A consultation was organized by the Institute for Human Development, Eastern Regional Centre, Ranchi in which several people working on migrant issues came together to discuss patterns, trends, issues and policies related to migration.
In recent years, Jharkhand has witnessed increasing numbers of outmigration according to several sources of data. However, exact figures are not available since the government has still not released data from the 2011 Census.
This data should be released soon in order to get a better so that better policies could be made, said Professor Ravi Srivastava, Director of the Centre for Employment Studies at the institute for Human Development, New Delhi.
Professor Ravi Srivastava, who was previously a member of the National Commissioner for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) , said that there are very few people working on the issue of migrant workers in Jharkhand which is surprising, given the massive scale of migration and the issues which migrant workers are facing as well as the status of implementation of policies such as the interstate migrant workers act, the Unorganised Sector Workers Social Security Act, the Building and Other Construction Workers Act etc.
Further, he said that there is a difference between distress and opportunity migration and the line is difficult to draw. However, often, migration is caused by a combination of both.
Reshma of AALI (an organization working for women’s rights) said that there is an urgent need to differentiate between migration and trafficking.
The idea that all young women who migrate are being trafficked has led to a curb on women’s autonomy and freedom of mobility.
All migrating young women are viewed as being trafficked and always live in fear of being caught and taken away. They can be stopped and questioned by anyone and that too, in a very threatening manner.
Reshma added that migrant women face a lot of sexual harassment; however, they are unable to come forward and complain because they do not have any support structures.
Further, she said that the government has a policy of registering migrant workers at the panchayat level but that has not taken off at all and hence they are not able to avail of any of the benefits.
Migrant women workers face a lot of sexual harassment but they will not complaint nor will their families talk about it. Therefore, the harassment is rampant and not coming down.
Bhuwaneshwar Kewat of AICCTU emphasised on that we need to seriously work on migration. While the state has several policies, many of these policies actually are promoting migration.
As an example, the state has been creating dobhas (farm ponds) in villages through MGNREGA as well as other programmes. However, apart from MGNREGA, all other programmes use machines to construct these ponds. As a result, employment generation does not take place and workers are forced to migrate.
Bhuwaneshwar Kewat said that our society as well as governments have no no sensitivity or empathy for migrant workers.
When migrant workers die, there is no FIR or post-mortem even. The organization has a list of several cases where migrant workers die (either on work or off work) and their bodies are disposed off by the contractors.
Shamim of the Action for Social Advancement said that migration is increasing because of failure of social protection schemes such as NREGA. Not only is allocation (in real terms) decreasing, but payment is becoming highly uncertain which is why workers don’ t have income opportunities in their own village.
The event also marked the joining of Dr. Shreeranjan as the new director of the Institute for Human Development’s Eastern Regional Centre (IHD-ERC). Dr. Shreeranjan has had long career in the
Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and has held key positions of responsibility and leadership in various departments and Ministries in both the State Government and Government of India.
He was Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Woman and Child Development and was responsible for policy formulation and implementation of government programmes pertaining to child development and child rights, nutrition, early childhood care and education, women empowerment, international cooperation, etc.
He also served as Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary to the Govt. of India in the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), and was also empanelled as Secretary to Government of India.
He also served as Chairman, Board of Revenue and Additional Chief Secretary in Government of Meghalaya, and also as Chairman of Meghalaya Biodiversity Board. . Prior to joining IAS, he was part of the academia having served as Assistant Professor/Lecturer in Botany for four years in Ranchi University.