Policy on migrant workers welcome

The draft national policy on migrant labour, prepared by the Niti Aayog, may be the first important step taken by the government for recognition of the rights of migrant workers and formulation of specific measures for their welfare.

Though migrant workers are everywhere and are an important part of the economy, they are neglected as workers and even as members of society. But they are important in the places where they work, and more important in the places where they come from, as whole families depend on them for livelihood. Last year’s march across the country of lakhs of migrant workers brought into national focus the human, social and economic aspects of the migrant workers’ situation like never before.

The lockdown exposed the fact that migrant workers did not have the minimum social and economic security, and the policy aims to take some steps to ensure this. A key proposal is to evolve mechanisms to “enable voting” so that political inclusion will “enhance accountability of political leadership towards welfare of migrant workers of their respective states.” Since migrant workers are a disaggregated and dispersed population, they don’t have the agency and opportunity to attract political attention.

The draft considers that political inclusion is essential for their access to health services, basic entitlements, food security, education and other needs. There are also administrative suggestions like the setting up of a special migration unit in the ministry of labour at the Centre and in the states, inter-state migration management bodies in important migration corridors, portability of social security programmes across states, introduction of skill mapping schemes and the setting up of a national helpline for psycho-social assistance.

The draft notes that a fragmented labour market obscures supply chains and relationships between business owners and workers. It also says that “the existing gap in the unionisation of migrant workers is also an important reason for the precarious nature of their employment.” Trade unions in the conventional sense many not be possible among migrant workers. But their conditions are worse than those of even unorganised workers.

The ultimate aim should be to make them part of the formal workforce and to recognise and reward them for their contributions to the economy. The draft policy is welcome as an attempt to formulate some initial and essential ideas to achieve that objective.