Abstract
According to the latest data on population, around 37 per cent of the people in India are internal migrants. Marriage and search for better livelihood opportunities are the major two reasons for such migration. The volume under review, titled “Internal Migration in Contemporary India,” edited by Deepak K. Mishra is a compilation of dense study on internal migration in the subcontinent. The book consists of eleven chapters which focus on some of the pertinent issues of our times related to migration and marginalization, women’s mobility and migration related issues in northeast India. It tries to provide a comprehensive inquiry to the diverse prospects of migration in contemporary India. This volume tries to evaluate the impact of migration on the contemporary society by linking it to individual, society and state. Starting from the role of state to the society, it tries to examine various aspects of migrant workers. It also critically looks at various policies and schemes that are affecting migration in the contemporary Indian landscape.
In the introductory chapter, the editor of the volume outlines the blueprint and provides glimpses of various chapters in the book. He discusses the issues on the agrarian questions under globalization, uneven development along with poverty and migration and perspectives on the informal sector. He emphasizes that the interlinkages between the three aspects of economy—the agrarian context, the linkages between uneven development, poverty and migration and finally the informal economy—are crucial for understanding contemporary issues in migrations (p. 8). Here, he also provides broad empirical patterns of migration. His chapter suggests that the politics of identity and cultural anxieties have resulted in conflict between host and migrant populations. Moreover, caste, religious and racial prejudices are very much prevalent in urban labour markets. Migrants from Northeast India, Ladakh and women from various regions often face violence which restricts their freedom of mobility and employment. It also creates insecurities among them. Finally he suggests that to protect workers’ rights and save them from extreme exploitation, both state and civil society action is important and crucial.
In the chapter titled “Nature of Migration and Its Contribution to India’s Urbanisation,” Bhagat depicts various kinds of changes happening in India due to migration. With the help of NSSO and census data, he provides a historical perspective. He argues that migration occurs not only due to economic factors, but also sociocultural factors are responsible for it. He tries to show the complex relationship between migration, development and poverty. He laments that migrants’ contribution to the city has always been underestimated and issues like denial of economic, political, social and cultural rights of migrants do not figure in country’s policy and programmes.
A chapter on women’s mobility and migration discusses Muslim women migrants in Jamia Nagar area of Delhi which have a multiple complex interface between identities based on gender, religion and location through the experience of Muslim women in Delhi. It explores varied and layered experience of women along with the violence they face inside and outside the domestic sphere. Authors try to deal with the intersections of gender, class, region, religion and language. They also trace on the issues of agency of women and need for a better policy for the migrant women. They try to explore the relationship between migration, freedom and mobility. Through an ethnographic study, they explore how ghettoization occurs for a particular community and space of women within it. Authors suggest that social policy should be designed to address their vulnerability and violence rather than looking at them as victims.
Babu P. Remesh in his chapter, “Migration and Marginalization,” discusses issues related to Northeastern migrants living in Delhi. From a study conducted covering 402 working migrants in Delhi, Remesh states that insecurities and vulnerabilities make them stay together. As one of the respondents from Nagaland says, it is the strong feeling of loneliness and isolation that prompts them to stay together in localities where the residents share same issues (p. 80). They are often forced to assimilate with the host culture. They face discriminatory practices at the workplace, exploited in various spheres. They are labelled with various stigma related to food, clothing and life styles and often discriminated in everyday life.
In the chapter titled “Labor Migration in Northeast India,” Rajan and Chyrmang argue that the uneven distribution of benefits of liberalization has widened the developmental gap between many states of India and the Northeastern region. NE states have multifaceted problems such as poor social and physical infrastructure, sociopolitical instabilities, failure of governance, which do not attract investment, and economic sustainability suffers. They state that majority of people from NE region are dependent on public sector jobs. To develop the region, they suggest that pace of development should be hastened by building an investment-friendly environment. Good governance with harmony can build confidence among people of this region. Through her multisited ethnographic field study, Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg writes about educational migration among Ladhaki youth. She argues that the migration occurring from Ladakh occurs due to the lack of educational opportunities in the area. She suggests that a central university in Ladakh region may help many poor aspirants. She also suggests for help desk, additional hostel facilities and coaching for SC/ST/OBC students to facilitate them for a better future.
R. Vijay explores the migration in agrarian classes from Andhra Pradesh. Vijay distinguishes between migration by labour supplying class and land-owning class and demonstrates its impact on the rural migration. Amrita Datta analyses the aspect of remittances in rural Bihar. She proposes that migration has been used as a livelihood strategy in the rural households of Bihar. It also focuses on the work and life of the migrant workers in the destination and the challenges such as racial discrimination and exclusion from the entitlements they face in the city. The migrants often face racial discriminations in the host city and systematic exclusion from the entitlements. The author says that “migration is no longer just a pathway out of poverty, but a pathway to be connected to a modern world, to be a part of a modern life.” She urges for a strong policy focus on migrants rights and decent work agenda. Migrant rights should be acknowledged, and mobility should be accepted as means of human development. Surjit Singh states that migration is a major cause for the development and rapid economic growth of Punjab. Along with the remittance economy, he emphasizes that both domestic and international migration among Sikhs has vitally contributed to Punjab’s economy and society.
Deepak K. Mishra explores the issues of distress migration in Odisha through seasonal migration. From the vantage point of linkages between poverty, vulnerability and seasonality, Mishra states that seasonal migration is an escape route from extreme poverty. It creates vulnerability and serves cheap labour to the informal market. He questions the assumption that seasonal migration can act as poverty reduction strategy. He states that advance loan by a labour contractor attracts many seasonal migrants. To resolve this issue, author suggests that policies should be framed to strengthen the livelihood base at origin areas of migration. It could be done through interventions in labour markets, providing agricultural input and output market, guaranteeing access to formal credit and efficient public distribution system along with better delivery arrangements to curtail various forms of distress migration.
Anjali Borhade advocates for a comprehensive national migration policy. She addresses the issues of health and other related welfare matters which should be at the forefront of migration policy. She makes a wide-ranging survey of the existing policy frameworks. She brings in examples from international, national and state-level policy framework to demonstrate the gaps in existing policies. She suggests that overall India needs better integration of urban and rural policies towards strengthening the need for rural urban linkages.
Centring on the diverse aspects of internal migration, the edited volume analyses the nature of exploitation, vulnerability and marginalization of internal migrants on the lines of class, caste, religion, gender, ethnicity and regional location in India. This volume successfully adds to the gap in literature related to internal migration in the region. It covers all the regions of India. Though most of the chapters have used NSSO and census data with numerous statistical tables, it gives a broader picture on internal migration. Essays largely deal with the empirical problems and recommend policies, without strong theoretical or conceptual framework. Nevertheless, it is a much needed addition to the literature in social sciences and statistics. Scholars and practitioners of migration studies, public policy, development studies and other social sciences would greatly benefit from this work.