The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra government to consider if migrant labourers stranded at their places of work could be allowed to return to their hometowns within the state, PTI reported.

Justice RK Deshpande made the suggestion while hearing two petitions that raised concerns about the conditions migrant labourers and daily wage workers were living in amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, the judge said these labourers should be allowed to return home only after medical tests for Covid-19 are conducted on them.

In response, Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni said a state-level committee set up to look into the problems and grievances of migrant workers will consider the matter. District-level committees shall look into the workers’ grievances about water, food and shelter, he added.

The judge told the Maharashtra government to conduct a survey and prepare a list of such migrant labourers stranded in the state. “The problem of Covid-19 is not restricted to this country but it pertains to infection which has spread over the entire world,” Justice Deshpande said. The judge said the court will hear the matter next on May 4.

Meanwhile, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court ordered the Maharashtra government to instruct district collectors from around the state to prepare data on migrant workers, and whether shelter homes are available for them, PTI reported.

“The collectors shall also inform the court whether any efforts have been taken by the local administration to arrange a psychological counselling facility for such migrants, to ensure they are not driven to any extreme step or do not suffer psychological trauma,” Justice RV Ghuge said. The data should be prepared within two weeks and submitted to the court on May 4, the judge added.

The court directives come two days after over 1,000 migrant workers gathered outside Bandra railway station in Mumbai, hoping to go back to their home towns in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. The Mumbai Police had to baton charge the workers to drive them from the place.

The police registered first information reports against the crowd, against a journalist from ABP Majha who had published a story about resumption of railway services, and against a self-proclaimed labour leader who threatened a protest march in Mumbai on April 18.

India has so far reported 12,380 cases of Covid-19, and 414 people have died. Maharashtra tops the list of states with most number of coronavirus cases, at 2,916, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Over half the cases in Maharashtra have come from Mumbai.