Why I Left My Village

A study on migration from rural Bihar, India

Institute of Social Sciences

Supported by:

Delegation of the European Union to India

Study Team: Sachindra Narain Debraj Bhattacharya

Research Assistants: Ajay Kumar Singh, Satyendra Prasad, Archana Kumari, Usha Kumari Deo, Naresh Kumar, Birendra Sharma, Manju Sharan Kumari, Koushalendra Kumar, Ranjan Kumar, Janardan Thakur, Anil Kumar Singh, Kumari Kumkum, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Sanju Kumari, Kumar Jitendra Kishor, Sushil Kumar and Sunil

Contents
i ii iii iv 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 List of Tables List of Boxes List of Charts Acknowledgements Executive Summary Introduction Scope and Objectives of the Study Methodology Profile of the Districts Profile of the Respondents Economic Condition Causes of Migration Process of Migration Gender Dimension of Migration Destination Points Remittances Beneficial Aspects of Migration Problems faced due to Migration Role of Panchayati Raj Institutions Conclusion and Recommendations Appendix: Suggestions by Members of Solution Exchange, UNDP 03 05 05 07 08 13 16 16 18 20 30 43 45 46 49 51 54 57 59 62 65

List of Tables
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Sample Size in Study Districts Age of Respondents Gender Break-up of Respondents Social Category of Respondents Religious Status of the Respondents Educational Qualifications of the Respondents Occupation of the Respondents Type of Respondent Families Number of Adult Males in the Families Number of Adult Females in the Families Size of Families BPL Status of the Families Whether the Family Eats Two Meals a Day Type of Respondents of Houses Familys possession of Cultivable Land Size of Cultivable Land Sources of Family Income Total Monthly Income Total Monthly Expenditure Familys Status Regarding Loan Taken Sources of Loan Monthly Rate of Interest Familys Possession of Ration Card Provisions Available in the Ration Shops Status Regarding Childrens Discontinuation of Studies 17 20 21 22 22 23 24 26 27 27 28 30 31 31 32 33 34 35 35 36 37 38 39 39 40 3

26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

Reasons for Migration Sources of Migration Related Information Number of Migrants in the Family Number of Migrant Male in the Family Number of Migrant Female in the Family Major Destination Points Amount of Remittances Sent in a Year Number of Times Remittances sent in a Year Benefits of Remittance Benefits of Migration Problems associated with Migration Households listed under MGNREGS Availability of Work under MGNREGS

43 45 46 47 47 49 51 52 53 54 57 59 60

List of Boxes
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 Profile of a Block Plight of Agricultural Workers/Marginal Farmers Profile of a Gram Panchayat Profile of a study village Agrarian Economy in Crisis? Interview with a Gram Panchayat Functionary Child Trafficking in Bodh Gaya Vulnerability of a Migrants Wife From One City to Another in Search of Livelihood Fruit juice Business Saves a Poor Family Health Risk of a Migrant Worker Patriarchy and Migration A Gram Panchayat President on Failure of MGNREGS 20 25 26 29 42 44 46 48 50 56 58 58 61

List of Charts 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Age of Respondents Gender break-up of Respondents Social Categories of Respondents Religious Status of Respondents Educational Qualification Occupation Types of Families Number of Adult Male Number of Adult Female Size of families 21 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 5

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

BPL Status Status Regarding Families eating Two Meals a Day Type of Respondent Houses Families Possession of Cultivable Land Size of Cultivable Land Possessed by Families Sources of Income Total Monthly Income Total Monthly Expenditure Family Status Regarding Loan Taken Sources of Loan Monthly Rate of interest on Loan Taken Familys possession of Ration Card Provisions available in Ration Shops. Status Regarding Childrens Discontinuation of Service Number of migrant population in the Family Amount of Remittances sent in a Year Number of Times Remittances Sent in a year Benefits of Remittances Benefits of Migration Families Listed under MGNREGS Availability of Work under MGNREGS

