TV
Internal migration has been a defining feature of India’s economy. The number of migrants has been estimated at different times. Migration Report of 2020-21 estimates the rate of migration at 28.9% and 10.8 % for job seekers. Another estimate puts the number of labour migrants at 20% of the number of workers and the number in 2016 was assessed at 10 crores. Out of 450 million migrants recorded in the Census 2011, an estimated 100–140 million are labour migrants, many of them seasonal or circular. They form the backbone of urban and rural economies, yet remain among the most vulnerable sections of the workforce.
During the lockdown following the COVID-19 epidemic, lakhs of migrant workers returned home. Their number give a broad picture of the migrant-prone states. Out of 114 lakh workers who returned, 32.50 lakh returned to Uttar Pradesh, 15.01 lakh to Bihar, 13.85 lakh to West Bengal, and 13.08 lakh to Rajasthan. Odisha received 8.54 lakhs, while 7.54 lakhs returned to Madhya Pradesh. Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh received 5.30 lakh and 5.27 lakh, respectively. Maharashtra has been receiving the largest number of migrant labour, while the largest number of migrant labourers are from Uttar Pradesh.
There are many compelling reasons which move the poor to distant places away from home. A very high density of population in a state without commensurate job opportunities creates enough pressure for migration. Bihar, with 1106 people per square km, has the highest population density, followed by West Bengal with 1029 people per sq km and Uttar Pradesh with 829, as against the country’s average of only 382 persons per sq km. Bihar has the highest percentage of rural population (88.71%) followed by Odisha with 83.31%. Considerably high rural population is also in states like Uttar Pradesh (77.73%), Chhattisgarh (76.76%), Jharkhand (75.95%), West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh—each with 72.37%. Population density is low in Chhattisgarh at 189. Madhya Pradesh too has a moderate density with 236. Odisha’s density at 270 is well below the national average.
While large-scale migration from heavily populated states with high population density could be related to job scarcity owing to large population, large-scale migration from states with low population density indicates poor economic development and consequent large-scale human distress. Odisha comes under this category. Other distressing factors in Odisha include low cropping intensity due to modest irrigation facilities and increased use of machines in farm operations.
Operations like ploughing, paddy seedling transplantation, harvesting, and winnowing are now done by machines, which are cost-effective as well. This has resulted in labour displacement. Higher wage in some states is yet another factor that attracts labour from Odisha to such states. For example, an Odia labourer could earn Rs 18,000 per month per shift in Tamil Nadu. Many do two shifts and manage to save around Rs 25000 per month—an opportunity their home state does not provide.
E-Shram portal reveals registration of 133 lakh unorganised labourers in Odisha. 30 lakh of them could be assumed to be migrant labour going to different states to earn their livelihood. They are engaged in sectors like construction, manufacturing, agriculture, hospitality, domestic work, watch and ward, transport, and informal services. Work conditions: remain predominantly informal, without written contracts, minimum wage enforcement, or social security. Most live in overcrowded houses, temporary shelters at worksites or urban slums, with poor sanitation and unsafe drinking water. Social security gaps include a lack of access to welfare benefits due to domicile-linked schemes, despite reforms like One Nation One Ration Card.
They have limited access to healthcare; children’s education is disrupted due to mobility.
While this category of migrants enjoys freedom of choice and is not obligation-bound to agents or middlemen, the pernicious Dadan system prevalent in some areas of Odisha is a different story. Their destination has been Brick-kilns located mostly in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Their exact number is not known.
There has been reluctance at the Block level to keep a detailed record of Dadan migrants, though the government have provided funds for this. Registration of Agents and the number of Dadan labourers they took is done, but it reflects only a portion of the magnitude. In 2023, the number of licensed Agents was 1231, and the number of labourers was 81232. In 2014, the numbers were 1037 and 70142, respectively. The actual number of Dadan labourers could be over two lakhs. They receive the Dadan (Advance) amount before the journey of distress commences. This amount is fixed annually. This year, it is reportedly one lakh rupees for a group of four people. A group is expected to make at least four lakh raw bricks in six months, worth two lakh rupees. The labourers live on site and food is provided. After the advance is adjusted, the group is left with a meagre sum of a lakh of rupees in six months.
Some Groups make more bricks and earn a bit more. The children suffer the most as they don’t get a proper education. The system generates child labour and a huge stock of poorly educated human resources. The system is predominantly in the Bolangir district, though Kalahandi and Nuapara districts also have this problem, though on a much smaller scale. The system is exploitative; it has prevented the poor from their constitutional right of freedom of choice of work and movement. It has hardly created wealth for the affected families.
It looks paradoxical that the government has not addressed the problem with foresight. An appropriate intervention strategy is yet to be adopted. The employment guarantee scheme, suitably tailored for the Dadan-affected Blocks, has been a failure. The labourers hardly get the wage at close intervals. Two programmes --- power-loom complex and lapidary units— in the affected Blocks could be useful and would wean away the labour from the vice-like grip of Dadan and provide gainful employment round the year close to their homes. This would open an era of reverse migration.
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are the author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
