Habilitation of seasonal migrant construction workers in Ahmedabad

Abstract

Census (Source: Census) captures data on migration in 2 ways: Migration by birthplace and migration by last place of residence. As per census 2011, the total number of migrants in 2011 were 45.36 crore. The reasons for migration included employment, business, education, moved after birth, marriage, moved with household calamities or any other. Talking about rural migration for work in particular, we find that traditionally UP and Bihar have been the major source of migrants - but in recent times we have seen a surge in migrant workers from Rajasthan, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and even from North East. The major employers of migrant workers happens to be the construction sector (40 Mn), Domestic Work (20 Mn), textile (11 Mn) brick kiln (10 Mn), transportation, mines and quarries (Source : IIPS, Mumbai) These people mainly operate in unorganized sector and their entry into the urban labour market makes them vulnerable to exploitative labour arrangements, hazardous working conditions, and lack of housing facilities.