Social Security Measures and Problems of Tamil
Migrant Unorganized Women Construction Workers in Kochi Corporation, Kerala
Authors: Jobi
Babu MPA, MSW
& J. Prasant Palakkappillil CMI Ph.D
INTRODUCTION
Migration
is one of the prominent phenomena of social life that we all witness today. As Huntington Ellsworth (1919) said; “History in its broadest aspect is a record of
man's migrations from one environment to another”. Migration can be
described as a phenomenon, and as a process. As per
census 2001, 314.54 million persons moved for various reasons within the
country. Out of these, 29.90 million migrated for reasons of employment
(Moorthi, 1999). Nowadays the
concept of mobility is very much associated with the concept of employment.
People from different parts of India migrate to Kerala for the sake of
employment. The Government of India guarantees that all the citizens of India
can go anywhere in India and they can do any work as they like. So it is a
fundamental right of the Indian citizen to travel to and settle down anywhere
in the country (Banerjee, 1986). However this right is being challenged today.
The natives tend to exploits the migrant workers. The migrant workers are asked
to work in the unsafe work situations without adequate or any protection, and
on a lower wage.
THEORIES OF MIGRATION
The
review of various theoretical perspectives on migration will provide a full
understanding of the role played by migration in the socio-economic development
and its implications or different sectors of the economy. The following
theories were used to give a theoretical background to the present study.
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Sl.
No.
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Theory
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Content
|
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1
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Ernest Ravenstein
theory of human migration (1889)
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-
Migration was governed by a "push-pull"
process; that is, unfavorable conditions in one place (oppressive laws, heavy
taxation, etc.) "push" people out, and favorable conditions in an
external location "pull" them out.
-
Ravenstein's laws stated that the primary cause for migration
was better external economic opportunities; the volume of migration decreases
as distance increases; migration occurs in stages instead of one long move;
population movements are bilateral; and migration differentials (e.g.,
gender, social class, age) influence a person's mobility.
|
|
2
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Everett Lee’s theory of migration (1966)
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-
Gave more emphasis to internal (or push) factors.
-
Outlined the impact that intervening obstacles
have on the migration process.
-
Lee pointed out that the migration process is selective because
differentials such as age, gender, and social class affect how persons
respond to push-pull factors, and these conditions also shape their ability
to overcome intervening obstacles
-
Personal factors such as a person's education,
knowledge of a potential receiver population, family ties, and the like can
facilitate or retard migration.
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3
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Lewis’s model of migration and development (1954)
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-
The model is based on dual economy
model of development
-
This model considers rural-urban
migration as an equilibration mechanism through which transfer of labour
surplus to the labour deficit sector, eventually brings about wage equality
in the two sectors
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|
4
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Tadaro’s model of rural-urban migration (1970)
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-
Migration is primarily by rational
economic consideration of relative benefits and costs, mostly financial but
also include psychological
-
The decision to migrate depends on “expected”
rather than actual urban-rural wage differentials and the probability of
successful obtaining employment in the urban modern sector
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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM &
SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The large flow
of people from one state to other state is largely found in Kerala. In many
cases the migrant people are ill treated in the places they migrate to. The
main purpose of their movement is to get some kind of employment. But,
migration of an individual, especially male, is often accompanied or followed
by the migration of the whole family. It
will be leading to the increase in population, for which the cities are often
not prepared to. This may further result
in habitat related issues like slums. The condition of women workers is more miserable than the men.
They suffer much physical harassment in their work site and are asked to work
more than 8 hour. In this condition their quality of life and well being are
threatened. The problem of the women worker definitely reflects on their family
life also. However there are number of welfare schemes available for the
migrant workers, people are unaware and are away from them. So the problems of
the women worker need to be explored to help the Government authorities to take
some necessary steps for the welfare of the migrant women workers.
Migration,
Kerala scenario
Kerala is witnessing
large inflow of
migrant labour from
different parts of
the country in the
recent years. Though labourers from states as
far as West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh and Orissa now flow to
Kerala, those from Tamil Nadu out
number others by a big margin. The phenomenon of migration has arisen out of the need for more labour in the State,
especially in cities such as Kochi that are witnessing a boom in development
activities. The reluctance of the average Malayali
to take up manual labour has turned out to be a boon to the migrants from
across the borders. Most of these migrants
belong to the unskilled category. They are mainly employed as casual labour or
on daily wages in hotels, construction industry and the transport sector. The
number of migrants has increased phenomenally and there is a dire need to implement
laws that ensure their welfare. The following
table explains the distribution of migrant people in the districts of Kerala.
