Indian interstate migrant labor: an analysis

Abstract

The Indian economy is undergoing drastic changes over the past years. The liberalization policies have brought economic boom in the urban areas. This has generated a lot of employment for the middle class income category of people. The new schemes drawn by the government are also targeted towards the upper class (industrialists, etc.) and the middle class to a certain extent. The people below the poverty line (BPL) are facing huge setbacks in this scenario since there is no attractive source of income in the rural areas. The returns from agriculture have been consistently low. This has left the poor with no option to migrate to urban areas. Bangalore has been the center of the economic boom in India. The IT industry has been flourishing attracting a lot of young talent from other cities in India. This has also caused a boom in the real-estate industry with the skyrocketing of the prices of lands, houses and business establishments. There has been specific focus on the infrastructure since at its current state, it is inadequate to house the unplanned growth happening in Bangalore. This focus has initiated the construction of flyovers, IT parks, etc. which has impacted the economy at a macro level. Although, it seems like the spending capacity of an average citizen in Bangalore has risen with the birth of the malls and exclusive showrooms, there is still the segment of people in Bangalore who are trying to cope with the inflation rates and the living conditions. To add to this, several people have migrated to Bangalore in search of better opportunities from the rural areas. These include construction workers, masons, carpenters, stone cutters, etc. Certain questions arise in mind about these migrant workers - What factors drive them to migrate from their native place to Bangalore? How do they cope in a place like Bangalore where the spending levels are high? What kind of infrastructure do they have at their disposal? How is their sanitation condition? In general, what kind of lifestyle do they lead? How much do they earn and how much do they spend? Do they manage to save money? What are the core issues that they grapple with? Are there any 'women' issues? Do they get any support from the government? Do they get any support from the NGOs? Is there any exploitation? This project attempts to answer some of these questions. The methodology involves both primary and secondary sources. The interviews with the primary sources have been recorded in the Appendix. However, this interim report per se is primarily based on secondary sources. The interim report sets a context to the study of the migrant laborers. It aims to research what migration is and what the various factors are that influence migration. The theories of migration and the government legislations in India have also been studied. The close relationship of poverty and migration has been analyzed. The analysis of the interviews recoded in the Appendix would be presented in the final report in detail. The final report would try to answer the questions that have been raised above regarding the migrants. The interim report, however, studies the existing literature on migrants and acts as an epilogue to the final report.