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Migrant Labour and the Reverse Migration Phenomenon

Migrant Labour and the Reverse Migration Phenomenon

One of the visible images of the current pandemic has been the searing images of the migrant labour trying to come back home, with some even walking hundreds of kilometres. These migrant labourers unfortunately fall out of the social net as they are unable to sustain even short periods of loss in income which has an immediate impact on their livelihood. In real terms migrants are the backbone of the economy, Estimates put their contribution to the GDP at 10% (CMIE).
Out of the 450Mn+ large work force of India, 87% lies in the unorganized sector. The largest employers of this unorganized workforce being the construction sector employing almost 40 Mn, another 12 mn as domestic help, cleaners, car washers and support staff and about 8 mn are employed in the eateries and roadside food stalls and other odd jobs. An estimated 40 Mn migrant workers have been heading back home from the traditional Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Gujarat corridors.
How do we address this repeated phenomenon – reverse migration in an economic downturn? This will require the Industry and government working in tandem, a strong policy push backed by a series of short term and long-term actions by the state governments and the Industry bodies is a must.
The Migrant Workmen Act, 1979 enacted to ensure fair and decent conditions of employment has been largely a non-starter. The primary reason for this seems to be the onerous compliance requirements set out in the law. It not only requires equal pay for inter-state workmen, but also requires other social protection, medical allowance, travel, accommodation, etc that would make their employment significantly more expensive than intra-state workmen. Compliance with these requirements is not only onerous, it makes the cost of hiring inter-state workmen higher than hiring similar labour from within the state.The Act needs a major rehaul to make it practical to implement and useful for the migrant whom it proposes to protect. The current form only encourages rent seeking opportunities
Another major question that has been cropping up - Why do large production centres need to be in Mumbai or Delhi paying prohibitive real estate cost and extraordinary operational expenses? Can we not create infrastructure in the home states to house these production centres? Isn’t this the spirit of Make-In-India? Daewoo, Kia Motors, Apparel production in Tirupur to name a few production centres in small towns, why can’t we create these kinds of production centers in the large net migrant states? Some state governments have already been sounding out Industry bodies and large corporates with proposals for putting up production centres. A good time to examine the larger issue of setting up production centres, this could help benefit nearly 40% of the populace.
Another policy push needs to come on the need for registration of labourers using Aadhar card as the identification document, registering all the workers and furnishing the reports to the statutory bodies. Making this a national policy.
In the short run some of the migrants may have to go back as the job opportunities do not exist in their home state. However, an intensive skill mapping of the migrants with an execution plan of Upskilling and Reskilling will help them immensely to negotiate the new normal. Given the size of the labour market not all the labour can be gainfully employed in the wage employment market hence an urgent need to look at self-employment and Micro-Entrepreneurship to tap the inherent potential of the individuals complemented by the local resources to create a self-sustaining eco system.
In conclusion a quick phase wise Policy push which includes Revamping the Migrant Act, National Documentation process using Aadhar followed by exploring non- metro Production centers and investing in reskilling and Self Employment through a PPP model is what we need on a war footing
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/migrant-labour-reverse-migration-phenomenon-sanjiva-jha
Sanjiva Jha, CEO and Founder BroadArks, June 24th, 2022



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