Case8-March-2013
Migration – a new theme: It was proposed in the 23rd Consultative Forum Meeting of DHAN Foundation held in Kerala Institute for Local Administration to explore opportunities for initiating a new theme on Migration. A three member working group was constituted to explore the theme of Migration with the following objectives
Based on the desk research done to understand the phenomenon of migration and possible ways and means to intervene on the issues related to migration, and subsequent internal consultation, the working group has come out with a report on the theme of Migration.
Migration in India: Migration in India is not new and historical accounts show that people have moved in search of work, in response to environmental shocks and stresses, to escape religious persecution and political conflict. However improved communications, transport networks, conflicts over natural resources and new economic opportunities have created unprecedented levels of mobility. But as we discuss in following sections, the increase in mobility is not fully captured in larger surveys often leading to erroneous conclusions about mobility levels in India.
Although significant in recent years, growth has been unequal in India (Balisacan and Ducanes 2005), characterized by industry in developed states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab drawing labour from agriculturally backward and poor regions such as eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, southern Madhya Pradesh, western Orissa and southern Rajasthan. High productivity agricultural areas (“green revolution areas”) continue to be important destinations, but rural to urban migration is the fastest growing type of migration as more migrants choose to work in better paying non-farm occupations in urban areas and industrial zones. Delhi and the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra are top destinations for inter-state migrant labour. Labour mobility has grown and will probably continue to grow once the economy recovers from the current crisis.
Migrant labour makes enormous contributions to the Indian economy through major sectors such as construction, textiles, small industries, brick-making, stone quarries, mines, fish and prawn processing and hospitality services. But migrants remain on the periphery of society, with few citizen rights and no political voice in shaping decisions that impact their lives (Kabeer 2005). Unlike countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia, the bulk of the migrant workforce in India has little or no education (Srivastava 2003).
In fact migrants are poorly endowed all-round: they come from poor families where access to physical, financial and human capital is limited and where prospects for improving living standards are constrained by their inferior social and political status. Historically disadvantaged communities such as the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes are heavily represented in migration. Poor migrants are absorbed in informal sector jobs, much maligned for being insecure, poorly paid and unproductive but offering the only option for labourers to improve their capabilities.
There are different types of migration, with overlapping definitions, and that different members of a family may engage in different migration types either simultaneously or sequentially during their personal lifecycles. The main migration types are:
Understanding the issues of Migration: In the recent economic trends, rural-urban migration is considered socially and economically beneficial, since it permits human resources to shift from locations in search of better livelihoods. Internal migration is in fact considered a natural process in which the surplus labor is withdrawn from the rural sector for supplying the manpower needed for urban industrial growth. The process in fact constituted the cornerstone of celebrated development theories of Lewis and Fei-Ranis, which significantly influenced policy making in many countries with “unlimited supplies” of labor.
The result was that the policies undertaken in most developing countries heavily concentrated on developing the urban sector, with the belief that the release of labor from the rural sector will increase productivity in that sector, and also that remittances, acquired knowledge, and skill transfer by the migrants will contribute to development in the rural areas. Rural-urban migration was thus considered an instrument for poverty alleviation in a labor surplus economy.
At the same time negative consequences of migration are many on the individuals as well as the families and the native resources. The migrant workers are generally exploited. They are made to work for long hours and the wages paid to them are lower than the local labourers, in fact, below the level of prescribed minimum wage. Taking advantage of their illiteracy and poverty, middlemen practice exploitative recruitment practices and in many cases, retain a major portion of their wages as their own commission. Moreover, wages are adjusted only at the end of the season and workers are paid some advances, which are not at all sufficient to meet even the basic requirements.
The conditions of women labourers are far more unsatisfactory. Women migrant labourers are invariably paid lesser wages as compared to their male counterparts in many sectors. Sexual exploitation of the women migrant labourers especially the tribals is also a matter of deep concern. Most of the migrant workers reportedly live in conditions below the minimum accepted standards without adequate shelter and sanitation facilities. In most places, migrants stay in make shift shacks or in the open and have no access to safe drinking water. In the urban areas, shortage of open space and harassment by local musclemen add to their misery.
In addition, migrant workers do not have access to the public distribution system or other municipal services. Considering the positive and negative outcomes of migration, it is necessary to intervene on the issues of migration both at the source as well as the destination. As the issue of migration is found to be one of the important causes of poverty, working on this theme is within the ultimate mission of DHAN. Migration has been noted as an important development issue wherever DHAN is already working. Different types of migrations could be observed in the locations where DHAN has already been working. The working group suggests a three step strategy to intervene in Migration.
Migration as a new theme in dhan collective: There are two possible streams of piloting the theme of migration in DHAN Collective. The Migration theme could be taken for piloting in DHAN Collective both as a standalone as well as a cross-cutting theme.
As a cross-cutting theme, the theme would be piloted using the existing network of people institutions, manpower, and infrastructure and to some extend the funds. This will help deepen the existing themes of Kalanjiam Community Banking, Vayalagam Tankfed Agriculture Development, Rainfed Farming development as well as Coastal Conservation and Livelihoods programmes. This will, in fact bring additional service to the existing member households and will give a face lift to the development face of the People Institutions.
As an exclusive theme, the theme of migration would be given an exclusive focus. A development model of interventions on the issues of migration would evolve and it would be piloted in select locations.
This would work on issues of all migrants irrespective of the existing members of DHAN collective. Appropriate partners would be identified and resources would be mobilized both nationally and internationally from organizations focusing on the issue. DHAN would emerge as a leading player in addressing migrants issue by Government policy making bodies.
Prevention Strategies
Reversal Strategies