-Saptak Chakraborty
Migration is the movement of people from one permanent place to another. Migration in it's truest sense started even before mankind found the of usage of wheels. The early men moved from one place to another in search of food, shelter and other basic amenities. After all, it is the survival of the fittest. While this has always been a very sensitive topic which in the end is left politicised, in a broad sense there are two significant reasons which makes it imperative.
To make ends meet - The gilded age during 1870-1900 saw an influx of millions of Europeans in US who migrated as the standard wages in America shot up, thanks to rapid industrialization.
Persecution - One of best examples would be the great migration between 1916 to 1970 in six million African Americans moved from southern part (underdeveloped parts) of USA to the urban areas in the Northern states. The most important reason which resulted in this massive exodus would be the Jim Crow laws which facilitated racial discrimination. Apart from that there was economic stagnation in the southern states. Even today the motive behind migration in most cases still remains the same, to lead a better life. In India, interstate migration is prevalent because there is scarcity of job opportunities in most of the places which results in an unaffordable livelihood. Apart from that, discrimination on the basis of financial stability, race and caste remains rampant.
Push and pull factors for migration -
Some of the factors which incentivises migration are better job opportunities thus a better standard of living, they might acquire new skill sets, they get to experience a richer and diverse culture. For the host country or state, it also leads to reduction in labour shortages and migrants are willing to work at a cost lower than the standard wage for that particular job in that area. Some of the factors which discourage migration are, homesickness as most of the times only one person shifts places to earn for the family which also causes a gender imbalance in workplace as men seek jobs moving places while the other members of the family are left behind. Hostile worker environment as a result of intolerance towards migrant workers is also prevalent. Inadequate shelter and food for the initial days and overcrowding is also a significant problem. When people start settling abroad there is reduction in workforce of that country and brain drain, if it loses out on skilled labors.
Migrants and their hardships.
According to the 2011 census, 45.36 crore people which made up 37% of India's population were internal migrants. This humongous number consisted mostly of the labours in the unorganized sector.
The unorganized sectors rarely have every other employee and their payments documented. Since the wages are minimal and paid on a daily basis the transactions mostly are liquid. This makes the employees very vulnerable since most have them don't even have the proof of being employed. This backlog makes sure that if they raise any grievances in future none will be paid heed to. The daily wagers are always at a risk of losing out on their jobs. Many a times the employers use this vulnerability to their advantage, make them work overtime without reasonable pay and there have been instances, where the migrant worker is pressurized to get involved in illegal and immoral activities. Due to the predominant patriarchal mindset, women and children are often left behind while the man of the family moves places seeking jobs. It requires extraordinary luck to land yourself a job on the very day you arrive. A plausible case would be that one has to resort to their last brink of savings till they find a job. In this interval of time, many remain homeless and can hardly afford food and to add onto to it they have very less or no contact with their family.
The government.
The government has taken initiatives to curb the rate of migration by trying to improve the rural areas and bridge the gap between the urban and rural. A generous amount of subsidies are granted to both micro and macro firms who decide to setup their bases or expand their business in underdeveloped parts. This in turn facilitates businesses moving to rural India, which there after creates employment for the needy and overall development. The right to education act guarantees free education till the age of 14, which again aims to resolve the problem of ignorance in villages. The infrastructural facilities have substantially developed in a few parts of the country as well. The Coir Udyami Yojna allows people to set up coir unit with a limited amount of loan from the government at a subsidised rate. There's an extensive set of skill training program dedicated to empowering women and prime minister's Rojgar Yojna tries to solve the scarcity of job opportunities by helping small businesses to set up and urging the financial institutions to fund the micro firms in order to generate employment.
Migration still remains unavoidable and interstate migration is growing at an average rate of 4.5% annually. The inter-state migrant workmen act of 1979, was not implemented as well as it was presented on paper. It was starkly evident from the inefficiency of it being followed. When a countrywide lockdown was announced, the migrant workers were left behind with no jobs, inadequate food and no family. Millions had to suffer and many had walked hundreds and thousands of kilometers under the scorching sun to reach home. Nothing could assuage their pain. The ISMW act required every other employer and establishment who has 5 interstate employees to be registered under registering officers who acts for the government. This act was brought to power in order to lessen the aforementioned perils of the relocated. The act had many salient features one of which included displacement allowance, but workers were compelled to stay in the capital. Many states have ammended the ISMW act with Kerala being the most friendly, followed by Maharashtra.
Kerala also introduced a health insurance scheme called ‘Awaaz’ which was rolled out in 2017 with a dual objective to provide health insurance coverage to migrants, and prepare a comprehensive database of migrant labourers in the state. Since the other states and the government did not implement such ideas there was less transparency in the data which included the whereabouts of migrant workers. Though the structure of the plan was seemingly adequate, it plainly lacked the ground level executions. Although it was mandatory for contractors to get registered there was no added pressure put onto them to register. The lockdown came as a dismay to many but before executing such a massive decision did the government consult the chief labour commissioner of the country?
Altogether this resulted in millions left stranded far away from their home. A state wise migration policy framework is the need of the hour and Kerala has been a pioneer. The report on the ‘Social Inclusion of Internal Migrants in India’ by UNESCO and UNICEF (2013) stipulates that “it is clear that there is an urgent need to develop a governance system for internal migration in India, i.e. a dedicated system of institutions, legal frameworks, mechanisms and practices aimed at supporting internal migration and protecting migrants.” This clearly proves that Indian interstate migrants involved in blue collared jobs are losing out on their bare minimum.
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