Need national strategy to address migrants’ problems
During my recent visit to a metropolitan, I met an auto driver who started crying when I asked about his family. He told me that his mother was critically ill and even though he wanted to be with her, he was left with no choice but to leave her behind in his village.
Since there was no employment opportunity in his district, he was forced to migrate to a metropolitan to earn his bread and meet her medical expenses.
The Constitution of India guarantees civil liberties, equality before law, freedom of speech and expression, religious and cultural freedom.
The fundamental rights are defined as basic human freedom that every Indian citizen has the right to enjoy. These rights universally apply to all citizens, irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste or gender.
However, I want to highlight an issue which is not covered by the Constitution of India and it is affecting the people of our state which lacks opportunities.
Uttar Pradesh has talented employees and skilled labours, but the lack of opportunities compel them to migrate to different states.
Some leave for higher studies, others for jobs and career growth. Over two-third (69 per cent) of India’s population lives in rural areas, according to the 2011 Census of India.
Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata are among the world’s top 10 most populous urban areas. India also has 25 of the 100 fastest-growing cities worldwide.
A significant source of this growth is rural-to-urban migration, as an increasing number of people do not find sufficient economic opportunities in rural areas and move to cities.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have the highest percentage of rural populations, with 18.6 percent and 11.1 percent of people living in villages, respectively, as per the 2011 Census.
These states also have the maximum number of people migrating to other states. Substantial number of labour migrants relocate from Uttar Pradesh to Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Haryana, Gujarat, and other states across northern and central India.
Migrant workers are deprived of many opportunities like the freedom to exercise their political rights.
Since they are not entitled to vote outside of their place of origin, some are unable to cast their votes.
Dependent on middlemen for information, they engage in low-end, low-value, hard, and risky manual labor and are constantly subject to exploitation with little or no opportunity for legal recourse.
The Government of India’s Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act of 1979 was passed in order to address the unjust working conditions of migrant workers, including the necessity to gain employment through middlemen contractors or agents who promise a monthly settlement of wages but do not pay later.
This fact is ignored by state governments even though they articulate ideal working conditions for inter-state migrants, but lacking provisions for enforcement, it has not been used to create a better policy environment in practice.
In the last few years, governments have been trying to invite private players and corporates to invest in Uttar Pradesh to generate employment in the state.
States are also giving lucrative offers to private companies to ensure investments while private partners are playing pick and choose as per their development plans and returns.
To overcome this problem, a national equal employment opportunity commission for all the states must regulate equal distribution of opportunities in terms of employment generation across the states of India.
The magnitude and variety of internal migration flows in India, as well as the distress associated with it is enormous.
Hence, a concerted national strategy should be derived which will ensure access to entitlements and basic work conditions with equal opportunity of employment across the nation.
It will help in building a sustainable and equitable pathway of progress for all the states of this nation simultaneously.