70% workers in Punjab cities from outside state: Study

NEARLY 47% MIGRANTS COME TO PUNJAB DUE POVERTY AND 42% DUE TO LACK OF SUITABLE EMPLOYMENT IN THEIR RESPECTIVE AREAS

CHANDIGARH:Majority of the influx of people to the cities of Punjab is from outside the state. As per a study carried out by the centre for development economics and innovation studies (CDEIS) of Punjabi University, 70% of the people coming to the cities are from outside the state and only 30% belong to the rural Punjab.

A study on rural-urban migrationin Punjab and Haryana says that 35% migrants are illiterate, 36% have middle-level education and only 7% are graduates. Project director Lakhwinder Singh, along with Sukhwinder Singh and Deepak Kumar, studied 3,962 migrant households from Punjab and Haryana —1,992 and 1,970 — respectively.

The data for Punjab was collected from eight cities — Bathinda, Patiala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Kharar, Sunam, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran — and five cities — Gurugram, Panipat, Jind, Yamunanagar and Hisar — were covered in Haryana. They concluded that 62% of the workers coming to cities are in the age group of 26-45 years who have very low level of education.

Speaking about migration trends in Haryana, Gill said lesser number of outsiders are coming to the neighbouring state as compared to Punjab. In Haryana, 41% workers coming to cities are from within in the state while 59% are from outside the state.

“The main cause of migration to cities is poverty,” said Gill in the study.

Nearly 47% of the migrants come to the cities of Punjab due poverty and 42% shift due to lack of remunerative employment opportunities in their respective countryside. Occupational wage differentials are wide — ranging between ₹9,000 and ₹35,000 — from self-employment and salaried workers, says the study.

Gill said the reason behind largescale migration of Punjabis to foreign countries is low remuneration in unorganised sector. “Migrants from outside manage here because in comparison to their native state, they are better off here,” he said.

As per the study, 48% migrants send money (26% to 50%) to their dependants at their native places. The cities have ready availability of job to 77% of migrant workers and others have to wait for suitable jobs, the study says, adding 25% migrants had faced harassment at the hands of employers or police or anti-social elements.

Most of the migrant labourers in illness approach the quacks or cheap private medical facilities because they can’t spend time waiting at government hospitals.