30 31 32 32 33 34 35 36 37 37 38 39 40 41 47 51 52 53 55 59 60

Acknowledgements: The study team would firstly like to thank all the respondents and various officials and elected representatives who gave their precious time to the researchers so that they could carry out their work. We would like to thank Dr. George Mathew, Chairman of Institute of Social Sciences and Dr. A.N. Roy, Director of Institute of Social Sciences, for their valuable inputs at various stages of the research project. Mr. P.N. Kuttapan and Ms Vidya Nair provided invaluable administrative and financial support to make the study possible. Ms Shelley Ranaut took care of all the logistical needs. Dr. Santosh Singh of ISS visited the field along with the study team and gave her valuable inputs. We would also like to thank our partners - European Institute of Asian Studies, Maniben Kara Institute, Ambekar Institute of Labour Studies and Xavier Labour Research Institute for their comments on a presentation of the research. Human Development Society - a Delhi-based development action and research organization - gave invaluable support in digitising the data from the survey. The study team would also like to thank Professor Girish Kumar for sharing a study on migrant labour from Bihar and Mr. Buddhadeb Ghosh of ISS in helping the study team to get the report. Finally, the study team would like to thank the Delegation of the European Union to India for providing the financial support necessary to carry out the research project.

1. Executive Summary
National Level Estimates According the Census of 2001, the latest Census data on migration available at the time of writing this report, 29.9 per cent of the populations of India are migrants according to their place of birth and 30.6 per cent are migrants according to their last place of residence. This migrant population is of different types female migration is primarily due to marriage, while male migration is primarily for employment. Migration predominantly takes place within the same state but inter-state migration has also assumed a significant proportion (13.1 per cent). A Report by the National Sample Survey Organisation of India, based on 2007-08 data has also noted that nearly 29 per cent of Indias population consists of migrants. According to Census 2001 the states which have received the maximum number of migrants are Maharashtra (2.3 million net migrants), Delhi (1.7 million net migrants), Gujarat (0.68 million net migrants) and Haryana (0.67 million net migrants). The states from which maximum number of people have migrated are Uttar Pradesh (- 2.6 million) and Bihar (- 1.7 million). Scope and Objectives of the Study The study concentrated on a particular form of migration from rural Bihar inter-state migration to urban areas in search of livelihood. More specifically the study seeks to understand the following: (a) The vulnerabilities at the source region that compels rural population to migrate to the urban centres in search of work. (b) The socio-economic profile of the migrants. (c) The destination points of migrant population. (d) The process of migration. (e) The benefits and the problems associated with migration. (f) The gender dimension of migration. (g) The role of local government in the process of migration. (h) The impact on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in stopping migration in the study area. Selection of Study Area: In the absence of any readily available data-base on migration prone districts the study districts were chosen in consultation with the state officials of Bihar. Similarly, the study Blocks were chosen in consultation with district officials, the study Gram Panchayats were chosen in consultation with Gram Panchayat functionaries and the study villages were chosen in consultation with the ward members of the Gram Panchayats. In each district two Blocks, and in each Block three Gram Panchayats and in each Gram Panchayat a minimum of three villages were chosen. In some cases more than three villages were chosen as per requirement. In each study village every third household was covered under a survey, hence the sampling method at the village level was systematic random. Total sample size of households surveyed came to 3037. The study area therefore was as follows:

District Aurangabad

Blocks Madanpur

Gram Panchayats Madanpur

Baniya Khiriyavana Goah Buxar Jhikatiya Dihuri

Villages Srirampur Tola, Islampur Tola, Dasvatkhap, Madanpur Hajipur, Shalwa, Baniya Khiriyavana, Bariyavana, Padriya Buxar, Shekhpura, Khoji Jhikatiya, Rukundih, Jaitiya Dihuru, Motha, Rajapur

District Bhojpur

Blocks Sandesh

Koilwar

Gram Panchayats Akhgaon Chilhaush Sandesh Chanda Daulatpur Rajapur

Villages Akhgaon, Bachri, Narayanpur Chilhaush, Repuratola, Nasratpur Sandesh, Thirthcall, Panpura Chanda, Kajichak, Ganshripalpur Jamalpur, Mahadevchak, Daulatpur Rajapur, Manikpur, Pachrukhiakala

