[Answered] Highlight the factors paralyzing migration policy discourse. How does the NITI Aayog’s Draft Policy try to resolve the issues faced by migrant workers in India?

As of 2011, India had 45.6 crore migrants (38% of the population). The NITI Aayog’s draft Migrant Labour Policy is a clear statement of intent to better recognise migrants’ contribution to the economy and support them in their endeavours. It proposes a new National Migration Policy and the formation of a special unit within the Labour Ministry to work closely with other ministries.

Factors affecting Migrant Workers:

• Migrants are a perennially fuzzy category in policy discourse. Only slum development continues as the primary medium for alleviating migrant concerns, while in reality, most migrants live on worksites that are entirely out of the policy gaze.
• Inadequate definition: Inter State Migrant Workers Act, 1979, covered only labourers migrating through a contractor, and left out independent migrants.
• Lack of data: the informal nature of employment makes it hard to collect reliable data even on the size of this population and its economic contributions.
• Lack of basic amenities: most migrant workers live in cramped rented rooms or on the footpath, lack documents to access benefits such as rations and have few savings to draw upon. They also face considerable harassment from police and middle-class elites.

NITI Aayog policy:

• Rights-based approach: The policy rejects a handout approach, opting instead for a rights-based framework. This framework focuses on an individual’s own natural ability to thrive, instead of cash transfers, special quotas, and reservations.
• Policy acknowledges migration as an integral part of development. It says that the government policies should not hinder but seek to facilitate internal migration
• Targeted Planning: It acknowledges the importance of detailed plans for improving the data on short-term migration, especially seasonal and circular migration.
• Cooperative and Coordinated approach: The NITI draft lays down institutional mechanisms to coordinate between Ministries, states, and local departments to implement programmes for migrants. It identifies the Ministry of Labour and Employment as the nodal Ministry for implementation of policies.
• The NITI Aayog’s policy draft mentions that the Ministry of Labour and Employment should amend the Inter State Migrant Workers Act, 1979 for “effective utilization to protect migrants”.
• The draft asks source states to raise minimum wages to “bring major shift in local livelihood of tribals that may result in stemming migration to some extent

Strategic initiatives to provide migrants safety nets regardless of location and must keep up the momentum towards migrant-supportive Policy. The draft policy is a good start which could, with a few adjustments, reduce the vulnerability and risks faced by labour migrants and ultimately build a more sustainable model of development.