The migrant exodus, a direct result of an ill-conceived lockdown announcement, was the heaviest human cost of the first COVID-19 wave in the country. The reverse migration constituted a complex socio-economic phenomenon that was at its core a reflection of years of policy neglect. While it induced numerous knee-jerk reactions in the form of a renewed interest in the subject in policy spaces and a few ill-planned government schemes, a deep understanding of its nuanced nature remains elusive. The introduction of PM-Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana as a stop-gap measure to address the food insecurity birthed by the pandemic and lockdown is a case in point. Activists had pointed out the anomaly in using decade-old census data to identify beneficiaries of the scheme.
There is an information deficit that primarily arises from a lack of reliable statistical data with which to produce appropriate policy responses, which forms the core of the issue. The census, NSO reports, PLFS survey reports provide an incomplete picture that does not fully capture trends of seasonal migration. Gender/caste-based perspective is also in most cases absent.
In the popular imagination, migration is often wrongly understood to be a primarily male-dominated phenomenon, with the result that female migrants are not discussed or factored in during policy framing. Although the neoliberal order has created an increased demand for female labour, with entire value chains depending on their labour, rarely are there discussions on the providers of this indispensable labour.
This invisibilisation, studies say, arises mostly because much of female internal migration is thought to be a consequence of marriage. This is only partly true. While the primary reason attributed to female migration is in fact marriage, the secondary and tertiary reasons are often employment-related. The mainstream media fails to fully capture the different facets of the duress faced by female labourers in the country’s distress zones. Only a few media organisations have brought out the misery faced by women in the country’s climate-change hotspots.
Migrants take refuge at a school in Delhi while waiting for transport. Photo: PTI
Unavailability of livelihood opportunities in home villages as a result of stagnation of agriculture, climate-change-induced distress, other socio-economic and political factors force entire families to shift permanently or temporarily to urban or semi-urban locations. These locations are more often than not hostile to the needs of the seasonal migrants, affecting the women and the children the most. A significant proportion of female migrants get absorbed as domestic workers in their host states. In the absence of a strict regulatory framework and an antagonistic state apparatus, this category of workers form one of the most vulnerable groups amongst migrant labourers.
Many labour-intensive industries in the manufacturing sector, construction have a high proportion of female labour. Some of these sectors are also completely women-driven. Agriculture sector also relies heavily on cheaper female labour, to the extent that it is largely exploitative. Women’s roles as primary caregivers put them in charge of reproductive labour after long back-breaking hours of productive labour. These trends are repeated in the sites to which they migrate, with the result that the female migrant labourers continue to be victims of these practices with no hopes of respite. This is evident from the income gap, lack of social security covers, absence of a mechanism to check adherence to labour rights among others. In this way, the female migrant labourers find themselves doubly oppressed owing to their disadvantageous socio-economic situation.
Worst victims of Aadhaar and digital exclusion
Most social security schemes and programmes do not factor in this footloose population and do not have a portability feature, causing them to be one of the worst victims of Aadhaar and digital exclusion. Possession of documents such as Aadhaar showing permanent residence, permanent phone numbers and bank accounts are often preconditions to accessing most government schemes, causing the seasonal migrants to be excluded from its benefits by its very design. Maternity and other women’s health and nutrition-related schemes do not even consider female seasonal migrants as one of their intended beneficiaries. Due to a lack of data on their numbers, it’s not possible to know whether or not these women have benefitted from these programmes. This is also true for adolescent girls, who are also members of the migrating units.
The labour ministry has, however, assured that with the completion of registration of all unorganised workers in the e-Shram portal, the accessibility of government schemes will become more universal and inclusive. But given the track record of the current regime, widespread rigging of data to suit their narrative will have to be expected. The premature celebration for completing 25 crore registrations points to this. The National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW) is also reportedly riddled with technical complications. The over-emphasis placed on registration, rather than on service delivery is also not hope-inducing.
An Advisory for Women Migrant Workers was issued by the National Commission for Women during the national COVID-19 lockdown in an effort to “address the needs of Internal Women Migrants of India during the Covid-19 Lockdown”. Prior to this, there have been no sustained efforts made to protect the interests of internal women or adolescent girl migrants. As a response to a question asked in parliament regarding the beneficiaries of the advisory, it was revealed that the Union government did not possess any data, exposing the government’s lackadaisical approach towards the betterment of this community.
There have been no focussed interventions aimed at addressing the needs of this especially vulnerable section. Additionally, the lax enforcement of existing legislation such as the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008, now subsumed under the Code on Social Security Act has hurt the interests of migrant labourers, affecting the female labourers disproportionately.
Unionising capacity is also minimal for women migrant workers due to the transient nature of their job along with the diktats of patriarchy which limit their potential for organising and political participation. Multiple surveys during the elections to UP, an important sender state has also shown that migrants, who form a considerable chunk of the population seldom return to their home villages to cast votes. Even otherwise, being away from their constituencies for the most part of the year, these migrants can rarely identify with the political pulse of their home villages. Therefore, unlike their counterparts in the organised sector who seem to have considerable negotiating power as witnessed by the numerous instances of political assertions witnessed throughout the history of the trade union movements, migrant labourers have had to reel under political pressure.
It is thus now more clear than ever that this is a group that requires concerted government protection and focused action. Policy interventions specifically aimed at their well-being are essential, botched, one-time measures will no longer suffice. This Women’s Day, let us recognise their oppression, try and understand what makes them vulnerable and urge the regime to appreciate the invisible labour that keeps our economy rolling.
Md. Nadimul Haque is MP, Rajya Sabha. Anjana Kesav is his legislative assistant under the LAMP Fellowship.