District Gaya

Blocks Bodhgaya

Sherghati

Gram Panchayats Villages Padriya Padriya, Turikala, Parswa,Arjunbigha Tola Bakraur Bakraur, Silaunja, Ratnaragangabigha Bara Bhawarvar, Bara, Matihan Chanpi Chanpi, Nima, Mohotbatpur Gopalpur Gopalpur, Sonekhap, Chilim Shrirampur Shrirampur, Bittibigha, Nawada

Sample Size The sample size for the household survey was as follows: Sample Size in the Study Districts District Gaya Bhojpur Aurangabad Total Number of respondents
1037 1000 1000 3037

The household survey was supplemented by qualitative research techniques such as semi-structured interviews, Focus Group Discussions, informal discussions. Case studies, life histories and village profiles were compiled. Key Findings 1. In all three districts the overwhelming majority of the respondents live as daily wage earners or as agricultural labourers/marginal farmers. In Gaya the percentage is 90 per cent, in Bhojpur also it is 90 per cent and in Aurangabad it is as high as 96 per cent. On the other hand none work as industrial labour which shows the absence of any industry in the area. 2. Majority of the migrant households are from Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Castes. Thirty six per cent of respondents were Scheduled Castes and 58 percent were from Other Backward Castes. Six per cent were from the General Category. 3. Fifty Eight per cent of the families are located below the official poverty line. The percentage is as high as 65 per cent in case of Aurangabad district. While the Below Poverty Line list is not always full-proof, it can nonetheless be argued that a substantial percentage is very poor. However all families are able to eat two meals a day. 4. Only 9 per cent live in concrete houses and nearly 60 per cent live in kutccha houses, i.e. houses made of mud, straw and tin. This percentage is very high for both Gaya and Aurangabad where more than 60 per cent of the families live in kutcha houses. 5. Sixty Five per cent of the households do not possess any cultivable land. More than 90 per cent of the respondents said that their occupation is either that of wage labourer or a combination of marginal farmer and wage labourer. 6. Eighty One per cent have said that they have less than one acre of land. This data fits in with the information provided in the district profiles that all three districts have very high population density. The implication of having small plots of land is that such small quantities of land are not suitable for generating substantial income for the family. Hence the households which do have land are also not able to substantially raise their income level to survive purely on the basis of their income from land. 7. In the absence of land or substantial amount of land, the two most important sources of income for the households are remittances from migration and daily wage labour at the local level. Income from agriculture forms the third most important source of income in all three districts. Thus although the economy is primarily agricultural, agriculture is not profitable enough for the families to be considered the most important source of income. 8. Only about 10 per cent of the households have access to credit from a bank. The majority rely on informal sources such as moneylenders and neighbours for their loans. In Gaya district loans are available through Self-Help-Group based microfinance but in other districts such facilities are not available. In the absence of bank loans, the rate of interest of the loans is predictably high. The study found that 46 per cent of the households pay an interest rate of more than 5 per 10

cent per month, i.e. more than 60 per cent per annum. The percentage is as high as 63 per cent in case of Aurangabad. In Gaya, because of the presence of the Self-Help-Groups the percentage is somewhat lower, i.e. 31 per cent. 9. PDS shops are functional but not adequately. Forty per cent of the respondents have said that they do not get rice and wheat from the PDS shops. 10. The two most important reasons cited by the respondents as causes of migration are inadequate fulfillment of livelihood and inadequate employment opportunity. 95 and 97 per cent of the respondents have cited these as reasons. 11. Migration is still predominantly based on caste and family based networks. The source of information related to migration in 38 per cent cases is from another migrant of the same caste while in 41 per cent cases the informer is a member of the family. In only 12 per cent cases the source of information is a member of another caste. The role of middle men or agent is negligible. It can also be seen that migration hardly ever takes place without any prior information. Only in 2 per cent cases migrants have moved on the basis of information that is not directly from some source. The role local government is also negligible in this regard. It is clear from the survey that the migrant population rely on their caste and family connections for migration related information. 12. The migrant is almost without exception a single male. In 81 per cent cases one person from the household migrates. In 15 per cent cases the number of migrants is two. Thus the dominant trend is for one person per household to migrate to urban areas in search of work. It is very rare to migrate with family. Ninety nine per cent of the respondents have said that women do not migrate. 13. The migrants are moving to almost all parts of India. The capital of India, New Delhi, is the most favoured destination point with 18.3 per cent of the respondents choosing the city as their destination point. Gujarat and Maharashtra, understandably comes next as these are important industrial bases of India at present. For Bhojpur district in fact Gujarat is the most preferred destination. Other states mentioned have also seen spurt in growth in industrial and urban centres. West Bengal has been a traditional destination point for migrants from Bihar and continues to be in the list of important destination points although the percentage is lower than Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra as industrial growth has been less in the eastern region of India in recent times. 14. The study found that it is rare (6%) to remit more than INR 50,000 in a year. Fifteen per cent remit less than INR 12000 in a year or less than INR 1000 in a year. Another 10 per cent send less between 12001 and 20,000 INR. Thus about one fourth of the total sends less than 2000 INR per month. The maximum percentage, almost forty per cent sends between 20001 and 30000 INR or between 1600 and 2500 INR per month. Another significant percentage sends upto 4500 INR per month. Thus if add the first three segments, we can see that 64 per cent sends INR 30000 or less i.e. INR 2500 or less per month. 11

