The Human Rights of Interstate Migrant Workers in India: A Study of the Current Legal Regime

The systemic vulnerability of interstate migrant workers in India represents one of the most pressing human rights challenges within the nation’s informal economy. Despite the foundational constitutional guarantees of equality (Article 14) and the right to life with dignity (Article 21), a significant portion of this demographic remains relegated to the margins of legal protection, routinely subjected to wage theft, occupational hazards, and systemic exclusion from social security networks. This doctrinal study critically examines the existing legal regime governing interstate migrant labour in India, evaluating its efficacy in safeguarding fundamental human rights. By tracing the legislative trajectory from the structural limitations of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, to the consolidation under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020, the research assesses whether the modern statutory framework resolves historical enforcement failures or merely perpetuates existing vulnerabilities. The analysis specifically scrutinizes the operational realities of welfare boards, the legal friction surrounding registration requirements, and the profound access-to-justice barriers that migrant labourers face when seeking constitutional remedies. Furthermore, the study highlights the gap between legislative intent and grassroots execution, demonstrating how jurisdictional ambiguities and the transient nature of migrant work effectively dilute statutory protections. Ultimately, this paper concludes that an equitable legal framework demands more than statutory consolidation; it requires robust, accessible grievance redressal mechanisms and a fundamental shift towards rights-based enforcement to ensure that India’s economic growth does not occur at the expense of its most marginalized workforce.