India is unique in culture, geographic pattern, community settlements, economic or natural resources. There is wide regional disparity in development within the country. As a result, people living in rural parts belonging to lower income group, move from their state of origin to another state, within the boundaries of India, either for social or economic reasons. In common term they are referred to as ‘Migrant labourers’. Migrant labourers are a formidable force in India’s economic life, especially the informal sector and MSMEs, constituting nearly 50% of India’s GDP. The total number of internal migrants in India, as per the 2011 census, is 45.36 crore or 37% of the country’s population. According to Aajeevika Bureau—among the biggest employers of migrant labourers are— construction sector (40 million), domestic work (20 million), textile (11 million), brick kiln work (10 million), transportation, mines & quarries and agriculture. Managed in many cases by private labour contractors and fuelled by social networks, there are well formed patterns in movement of labour across hundreds of kilometers within the country. The major push factors for migration in villages are low daily wages, lack of job opportunities, water scarcity etc. While the pull factors in cities are high wages, immense job opportunities, access to basic amenities & water, and better quality of life.
Nobody had imagined the impact of India’s nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic on low wage earning migrant population across the country. Just to put things in perspective, this is being seen as the second largest forced long distance movement of people recorded in the history of India, since the partition in 1947. According to an assessment by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, more than 120 million people lost their jobs in April due to the lockdown, 75 percent of whom were working in the unorganised sector. So with the looming fear of hunger they were forced to begin arduous journeys back to their villages —cycling or hitching rides on lorries or on foot. Some travelled for a few hundred kilometers, while others covered more than a thousand to reach home. The unofficial sources, put India’s reverse migration since mid-March, 2020, conservatively at 30 million or 3 crore or 15-20% of the urban workforce. And considering the fact that most of them are sole breadwinners in a family of 4-5 members on an average, we are looking at a much larger population that is affected by this situation. We are sitting on a proverbial time bomb if the situation is not addressed through a systemic constructive process. However, any step towards resolution should start by adequately understanding the situation and giving due respect to the complexities involved.