15. Only in case of 15 per cent of the respondents, remittances have resulted in construction of a concrete house. Nearly 50 per cent have however said that it leads to improvement of the resource base of the family. This means in some cases buying land and in some other cases buying inputs for agriculture and also paying off family debts. Thus the remittances are definitely used to improve the economic base for the household for nearly half of the respondents. It is also clear that the remittance money is used by almost all households for their day-to-day expenditures such as medical costs and daily livelihood expenditures and also education of children. 16. In 90 per cent cases the respondents have said that migration has resulted in an improvement of living conditions of the household and 85 per cent have said that it has led increase in familys income. More than 30 per cent have said that it has led to improvement of their ability to repay loans and 34 per cent of the respondents have said that it had helped to meet medical expenses. 17. The emotional loss due to separation from the family is considered to be the most important negative aspect of migration by the households. 92 per cent have said separation from the family is the most important negative aspect while 71 per cent have said migrants absence is felt by the family members. 18. Gram Panchayats are not able to play any effective role in the lives of the migrant population. MGNREGS in the study districts is a failure. At Seventy nine per cent of the respondents have said that they have received no work under MGNREGS. In case of Aurangabad district the all the respondents have said that they have not received any work under the scheme. It is thus quite clear that in the study area MGNREGS is badly implemented and therefore is able to offer any alternative to migration. 19. The study team has found evidence of child labour and child trafficking in Gaya district. Some children migrate locally or within the country to work in various small restaurants popularly known as Hotels. These children are used for washing dishes and as support staff for the cooks. Typically the children are paid less than adult males but are given food and shelter. They are exploited as child labourers. However there is a more dangerous form of migration which takes place. Some foreign tourists visiting Bodh Gaya also work as agents who lure poor parents by giving them some money as advances to let their children go abroad with them. Usually the parents do not see their children again. In some cases the agent who recruited the children calls the parents and says that their children have left and are missing or they have died. It is not clear whether the parents willingly sells the children or not but there is no doubt that this is a form of child trafficking.