Table no: 1
Distribution of Migrants from Other States/UTs in the
Districts of Kerala
|
District
|
No. of immigrants
|
Share of immigrant
|
|
Ernakulam
|
55977
|
13.56
|
|
Idukki
|
53056
|
12.85
|
|
Thiruvananthapuram
|
48575
|
11.77
|
|
Palakkad
|
47955
|
11.62
|
|
Kasargod
|
31884
|
7.72
|
|
Kannur
|
28115
|
6.81
|
|
Thrissur
|
25358
|
6.14
|
|
Kozhikode
|
23118
|
5.60
|
|
Malappuram
|
22092
|
5.35
|
|
Wayanad
|
18710
|
4.53
|
|
Kollam
|
16797
|
4.07
|
|
Kottayam
|
16349
|
3.96
|
|
Pathanamthitta
|
13683
|
3.31
|
|
Aleppey
|
11180
|
2.71
|
|
Total
|
412849
|
100.00
|
Source:
Compiled from Census of India 2001- D Series.
Within
the state, Ernakulam district (Where Kochi corporation is located) accounts for
the largest number of migrants (Census 2001). It is because of the diverse
employment opportunities available for the people, for example, major
construction projects take place in the major hubs of Ernakulam district.
While a
relatively small section of the
migrants from other states are professionals and skilled workers, large
majority of them are unskilled or
semi skilled workers
engaged in construction,
road works, pipe
laying etc. The shortage of local labour, higher wages for unskilled
labour in the state and
opportunities for employment have led
to the massive influx of migrant labour to the state.
It is interesting to note that while many Malayalees migrate to the ‘Gulf’ countries (Middle East) both for
skilled and unskilled work, many of the unskilled laborers from other parts of
the country consider Kerala as their ‘Gulf’.
With signs of rapid growth of state’s economy and the increase in
activities particularly in the infrastructure and construction sectors, the
in-migration is expected to grow faster in the coming years.
Table no: 2
Migrants (by Place of Birth) from other States/UTs in
Ernakulam District
|
State
|
Persons
|
Share of immigrants
|
|
Tamil
Nadu
|
33,146
|
59.21
|
|
Maharashtra
|
4,120
|
7.36
|
|
Karnataka
|
3,456
|
6.17
|
|
Uttar
Pradesh
|
2,349
|
4.20
|
|
Andhra
Pradesh
|
2,286
|
4.08
|
|
Bihar
|
1,193
|
2.13
|
|
West
Bengal
|
1,116
|
1.99
|
|
Orissa
|
1,097
|
1.96
|
|
Rajasthan
|
1,026
|
1.83
|
|
Gujarat
|
934
|
1.67
|
|
Haryana
|
843
|
1.51
|
|
Delhi
|
755
|
1.35
|
|
Punjab
|
600
|
1.07
|
|
Other
states and UTs
|
3056
|
5.46
|
|
Total
|
55,977
|
100.00
|
Source: compiled from Census of India 2001- D
Series.
The above
table shows the distribution of migrant people in Ernakulam district of Kerala.
In Ernakulam district, 59.21 % of the total migrant people are from Tamil Nadu
and the Census (2001) substantiate that in Kerala, 67.5% of the migrants’ people are from the neighboring
state, Tamil Nadu. The
census Table also indicates that 49.1 per cent of the migrants from other
states are female migrants. Unlike in earlier years where male selective migration
was predominant, the latest trend is one of family migration where both the
male and female migrate, irrespective of the fact whether female employment
opportunity is reckoned or not at the time of making such a move. But women’s
labour force participation after migration steeply increases. In view of rising
urban-ward migration and increased labour force participation of women after
migration, questions related to sanitation, water, housing, educational and
infrastructural needs require greater attention at the level of policy planning
and implementation (Selvakumar, 2009).
SOCIAL SECURITY MEASURES FOR ADDRESSING THE ISSUES OF MIGRANT LABORERS
Over the past four decades, the government of India
has adopted many explicit population distribution policies and programmes to
decongest urban areas and facilitate a more balanced spatial development. The
closed city programs were aimed at reducing migration to metropolitan regions
through such instruments as tax incentives, limitations on investments and
demolition of squatter settlements. The Government also promoted intermediate-
size cities and regions by extending support services to them, improving their
infrastructure, and strengthening linkages between intermediate- size and large
cities (Gupta, S.K. 2009).
