What the migrant worker needs

Context: The economic and humanitarian crisis faced by migrant workers during COVID 19 pandemic demands a comprehensive response that includes relief, structural changes.

Issues with Migrant Workers :

• Job loss due to the global pandemic and lockdown measures 

• The Economic Survey (2017) estimated 139 million seasonal or circular migrants.
• This has implications for livelihoods, agriculture, food security, safety net policy and programme responses.
• Not adequately factored in development plans: as brought out by Five-Year document plans since migration impacts competitiveness, productivity and jobs.

• Lack of regular incomes: Migrant labourers have no savings and live in factory dormitories. 
• No central registry of migrant workers, despite the legal provisions.

• For E.g. The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act of 1979. 
• Labour shortage: has also impacted construction and manufacturing sector along with agriculture, food and nutritional security.

Steps taken by the government :

• Protection of legal rights:

• The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code of 2019 has been introduced in Parliament.
• The proposed code seeks to merge 13 labour laws, including the Interstate Migrant Workmen Act 1979 into a single law.

• One nation one ration card: addresses the problem of ration-card portability. 
• Funding: Provision of Rs 30,000 crore through NABARD for migrant workers.
• Shelter homes in urban areas: Rs 11,000 crore was allocated for building shelter homes.
• Affordable rental housing: in major cities would be developed on a PPP model. 
• Food grains: State governments provide 5 kg of grain per labourer and 1 kg of chana per family per month for two months free.

Way Forward:

• Structural transformation: Need to review national, legal, regulatory and institutional concerns in resettlement and rehabilitation of migrant labourers. 
• Adopt a human rights approach to address the socio-legal issues.
• The resolution of contradictions in government policies.

• For E.g.:

• Implementation of the report of the task force on migration (2017).
• Expansion of the outreach of the Integrated Child Development Services.
• Anganwadi and auxiliary nurse midwives to include migrant women and children.
• Inclusion of migrant children in the annual work plans of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
• Strengthen the resilience of the financial system and skilled workers.

• Role of technology: Leveraging information and communication technologies and the JAM trinity. 
• Coordinated and concerted efforts by all stakeholders to address migrants issues.