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2. Introduction
Jagmohan Chaudhuri used to live in village Sandesh of Bhojpur District. He was married to Bijanti Kunwar, and had five children. It was not possible for him to find enough income in his village to feed his family. So he contacted a contractor in a nearby village. The contractor agreed to get him a job and took him wherever he got a tender to work. Jagmohan did not want to leave his family behind and go to distant places to work but he did not have any option. His work sometimes took him to Kerala, sometimes to Mumbai and he finally ended up in Jammu where he used to do unskilled manual work in the railway factories. The money that he used to send back home kept his family alive although his wife had to work as a manual labourer as well. While working in Jammu Jagmohan fell ill and was hospitalised. He felt acute pain in his stomach. However it was not possible to diagnose exactly what had happened to him and he died in the hospital. His colleagues ensured that his body reached home for the last rites. The contractor took no responsibility for his medical costs and the cost of transporting his body to the village. This incident took place ten years ago (2001). Today his wife still lives in a state of shock and just about manages to survive. Her eldest son is now 19 years old and he also wants to migrate for work like his friends. However Bijanti is afraid of letting her son go. So he now works as a fisherman. The eldest daughter is now 16 and Bijanti is worried about her marriage. Somehow their lives move on. This study is an attempt to understand the vulnerabilities of people like Jagmohan and his family. Why is it that people like Jagmohan had to leave their village in search of work? Why is it that the rural economy is not able to provide them sufficient livelihood? What are the consequences? Are the consequences always as tragic as that of Jagmohan or are there some positive aspects of their migration as well? In the following pages we shall try to answer such questions. National level estimates of migrant population in India Before we move on to the specific context of our study area, it may be worthwhile to take a look at some national level estimates of migrant population in India. There are two important sources for national level estimation of migrant population in India. The first is the Census and the second is the National Sample Survey. According the Census of 2001, the latest Census data on migration available at the time of writing this report, 29.9 per cent of the populations of India are migrants according to their place of birth and 30.6 per cent are migrants according to their last place of residence.1 This migrant population is of different types female migration is primarily due to marriage, while male migration is primarily for employment. Migration predominantly takes place within the same state but inter-state migration has also assumed a significant proportion (13.1 per cent). A Report by the National Sample Survey Organisation of India, based on 2007-08 data has also noted that nearly 29 per cent of Indias population consists of migrants.2. The Census of 2001 noted that between 1991 and 2001 about 98 million people have migrated inside India. Out of this 61 million have moved to rural areas whereas 36 million have moved to urban areas. Estimate for rural to urban migration is about 20 million while about 6 million have moved from urban to rural areas. According to the NSSO study about 20 per cent of the total migrant population in India is rural to urban migrants. According to Census 2001 the states which
1

http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/migrations.aspx. Checked on 11.04.2012. NSSO Report No. 533: Migration in India: July, 2007-June 2008; p. 22.

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have received the maximum number of migrants are Maharashtra (2.3 million net migrants), Delhi (1.7 million net migrants), Gujarat (0.68 million net migrants) and Haryana (0.67 million net migrants). The states from which maximum number of people have migrated are Uttar Pradesh (- 2.6 million) and Bihar (- 1.7 million). For our study we shall concentrate on Bihar.

Recent Studies on Migration from Bihar The focus of our study is on migration from rural areas to other states and we have focused on the state of Bihar to understand some of the reasons behind migration from rural areas. In this section we consider three important recent studies on migrant from rural Bihar which can serve as a backdrop to our empirical investigation. In an article published in 2005 based on a survey of conducted in 1999-2000, Alakh N Sharma, noted that by 2000 increase in per acre productivity in Bihar has not kept pace with increase in population. Because of lack of development of the local economy the rural poor found it difficult to eke out a living in the agrarian economy and therefore had only two options either to stay back and struggle or to migrate. His study showed that the situation had become worse between 1980s and 2000. While in 1981-82 about ten percent of adult workers were migrants, in 1999-2000 the number had increased to 19 per cent. Also in 1981-82 about 80 per cent of the migrants were seasonal migrants but by 1999-2000 more than half of the migrant population were long-term migrants. This change took place because more and more migrants took up non-agricultural works in towns and cities, such as rickshaw pulling, working as security personnel, porters etc, which require long-term migration. He also noted that a significant proportion of land-owning population had started to migrate. Among incentives for migration his study shows that apart from economic factors, social factors such as breaking out of the caste taboo of the villages is an important reason. Another reason that he noted was that while it is not possible for persons from upper castes to take up manual work in the villages they can take up any kind of work in the urban areas where they are not visible to their neighbours in the villages. He also noted that migration is primarily a male phenomenon and remittances are an important part of the household income of the families from which the male members have migrated.3 In 2008-09 Gerry and Janine Rodgers carried out an in-depth study of two villages in Kasba Block of Purnia district. They noted that migration has become a way of life in the two villages. However there were important changes taking place between 1999 and 2008-09. In 1999 migration was almost exclusively male, short-term and seasonal and the migrants usually went to north-western India. By 2008-09 there were many more destinations and the trend was towards long-term migration to urban areas. However as before the nature of migration was not permanent in the sense of the entire household moving to another destination. An important impact of migration that they noted was that migration had resulted in increase of rural agricultural wage rate. Another important recent development that they noted was increase in child migration (age 10 to 14) to cities like Moradabad, Delhi and Firozabad to work in factories which make bangles, toys, carpets or steel pots and dishes. They were hired by a contractor who took 10 per cent of the wages. The wage of these child workers consisted of food, clothes, lodging and an allowance of INR 600-1000 in the first year and 1000-2000
3

Alakh N Sharma, Agrarian Change and Socio-economic Change in Bihar, Economic and Political Weekly, 5 March 2005, pp 967-68.