More over land
colonization programmes were introduced by the government to resettle residents
from overpopulated rural areas to frontier regions or underutilized areas. The
policy instruments commonly employed for this purpose were the transfer of land
titles and the provision of credit and other facilities to increase the
productivity and income of settlers. The Government had taken several steps to
implement the fallowing rural development programmes to reduce the rural- urban
migrants.
a) Small Farmers Development Agency / The Marginal
Farmers and Agricultural Labourers Projects.
b) Hill Area Development Projects.
c) Tribal Development Programmes.
d) Drought Prone Area Programme.
e) Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme.
f) Whole Village Development Programme.
g) Integrated Rural Development Programme.
h) Integration of Women in Rural reconstruction
Programme.
i)
Training Rural Youth for
Self employment.
j)
Food for Work Programme.
k) National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme
etc.
Recommendations of the National Commission on Rural
Labour
Government of India, (1991), the National Commission
on Rural Labour, which submitted its report in 1991, studied the problem of
inter-State migrant workmen in depth. This commission recommended, inter alia,
the following measures to improve the implementation of the Act:
1.
To
promote third parties to file complaints;
2.
To
satisfy the liability of contractors and principal employers;
3.
Setting
up of Special Courts;
4.
Changing
the migration policy to reduce exploitation;
5.
Increased
role of voluntary organizations and social activists;
6.
Dissemination
of labour market.
According to the National Commission for Rural Development,
“Migrant labourers need appropriate interventions programmes by the Central and
State governments and various social partners and NGOs to ameliorate their lot.
The first and foremost requirement is the creation of a reliable information
system for labour migration.”
In specific to address the problems
of migrant workers, the Government passed 2 major acts. They are Interstate
Migrant Labour Act, 1979 and The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act,
2008. Major provisions of both the acts are summarized below.
a.
Interstate Migrant Labour Act 1979
In order to safeguard the economic and other interests of
the migrant labourers, the Government has enacted the Inter State Migrant
Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, in the year 1979.
The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of
Service) Bill, 1979 was passed by both the Houses of Parliament. It got the
assent of the President on 11th June. 1979 and came on the Statute Book as ‘The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation
of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 (30 of 1979). The
Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment & Conditions of
Service) Act, 1979 lays down that no contractor shall recruit any person in the
State for the purpose of employing him in any establishment situated in another
State except and in accordance with a license issued in that behalf. In Central
sphere wherever migrant workmen are noticed by the Labour Enforcement Officer
(Central), inspections are conducted and show notices are issued against the principal
employers/contractors in case of violation of the provisions of the Act. As per
the provisions of the Act, the principal employers are registered and
contractors are given license indicating the number of workmen. There is no
provision for registering individual workman.
This
act provides for:
·
Registration of all
principal employers/contractors employing migrant labour.
·
Licensing of
contractors – no contractor can recruit any migrant labour without
obtaining license from the
appropriate government.
·
Issue of passbook
affixed with a passport-sized photograph of the workman indicating the name and
the place of the establishment where the workman is employed. The period of employment, rates of wages etc
to every inter-state migrant workman.
·
Payment of minimum
wages fixed under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
·
Payment of equal wages
for inter-state migrant workmen performing similar nature of work along with
the local labourers.
·
Payment of journey
allowance including payment of wages during the period of journey.
·
Payment of
displacement allowances.
·
Providing for suitable
residential accommodation.
·
Providing for medical
facilities free of charge.
·
Providing for
protective clothing.
It
shall be the duty of every contractor employing inter-state migrant workman
that in case of fatal accident or serious bodily injury of such workman to
report to the specified authorities of both the States and also the next of kin
of the workman. It shall be the duty of
principal employer to nominate a representative to be present at the time of
disbursement of wages to the migrant workman by the contractor.
Both
the Central and the State Governments are required to implement the provisions
of the above Act in their respective jurisdictions. The Central Government has been advising the
State Governments from time to time to enforce the Act in both letter and
spirit in their jurisdiction.
b.
