Migration Notes for UPSC

Migration

Introduction

Census 2011—450 ml+ Indians (37%) are internal migrants.
Economic Survey 2017 — 139 ml seasonal or circular migrants
Specific Migration corridors
SDGs 10.7—Facilitate orderly, safe, regular & R/S migration + Implement a planned & well-managed migration policies.

Why Migration?

Push factors—
- Agri Distress + lack of alternative job opp / Unemployment in hinterland
- Decline of common property resources like ponds, forests & grazing lands.
Pull factors—
- Mass media effect—obsession with “Urbanism”
- Structural transformation of economy—NEP—Thrust on secondary sector
- Marriage—Major reason for women migration
- Anonymity— opp of social mobility for socially oppressed groups.
Livelihood accumulation strategy or survival risk reducing strategy

+ve Impact

+ve Impact on economy—
- ‘Footloose workers’–Supply of cheap labour—Form a big part of informal eco economy + Mfg
- Remittances—India has a 1.5-lakh-cr domestic remittance market—Encourage investment in human capital formation
Social Remittances—
- New cultures, knowledge, intermixing of diverse cultures, Evolution of composite culture
Promotes Social Cohesion & urban diversity—Salad bowl in spirit

-ve impacts / Challenges

Challenges faced by migrant workers
- Lack of Basic Amenities—Drinking Water, Sanitation, Hygiene & Housing
- Employment in informal economy—Low wages + Unsafe work env
- Issue of Identification documents—Lack of affordable housing, limited access to formal financial services, healthcare
- Poor Edu of children—intergen transmission of poverty
- Political & Social exclusion-makes them disenfranchised invisible citizens
- Limited no access to financial services
- Influx of workers in place of destination–Sons of soil chauvinism
- Non-portability of entitlements
- Unplanned migration & urbanisation—Overcrowding—Increased Slum
Adm issues—
- Lack of integration of migration in process of dev.
- Poor implementation of Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act (1979)
- Huge Gap in Data About Migrants—Though ULBs r mandated for this under Unorganised Workers Social Security Act 2008
Alters Demographic Profile—
- Source suffer from outflow of human capital
- Feminization of agriculture & poverty

Govt steps

Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008
RURBAN—To stimulate local eco dev, enhance basic services + reduce rural-urban divide
PURA—To tackle problem of R-U migration
RTE— mandatory for local authorities to admit migrant children.
Case studies–
- Kerala– Scheme which treats migrant welfare as ‘duty of state’—medical treatment, retirement benefits etc
- Karnataka’s Mathru Poorna scheme—Nutrition benefits to migrant pregnant & lactating women
- Gujarat– seasonal boarding schools for migrant children edu

Way Forward

Need for a coherent Migration policy—
- Reducing distress migration
- Address conditions of work
- Foster social inclusion
- Universal PDS—ONOR
- Inter-state co-ord committee
- create a digital Pan-India database of Migrant Workers
- Issue a universally recog & portable proof of identity that can form basis to get S-E entitlements
Social securities for migrants.
- Kerala’s Aawaz health insurance scheme
- Apna Ghar project—accommodation for migrant workers
- Portability of Rights—Voting rights, PDS, MGNREGA job cards
Community canteens—Nutritional security .
Adm measures—
- Mapping of migrant workers with their demographic information, level of skills
- Other laws relating to workers like Building & Other Construction Workers Act must be synergised with Inter-State Migrant Workmen
Formalisation of Economy—Recently proposed Unorg Worker Index Number Card by Labour Min would help in it.
Need for “SMART Villages”—
- Sustainable livelihood opp
- Food security
- Access to credit
- Improve rural infra-health, edu & connectivity.

Conclusion

Build back better urban spaces in India, with a human-centred approach at its core.
If incorporated in policy making, migration instead of being part of problem will start becoming part of the solution

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