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thereafter. The researchers also noted that the migration of men from the villages also has an impact on the women of the households. Their work load increases in the household and they were participating more in the agricultural work as labourers in case of lower castes and as overseers in case of higher castes. Their mobility had increased but was still quite restricted. The scholars also observed that the remittances sent by the migrants were used for basic needs food, clothing, health, house repair and education rather than for investment purpose. In some cases agricultural inputs were bought but it was rare for someone to buy land from the remittances. Although they did not quantified the remittances it is clear from their study that the remittances were not significant enough to result in improvement of assets such as land.4 Girish Kumar and Pranab Banerji of Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, have also recently probed the phenomenon of migrant labourers from Bihar. In their study, which was conducted in 2009-10, with a focus on 6 districts (Sitamarhi, Saharsha, Khagaria, Katihar, Nawada and Kaimur) of the state, they have concluded that nearly 4.42 million Biharis works as labourers in other parts of India.5 The largest proportion of them is going to Delhi. Other important states are West Bengal, Maharasthra, Haryana and Punjab. The nature of migration is shifting from rural-rural to rural-urban and from short term to long term. The migrant is usually single male in the age group of 20-40. One-third of them are illiterate, more than half are either from Other Backward Classes or Economically Backward Classes and about one-fifth are from Scheduled Castes. At the destination points their living conditions are appalling and they are forced to work for long hours without any social security or overtime. The rural poor are forced to migrate, in their opinion, not because of sudden flood or drought, but because of structural imbalances in Bihars economy characterized by low industrialization, high pressure of population on arable land and low investment in agriculture. In their household survey, overwhelming number of respondents cited lack of employment opportunity as the most important reason for migration. Other important factors are lack of irrigation and indebtedness. Remittances sent by the migrant workers are vital for the survival of their families and the average remittance is around INR 15000 per annum. The above mentioned information from secondary sources gives us a starting point to move on to our own study to see what patterns of migration we can notice in the districts of Gaya, Bhojpur and Aurangabad of Bihar towards the end of 2011.

Gerry Rodgers and Janine Rodgers, Inclusive Development? Migration, Governance and Social Change in Rural Bihar, Economic and Political Weekly, 4 June 2011, pp 43-50.
5

Girish Kumar and Pranab Banerji, A Study of Bihari Migrant Labourers: Incidence Causes and Remedies, Report Submitted by Indian Institute of Public Administration to Department of Labour Resources, Government of Bihar, 2009-10. Unpublished.

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3. Scope and Objectives of the Study

In our study we have concentrated on a particular form of migration from rural Bihar migration to urban areas in search of livelihood. Thus we are not considering migration due to marriage and migration within the state. More specifically the study seeks to understand the following: (i) The vulnerabilities at the source region that compels rural population to migrate to the urban centres in search of work. (j) The socio-economic profile of the migrants. (k) The destination points of migrant population. (l) The process of migration. (m) The benefits and the problems associated with migration. (n) The gender dimension of migration. (o) The role of local government in the process of migration. (p) The impact on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in stopping migration in the study area.

