The never-ending ordeal of migrant workers

Every year, hundreds of young people from villages arrive in cities in search of jobs with hopes of freedom from poverty and indebtedness, leaving behind their families, friends and homes. Uneconomic land holdings, decline of cottage industries and handicraft, erratic monsoon, lack of irrigation facilities, degradation of the environment, lack of protection from natural calamities, increasing indebtedness etc are the main reasons for rural to urban migration.

A large majority of rural population are landless labourers. Agriculture provides them only seasonal work of six to seven months in a year. Even when they get work, wages are abysmally low. They have nothing to fall back upon when work is not available. Many of them including those with small land holdings are forced to borrow from money lenders as they find procedures of banks complex and daunting.

People from remote, backward villages and those belonging to socially and economically backward communities are the most affected by rural destitution. Migration to the city is an attempt to escape from poverty and in many a case from the tyranny of the unjust, oppressive and hierarchical caste system. 

Most of the migrants retain their links with the village and return when seasonal work is available and again go back to the cities when there is no work in the village.
Earlier, migration of labourers was mainly to cities in their own home states. Now, with the spread of communication and information, they have begun to explore their fortunes beyond their own home states. Agents and contractors have sprung up who recruit workers in large groups to work in distant cities.

Large number of people from states like Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, which have the largest number of landless labourers are now working in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat (UNESCO/ UNICEF, 2012b). Even Kerala which was traditionally known for outward migration is now attracting workers from Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Uttar Pradesh. Migrants now constitute 10% of the state’s population (Labour and Rehabilitation Department, Kerala).

The workers soon realise that the ordeal does not end with migration to the city. Even in the period of much flaunted high economic growth, the only sector which opened up noteworthy employment opportunities was the service sector. It has not made any difference to the 287 million illiterate adults of employable age in India (Global Monitoring Report-UNESCO 2014).

As the present model of development is not able to stimulate growth in manufacturing and agriculture sectors — which employ the illiterate, the unskilled and the semi-skilled — they have been left in the lurch. This kind of progress is best described as the engine steaming ahead leaving behind the coaches.

Construction sector is the only one which has absorbed such workers in significant numbers. Construction Workers Welfare Boards (CWWB) set up in all states levy 1% cess on the construction cost of buildings. The fund is meant to be used for providing financial assistance to the families of beneficiaries in case of accident, for old age pension, housing loans, payment of insurance premium, education of children, medical and maternity benefits etc.

Unregistered workers
As per the latest figures, the amount collected so far has grown into a huge corpus fund of Rs 27000 crore (Union Ministry of Labour) and this amount is lying idle. The rules for disbursement stipulate that only workers who register with the CWWB are eligible to claim the benefits under the scheme. Only 2.2 crore of the estimated 4.46 crore workers in the construction industry (Report of Lok Sabha’s Standing Committee on Labour 2013-14) are registered. Large number of applications are kept pending for long periods on flimsy technical reasons. The indifference of bureaucracy together with the ignorance of workers has resulted in the amount remaining unutilised.

Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act was passed in 1979 to regulate the working conditions of migrant workers. The important features of this Act are elimination of middlemen, listing the responsibilities of employers and contractors, ensuring wages equal to those of local employees, right to return home periodically without loss of wages, right to medical care and housing at the employment site.

But these stipulations are rarely implemented by the states as there is no mechanism to ensure monitoring and enforcement of them. Lack of organisational support to protect the interest of migrant workers is also a reason for this situation. Even in a state like Kerala with high level of awareness of workers’ rights, unions have failed to integrate migrant workers into the mainstream, the ostensible reason being language barrier.

Migrant workers live and work in degrading conditions. They are made to work more and paid less than local workers. They live in makeshift shelters where there is no provision of safe drinking water and hygienic sanitation. They are deprived of the benefits of welfare schemes like subsidised food grains and healthcare due to identity issues. As workers have to move from place to place in search of work, schooling of their children poses a big problem.

Though internal migrants now constitute 35% of the country’s population and contribute 10% to GDP (NSSO 2007-08), politicians have ignored them as they don’t have voting rights at their place of work. The issues are not insurmountable if politicians and the administration become proactive. For example, as Aadhar serves as an identity document across states, it can be used for introducing portability of ration cards and health cards.

Activists and NGOs have suggested setting up of help lines, dormitories, daycare centres to take care of children while women labourers are away at work, adequate number of public toilets, mobile schools etc to reduce the ordeal of migrant workers. These issues need to be addressed on a war-footing to ensure that migrant workers lead a life of dignity and not as second-class citizens in their own country.