India’s Inter-State Migrants

Concern over north Indian workers in Tamil Nadu: What the numbers say about India’s inter-state migrants.

A video of a railway job seeker from a Tamil Nadu village went viral.
Detailing his experience at the physical examination and claiming a large turnout of North Indians.
On the same day, multiple videos leaked showing a mob, ostensibly made up of migrants.
They lined up outside the Tamil Nadu Special Police Force Training Field to take the physical assessment test.
As a result, concerns were raised regarding migrants stealing jobs from Tamil Nadu labour.
In Tamil Nadu, slogans seeking “job protection” have acquired support among several major political parties.
During the old AIADMK regime, the government order enabling people from outside Tamil Nadu to apply for state and central employment was altered.

About
- The International Organization for Migration defines a migrant as any person who is moving or has relocated across an international boundary;
  - Or within a state away from his or her normal residence.
- Studying migration trends in scale, direction, demography, and frequency.
- It can result in more effective policies, programmes, and operational responses.
Factors Determining Migration
- It might be either voluntary or forced movements due to increased disaster magnitude or frequency, economic issues, extreme poverty, or conflict scenarios.
- In recent years, one of the biggest drivers of migration has been the Covid-19 pandemic.

Overview
- The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation produced a study in June 2022 that compiled figures for temporary visitors and migrants.
- 0.7% of the country’s population was listed as a ‘temporary visitor‘ during July 2020-June to 2021.
- Transient visitors were classified as individuals who arrived in households after March 2020 and stayed for at least 15 days but less than six months.
- Because of the epidemic, more than 84% of these 0.7% temporary tourists relocated.
- The overall migration rate in India was 28.9% from July 2020 to June 2021, with rural migration at 26.5% and urban migration at 34.9%.
- Females comprised 47.9% of the migration rate, 48% in rural areas and 47.8% in urban areas.
- The male migration rate was 10.7%, with 5.9% in rural areas and 22.5% in urban areas.
- 86.8% of female migrants came to marry, whereas 49.6% of male migrants came to work.

Labour Demand and Supply
- Migration fills gaps in the demand for and supply of labour and efficiently allocates skilled, unskilled, and cheap labour.
Skill Development
- Migration broadens migrants’ knowledge and skills by exposing them to and interacting with the outside world.
Quality of Life
- Migration increases employment and economic success, improving quality of life.
Economic Remittances
- The migrants also send extra income and remittances, which benefits their home country.
Social Remittances
- Migrants’ social lives improve as they learn about new cultures, habits, and languages.
- It promotes brotherhood among people and ensures greater equality and tolerance.

In 2021, NITI Aayog, in collaboration with a working subgroup of officials and civil society participants, will produce a National Migrant Workers Policy.
Expanding the One Nation, One Ration Card (ONORC) project.
As well as the introduction of Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC), the PM Garib Kalyan Yojna scheme and the e-Shram portal provided a light of hope.
In India, though, the story of migration is still suffering.

While the necessity and significance of migration cannot be overstated, a few local concerns in the TN must be addressed.
There have been allegations of bias in government recruitment, with people fluent in Hindi being chosen over natives.
These worries, however, should not lead to an anti-immigration mindset, and a comprehensive policy to accommodate migrant labour should be implemented.
Lessons could also be gleaned from adjacent states like Kerala, which saw more in-migration than Tamil Nadu.
Nonetheless, because of its low fertility rate, it is faring fair better in terms of efforts to accommodate migrant labour.

Pic Courtesy: Tribune India

Content Source: Indian Express