4. Methodology
Selection of Study Area: In the absence of any readily available data-base on migration prone districts the study districts were chosen in consultation with the state officials of Bihar. Similarly, the study Blocks were chosen in consultation with district officials, the study Gram Panchayats were chosen in consultation with Gram Panchayat functionaries and the study villages were chosen in consultation with the ward members of the Gram Panchayats. In each district two Blocks, and in each Block three Gram Panchayats and in each Gram Panchayat a minimum of three villages were chosen. In some cases more than three villages were chosen as per requirement. In each study village every third household was covered under a survey, hence the sampling method at the village level was systematic random. Total sample size of households surveyed came to 3037. The study area therefore was as follows: District Aurangabad Blocks Madanpur Gram Panchayats Madanpur Villages Srirampur Tola, Islampur Tola, Dasvatkhap, Madanpur Hajipur, Shalwa, Baniya Khiriyavana, Bariyavana, Padriya Buxar, Shekhpura, Khoji Jhikatiya, Rukundih, Jaitiya Dihuru, Motha, Rajapur

Baniya Khiriyavana Goah Buxar Jhikatiya Dihuri

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District Bhojpur

Blocks Sandesh

Koilwar

Gram Panchayats Akhgaon Chilhaush Sandesh Chanda Daulatpur Rajapur

Villages Akhgaon, Bachri, Narayanpur Chilhaush, Repuratola, Nasratpur Sandesh, Thirthcall, Panpura Chanda, Kajichak, Ganshripalpur Jamalpur, Mahadevchak, Daulatpur Rajapur, Manikpur, Pachrukhiakala

District Gaya

Blocks Bodhgaya

Sherghati

Gram Panchayats Villages Padriya Padriya, Turikala, Parswa,Arjunbigha Tola Bakraur Bakraur, Silaunja, Ratnaragangabigha Bara Bhawarvar, Bara, Matihan Chanpi Chanpi, Nima, Mohotbatpur Gopalpur Gopalpur, Sonekhap, Chilim Shrirampur Shrirampur, Bittibigha, Nawada

Sample Size The sample size for the household survey was as follows: Table 1: Sample Size in the Study Districts District Gaya Bhojpur Aurangabad Total Number of respondents
1037 1000 1000 3037

Research process, quality control and study period: A questionnaire was prepared by ISS in consultation with various faculty members. This was then field tested in Gaya district and appropriate changes were made. Along with the survey, qualitative tools such as case studies, in-depth group interviews and unstructured interviews were also conducted. A research team under the guidance of Professor S. Narayan, S.K. Dey Chair at the Institute of Social Sciences, carried out the field research between September 2011 and January 2012. Professor Narain has more than three decades of experience of researching on rural Bihar and knew many of the state and district level officials who were consulted in order to determine the study area. The research team was selected by Professor S. Narayan. He was based in Patna and made field visits along with the study team while the research was conducted to ensure quality control. ISS staff, Dr. Santosh Singh and Mr. Debraj 17

Bhattacharya also made field-visits during the survey to check the quality of the research by the research team. The data generated from the survey was digitised by a reputed firm in New Delhi to ensure that error did not take place in the digitization process. The firm was chosen after inviting quotations from three firms based in Kolkata, Patna and New Delhi. The survey data was checked thrice in order to eliminate errors in tabulation.

5. Profile of Study Districts

Gaya

Gaya district occupies an area of 4976 square kilometers, out of which 4891.48 kilometers are rural and 84.52 are urban. River Falgu is the most important river which runs through the district. It is administratively divided into 5 Sub-divisions and 25 Community Development Blocks. According to the Census of 2011 Gayas population is 4379383. The population density of the district is very high 880 per square kilometer. It has a literacy rate of 66.35 per cent and a sex ratio of 932 females per 1000 males. The population growth rate of the district is quite high. Between 2001 and 2011 it grew at 26.08 per cent. The economy of the district is primarily based on agriculture and the district is one of 250 districts of India that is officially regarded as a backward district receiving the Backward Region Grant Fund.

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Bhojpur

Bhojpur district occupies an area of 2395 square kilometers. Sone and Ganges are the two most important rivers of the district. The district is administratively divided into 4 Sub-divisions and 14 Community Development Blocks. According to the 2011 Census the district has a population of 2720155 and also has a high population density of 1136 per square kilometer. Population growth rate is also high; between 2001 and 2011 the population grew at 21.27 per cent. Sex ratio is quite bad, standing at 900 females per 1000 males. The literacy rate of the district is moderately good at 72.79 per cent. The economy is primarily agrarian with some cottage and small scale industries. The district is listed among the 250 most backward districts of India.