The
Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008
Social
security is the protection which society provides for its members against the
economic and social distress that otherwise would be caused by substantial
reduction or ceasing of earnings resulting from sickness, maternity, employment
injury, unemployment, invalidity, old age, and death; the provision of medical
care; and the provision of subsidies for families and children. As the
unorganised sector suffers from cycles of excessive seasonality of employment,
majority of the unorganised workers does not have stable and durable avenues of
employment. The workplace
is scattered and fragmented. The workers do the same kind of job(s) in
different habitations and may not work and live together in compact
geographical areas. There is no formal employer-employee relationship between
the workers and their employers as they work in situations which are undefined.
In rural areas, the unorganised labour force is highly stratified on caste and
community considerations. In urban areas while such considerations are much
less, it cannot be said that it is altogether absent as the bulk of the
unorganised workers in urban areas are basically migrant workers from rural
areas.
Activists have been networking with
one another ever since the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act was passed
in 2008 to pressurize the national and state government to implement the law.
There are a large number of welfare measures mentioned in the law. The High Court of Kerala (2011) ruled out that social
security measures are a fundamental right and they could not be denied to
migrant labourers. Migrant labourers have the right to social security measures
and also added that the government was bound to provide continuous and prompt
support to those migrant workers facing challenges.
In continuation to the social security act,
2008, the Kerala state is drafting a Migrant Welfare Social Security Act that aims
at protecting the labour rights of migrants. It will also facilitate the
process of registering all migrants coming to the state. The state
labour and rehabilitation ministry will submit the draft ordinance, a
first-of-its-kind in the country, to the cabinet for its approval. Once
approved, the ordinance will make registration mandatory for all employers in
the state who employ skilled and unskilled migrant labourers. The employers
will be mandated to provide minimum wages, provident funds and other basic
welfare schemes as envisaged in the labour laws.
METHODOLOGY
The
objectives of the study were to understand the gaps between social welfare
measures like Interstate Migrant Labour
act 1979 and social security Act, 2008 and its implementation, with respect
to this group and to assess the quality of life of the migrant women workers
on the basis of welfare measures available and accessible for them.
Random sampling method was employed to select the sample. The respondents were
selected randomly from some of the major centers in the city of Kochi where the
migrant workers wait for the employers. The sample
size of the study was seventy. The tools of data collection were interview
schedule and the World Health
Organization’s Quality of Life measuring scale. The latter was used to assess
the quality of life of the migrant women workers.
GAPS
BETWEEN THE SOCIAL SECURITY MEASSURES AND LIFE CONDITION OF MIGRANT WOMEN
WORKERS
The major objective of
the present study is to identify the gap between the social security measures
and the life condition of the migrant women construction workers in Kochi
Corporation of Ernakulam district, Kerala. For the analysis, the Interstate Migrant
Labour Act (1979) and The Unorganized Workers’ Social
Security Act (2008) are selected. For the analysis, some
of the major provisions under both the act are considered. The following tables
explain the gap between the policies envisioned in the Interstate Migrant
Labour Act, 1979 and the Unorganized Workers’ Social
Security Act (2008) and the miserable condition of the
unorganized migrant women construction workers in Kochi Corporation of
Ernakulam district, Kerala
Table no.3
Interstate
Migrant Labour Act 1979 & Condition of Migrant Women Construction Workers
|
Sl. no
|
Provisions under ISMLA (1979)
|
Real condition of migrant women
construction workers
|
|
1.
|
Compulsory
registration and issue passbook to the migrant workers
|
In
this study it was found that, none of the respondents have the pass book as
per the Interstate Migrant Labour Act 1979, and none of the respondents are
ever heard the provisions under the Act
|
|
2.
|
Equal or
better wages for the similar nature & duration of work applicable for the
local workmen or stipulated minimum wages under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 whichever
is more,
|
The
women employers are less paid in compare with the male workers for the same
work.
|
|
3.
|
Suitable
residential accommodation and medical facilities free of charge on mandatory
basis.
|
The study shows the basic amenities for the
migrant workers like accommodation facility and toilet facility are not
satisfying one.
|
|
4.
|
To provide
adequate rest time and fix the hours of work
|
The study explored that, the migrant women
construction workers work more than 8 hours a day
including Sunday. Usually the work starts at
7.30 or 8 am and ends at 6.30 or 6 pm. Only 30 minutes are available as a break time in the
noon.
|
|
5.
|
It is mandatory that safety equipments should
be provided to the workers like, shoes, helmets, etc.
|
The
study shows that in the construction sites, the safety equipments are not
available to the women workers.
