Anish Pujapanda
Introduction
The term migrant in India as per the Census 2011 is defined as the household member whose last usual place of residence differed from the current place of enumeration .Migrant labours workers play one of the most crucial roles in the Indian economy by providing labour at the most lowest costs yet the policies and legislations have failed to recognize their importance(Nayak , 2022). According to the data published by Periodic Labour Force and CMIE , the migrant workers in India form the 90 % of the Indian economy and contribute to the development of each and every sector of India and thus are impermeable in the economic growth of the country.
Impermeable Contribution of the Migrant Workers
Migrant workers in India predominantly work in the construction and manufacturing sectors of the Indian Economy . These jobs are categorized as low paying and the workers employed in these sectors are less educated which leads to excessive exploitation by the contractors of these sectors . Invariably a study of the International Labour Organization published in the year 2018 shows that the migrant workers contribute to 10 % of the Indian GDP . This highlights their comparable contribution to the Indian Economy despite the treatment and exclusion of them.
Invisibility of the Migrant workers
As migrant workers are the backbone of the Indian Economy, Migration has been continuously rising from different factors for example – The rise of urban agglomerations and the rise of the industrial sectors across different parts in India. Their contribution can be noticed in each and every sector but still they are deliberately categorised as temporal and seasonal and have been left apart from the different spheres of the Indian economy which ranges from the political, social and economic spheres of the country. Millions of workers do inter – state migrations in search of better employment opportunities and better livelihood but they face systematic exclusion from the social protection schemes .
They are denied basic living conditions , labour rights and voting rights to the cities which they have migrated to in search for their development of living conditions. This systematic exclusion leads to their invisibility in the government policies and also it disregards and dishonours their contribution into the development of the Indian Economy (John and Thomas , 2020) . The migrant workers thus find themselves marginalized in both the political and economical system of India.
Perception and Facts of the Migrant Workers
Migrant workers have been perceived as very unscrupulous and varied across different regions in India . They are considered to be outsiders of the city and thus are pushed into the jobs which are dangerous , dirty and deregarding in nature. A rhetoric which has across different studies , these migrant workers would push the locals from the jobs available in the cities. A study published by the NITI Aayog in 2019 highlights the migrating population is not being welcomed in the cities due to the above rhetoric .
It thus highlights the mindset which shows that the contribution of the Migrant workers in building the cities is being unrecognised and also it leads to a question upon the self dignity of this workers which shows that despite so much hardwork and labour their efforts are being not recognized and they are not being recognized in the system ( Sharma and Pal , 2024 ).
Intended Solutions
The inclusion of the migrant workers in the social security and protection schemes is quite necessary in order to make themselves part of the economy of the country by the Union Government. The development of the portals like E – Shram needs to be made more accessible to these workers in order to make them registered at these portals so that they get access to the benefits.
The Union Government should work on protecting and should focus on the strict enactment of the labour laws in India and it should direct the companies to develop the living conditions of these workers and give them adequate wages as procedure established by law and violation of this should lead to strict action by the Union Government. The civil society organizations like the NGOs , Think Tanks etc in collaboration with the government should focus on the skill enhancement of these workers and make them realize their rights in order to make them aware citizens .
Lastly, it is very necessary to understand their contributions to the Indian Economy and consider them as an integral part of the Indian Economy as thus then only they also can look to work with full dignity and empowerment.
References
Sharma, Pal(2024). Migrant Laborers and their Challenges in India: A Systematic Review. https://irjems.org/Volume-3-Issue-11/IRJEMS-V3I11P117.pdf
Jacob,John,Thomas(2020). A Study on Social Security and Health Rights of Migrant Workers in India. https://nhrc.nic.in/assets/uploads/training_projects/Approved_Health%20and%20social%20security%20ISMW_KDS-NHRC.pdf
NIRDPR(2020). Research Study on effects of Interstate Migration on the Socio- Economic Status of the Stone Quarry Workers and Planning for better livelihoods. https://nirdpr.org.in/nird_docs/rss/Migration010621.pdf
Nayak, S. (2022). Migrant Workers in the Coal Mines of India: Precarity, Resilience and the Pandemic. Social Change, 52(2), 203–222. https://doi.org/10.1177/00490857221094125
About the Contributor: Anish Pujapanda is a Research and Editorial Intern at IMPRI. He is also a fellow of the Public Policy Youth Fellowship.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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