Migrants Keep India Moving

Synopsis: Migrants in India faces multiple challenges. So, India urgently needs an inter-state migration council.

Introduction

With incidents of killing migrants in Kashmir to poor handling of migrants during covid and recently introduced nativist laws reflects the poor status of migrants and difficulties faced by them.

Some previous acts against migrants

There have been numerous instances of subnational nativism in the past like the Mulki rules in Nizam-ruled Hyderabad in the late 19th century who provided employment to locals for several decades, Anti-South Indian movements in Bombay in the 1960s, Sons of the soil movement in Assam and many others.

What is the problem faced by migrants?

Locals saw migrants as an outsider. They got blamed for stealing the jobs of locals. They are even accused of murders and rapes in cities.

Nativism is politically motivated in the destination states. Source states like Bihar provide migrant workers all across the country. Being less educated, legally aware, and less politically represented, they often face discrimination in the destination states. These movements are often politically motivated.

What is the way forward?

As internal migration in India is likely to surge in the coming decades, there is a need for an Interstate Migration Council to ensure the well-being of migrants. It should maintain up-to-date information of people residing in other states. The same council can also be used to ensure the effectiveness of the One Nation One Ration Card policy.

The creation of this council would further help to curb nativist sentiments that arise repeatedly on economic, linguistic and religious grounds.

Source: This post is based on the article “Migrants Keep India Moving” published in Times of India on 26th October 2021.