|
Table no.4
The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act
(2008) &
Condition Of Migrant Women Construction Workers
|
Sl. No
|
Provisions under social security Act
(2008)
|
Real condition of migrant women
construction workers
|
|
1
|
To
provide Life and disability cover including health and maternity benefits
|
In this study it was found that, 85.7% of the respondents
have no savings at all. 60% of the respondents have liabilities. And none of the
respondents are covered under any of the life and disability cover and the
young women construction workers never received any kind of maternity benefit
during their stay in Kochi
|
|
2
|
To
impart educational schemes for children
|
32.9% of the respondent’s children
are dropped out because of several reasons, 15.7%
of the respondent’s children dropped out because of their migration. This
leads to the discontinuation of their education. 27.1% of the respondent’s
children dropped out because of their poor economic condition.
|
|
3
|
To
provide opportunities for skill upgradation of the worker
|
44.3% of the husbands of the
respondents’ are engaged in the unskilled works like road work, construction
work, etc.
Neither the respondents nor their family members received any type of skill
upgradation training.
|
|
4
|
Provide
housing and sanitation facilities to the migrant workers
|
88.6% of the respondents are
staying in single rooms. 7.1% of the respondents having separate houses. And
4.3% of the respondents are depending on the verandah of the shops for
staying. 77.1% of the respondents have common toilet facility. Only
12.9% of the respondents have separate toilet facility in the dwelling place.
10% of the respondents have no toilet facility at all.
|
AREAS
WHERE THE INTERVENTIONS ARE NEEDED
From the study, the researcher
identified and came to know about several issues concerning importance. The
interventions of the Government as well as social workers are needed in the
following areas. Further studies are also possible on these issues. The issues
to be addressed by policy planners are as follows.
·
Safety
of the autonomous female migrants.
·
The
rate of trafficking as per they are considered.
·
The dropout of children due to the migration of
their parents and the increase in child labour.
·
Have
they benefited in terms of economic aspects and welfare aspects.
·
Would
they prefer to go back if employment opportunities cease to exist in the host
state or city?
·
In
the case of associational migrants, are they overburdened with work in the
absence of traditional kith and kin support systems in the destination area?
·
How
do they perceive their new role- empowering or disempowering?
·
What
happens to the elderly especially the female elderly who are left behind in the
village of origin in majority of the above cases?
·
Whether our cities are rich enough to
accommodate the migrant people?
·
Do
these migrant women have control over their earnings?
SUGGESTIONS
- The labour department
has to make a registration of migrant worker compulsory.
- The corporation has to
provide basic amenities like, toilet, water facility etc to the
residential areas of the migrant workers.
- The SHGs can play an
important role in developing saving habit among migrant workers. This can
address the economic problems of the migrant women workers by encouraging
their saving habit.
- As housing is the major
problem for the migrant women, housing colonies should be constructed by
the government and supplied at concessional rates to the migrant
households.
- As majority of the
respondents are illiterate, voluntary organizations particularly women’s
associations should come forward and help these women to form an
association for themselves and train women for leadership roles.
- The volume and diversity of the migrant
population has to be taken into account in urban planning and implementation
of programmes and projects like the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission
(JNNURM) Programme and Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Programme
(KSUDP).
- Non formal education
with emphasis on skill development should be given importance.
- Schools should encourage
the enrolment of children of migrant women.
- Adequate measures should
be taken by school authorities to check drop- outs among children of
migrant households.
- Night shelters can be
open in different parts of the cities for the migrant people, especially
the migrant women workers.
- The labour department
can conduct surveys to understand about the various problems of the migrant
women workers
- The voluntary
organizations & NGOs need to provide awareness on the social welfare
schemes for the migrant workers, such as social security act, 2008 and
interstate migrant labour Act, 1979
CONCLUSION
The policy makers need to
consider the problems of the female migrant workers in Kerala and the local
self government can initiate several programmes for their welfare. The aim of
such programmes should focus on reducing the lag between the actual life
situation of the migrant workers and the welfare measures instituted under the
Interstate Migrant Labour Act and Social Security Act. This would contribute to
a safer, secure and a healthy environment for migrant labourers in the state of
Kerala. A rights based approach is essential for addressing the diverse
problems of the migrant workers. This would help to ensure the quality of life
and socio- economic wellbeing of this section of unorganized workers in Kerala.
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