The Crisis of Interstate Migrants: Exploring the way forward

According to FRONTLINE internal migrants are 454 million in number which accounts for 37% of our total population. Every year an average of nine million people migrate between states, either for education or for work as stated by the Economic Survey report of 2017. Livemint states that migrants contribute to 10% of the total GDP of India. The phenomenon of migrants suffering is not new, so what is new this time?

The media has off late been flooded with news reports highlighting the raising plight of the migrant workers in the country in the midst of the COVID lockdown. The migrant workers, specifically the daily wage earners, have had no income since the past 65 days or so. This has made it difficult for them to survive in cities, hence the desire to move back to their native towns, mainly in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. Because the national railway was not functioning, these migrants have traveled kilometers on their foot or cycle, all the way from different cities in the country. The arguments given by the administration in favor of restricting their movement is the fear of spreading the COVID virus in the still unaffected areas, which would be an acceptable COVID response strategy. However, the fact that their living conditions in cities were highly compromised too, cannot be denied. Thus, the urge to go back to hometowns would be their natural response.

The government could have indeed resorted to better ways to keep the migrant workers static in the cities to restrict their movements or provided means by which their movement back to their natives could have been made smoother.

For immediate relief, recently, the Government of India rolled out the ‘One Nation one Ration card’ for the migrants under NFSA (National Food Security Act). There are 17 states including UTs on board for this venture and three more are expected to join in soon. It would enable the migrants and their families to get subsidized food grains at any FPS (Fair Priced Shops). This is a highly appreciated step forward in a country like India where interstate migration statistics are high. Providing temporary shelter homes where food, water, and sanitation with healthcare in places where they already stay is the most effective and sensitive way of dealing with the situation.

For the long term solution, the central government needs to implement the Migrant Workers Act 1979 in its true sense which asked to maintain a central directory for all the migrant workers district wise. It shall give us an approximate number of the population in need. The Ministry of Food has previously acknowledged that they lack authentic data regarding the number of migrants is a challenge in providing the necessary help. Another social security measure could be creating a relief fund for migrants separately which each state making proper allocation district-wise during the times of crises depending on the data in the repository.

While these are just a few of the long-term and short-term strategies, a lot more can be discovered. To run a country with a population as big as ours, the contribution of the migrants and the informal sector towards our economy cannot be neglected. Hence, it should be our utmost priority to look for their needs and demands, not only at the government level but even at an individualistic level or as a society. It is our collective responsibility as a society to rise up to the occasion and help those who are in need.

Mahatma Gandhi rightly said,

“Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow men.”

-Dr. Vivek Anand (HPEF 2019-21) is a dental graduate from Santosh University, Ghaziabad.