The plight of these workers is narrated qua financial exploitation and exploitation of lady workers also. The workers have also narrated the ordeals they have to undergo. The statements of such migrant workers are also part of the said article” the order read.
The high court appointed Senior Advocate Mihir Desai and Advocate Pradnya Talekar to assist the court.
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