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Is there a connection between labour migration and informal sector? Justify your answer with reference to Indian context. 10 Marks (UPSC CSE Mains 2024 - Sociology, Paper 2)
Evidence indicates that as many as 140 million of India’s rural poor migrate seasonally to cities, industries, and farms in search of work. These are migrants who move back and forth undertaking a vast array of casual work in construction, manufacturing, services, and farm sector. They are part of India’s unorganized, informal workforce estimated over 350 million that remains excluded from services and rights as workers and citizens, in their rural homes and in their places of work in urban, industrial, and rural areas.
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The relationship between Labour migration and the informal sector in India stems from complex socio-economic factors and has significant implications for development.
- Rural-urban migration, driven by push factors like rural poverty and pull factors such as perceived urban opportunities, fuels the growth of the informal sector in Indian cities.
- The dual labour market theory helps explain this phenomenon. Urban economies are divided into a formal primary sector with stable jobs and an informal secondary sector with precarious employment.
- W. Arthur Lewis’s model highlights how surplus rural labour migrates to urban areas. However, in India, limited formal opportunities mean this labour is often absorbed by the informal sector.
- Migrant workers commonly engage in informal activities like construction, small-scale manufacturing, street vending, and domestic work. The Economic Survey of India indicates that over 90% of the workforce is in the informal sector, a significant portion being migrants.
- The informal sector’s low entry barriers suit migrants lacking formal qualifications and social networks. However, this results in vulnerability to exploitation, lack of job security, and absence of social benefits.
- The COVID-19 pandemic starkly exposed this link, with millions of informally employed migrant workers losing livelihoods and facing severe hardships.
Migrant workers contribute immensely to India’s economic growth despite the fact that a majorit y of them are in the informal economy. This makes it imperative for the government and other concerned stakeholders to work in a concerted manner to develop a policy framework that recognizes the inclusion of internal migrant workers and delivers benefits and opportunities alike for them and members of their families. Universal and portable access to social protection, public provisioning in urban destinations and access to justice are all essential ingredients for a fundamental change in the conditions of migrant workers. There is also an urgent need to revitalize and strengthen tripartite processes and structures in industries and sectors that employ large numbers of migrant workers.
POSTED ON 15-02-2025 BY ADMIN
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