The number of Indians who cross state borders for work is only around 1%. The major reason for crossing borders is marriage, which is socially and politically uncontroversial and usually takes place in culturally contiguous border districts. https://scroll.in/article/1045456/the-india-fix-indian-federalism-needs-to-adapt-to-manage-growing-migration
Even as the numbers are small in absolute terms, a host of factors have led to spikes in certain states. The 2017 Economic Survey used analytical methods to estimate changes in migration patterns. Tamil Nadu, for example, saw its migrant population explode between 2001 and 2011, going up by 39 times. Outmigration from Uttar Pradesh went up by 197% and from Bihar by 237%. Consistent with qualitative evidence, West Bengal became a supplier of labour in this decade, albeit significantly behind states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan.
nter-state migration before this was limited by the fact that welfare in India is often provided by state governments. In addition, Indian states, many of which are bigger than most countries, exert a politico-cultural hold. However, this is now clearly changing because of two factors. One is economic liberalisation, which is disrupting traditional livelihoods such as agriculture. The second is the significant skew in India’s development pattern: almost all industry is concentrated in the south and the west, even as much of the labour comes from the north and east.
During the chaos of India’s shock lockdown in 2020, state governments often took responsibility for their residents in other states, innovating new kinds of politics and policies. Kolkata, for example, announced payments to Bengali workers stranded in other states. Uttar Pradesh started to enumerate its migrant workers returning from other states.
In this regard, Jharkhand has emerged a leader. In 2020, it negotiated an agreement with the Union government’s Border Roads Organisation to protect the labour rights of Jharkhandi workers. This was unprecedented. Till now, workers had always negotiated in their personal capacity – a system that obviously placed them at a disadvantage. Earlier in January, the state also announced the first-even migrant survey.
13/03/2023