Aurangabad

Aurangabad district has an area of 3389 square kilometers. Administratively it is divided into 2 Subdivisions and 11 Community Development Blocks. River Sone is the most important river of the district. According to the 2011 Census the population of the district is 2511243. Population density is 760 per square kilometer. Population growth rate is quite high. Between 2001 and 2011 the population of the district grew at 24.75 per cent. The sex ratio is quite bad, standing at 916 females per 1000 males. The economy is primarily agrarian and the district is listed among the 250 backward districts of India.

19

Box: 1: Profile of a Study Block Sandesh Block of Bhojpur District is located about 60 kilometers from Patna, the capital of Bihar. The Block has 11 Gram Panchayats and 50 revenue villages. About 40% of the population lives below the official poverty line. The population size is 109640 as per 2011 Census, out of which 52243 are males and 57397 are females. Literacy rate is 65 % overall, 70% for males and 55% for females. Agriculture is the mainstay of the population. However there is shortage of electricity which hampers agricultural production. There is also very little alternative in terms of industries. This results in large scale migration.

6. Respondents Profile
In this section we try to understand the profile of the respondents who were interviewed in course of the survey in the three districts. We look at age, sex, caste, religion, occupation, education level and the type of families they live in.

Table 2: Age of Respondents (percentage) Age 30 years or less 31-45 years 46-60 years Above 60 years Total Gaya Bhojpur Aurangabad Total

39 36 19 6 100

33 39 21 7 100

38 32 21 9 100

37 36 20 7 100

20

It can be seen from the above table that 37 per cent of the respondents were 30 years or less and another 36 per cent percent were in the age group of 31-45. In other words, more than 70 per cent of the respondents were less than 45 years of age. Table 3: Gender break up Respondents (percentage) Gender Male Female Total Gaya
55 45 100

Bhojpur
58 42 100

Aurangabad
58 42 100

Total
57 43 100

In keeping with the sex ratio of the districts, majority of the respondents were male. However a healthy percentage in each district was female, ensuring that the viewpoint of both men and women were taken into consideration in course of the study. In all, 57 per cent of the respondents were male and 43 per cent were female.

21

Table 4: Social Category of Respondents (percentage) Social category Scheduled castes Scheduled tribes Others backward castes General category Total Gaya
58 1 35 6
100

Bhojpur
18 1 73 8
100

Aurangabad
31 0 67 2
100

Total
36 0 58 6
100

The respondents in the study villages were overwhelmingly from the lower castes. They either belong to the Scheduled Castes or Other Backward Castes. The two categories make up 94 per cent of the respondents. The general castes form only 6 per cent of the respondents. Table 5: Religious Status of Respondents (percentage) Religion Hinduism Islam Christianity Other religion Total Gaya
91 9 0 0
100

Bhojpur
89 10 1 0
100

Aurangabad
84 16 0 0
100

Total
88 12 0 0
100

22

The religious profile of the respondents clearly reveals that 88 per cent of the respondents are Hindu, in keeping with the general demographic profile of the districts. The second most important category is Muslims (12%). The district of Aurangabad has a somewhat larger population of Muslims (16%).

Table 6: Educational Qualifications of Respondents (percentage) Educational Qualifications Illiterate Literate Matriculate Above matriculate (Matric +) Total Gaya
55 35 7 3 100

Bhojpur
44 37 11 8 100

Aurangabad
45 35 13 7 100

Total
48 36 10 6 100

23

Nearly 50 per cent of the respondents in the study villages do not have any education. Only 10 per cent are matriculate. This point toward very low level of education in the study villages.

Table 7: Occupation of Respondents (percentage) Occupation Daily wage labour Agricultural labour/ Agriculture Self employed (business etc.) Traditional family occupation Industrial labour Unemployed Housewife Others Total Gaya 34 56 2 1 0 0 5 2 100 Bhojpur 50 40 3 2 0 0 4 1 100 Aurangabad 62 34 2 2 0 0 0 0 100 Total 49 43 2 2 0 3 1 0 100

24

Thus in all three districts the overwhelming majority of the respondents live as daily wage earners or as agricultural labourers/marginal farmers. In Gaya the percentage is 90 per cent, in Bhojpur also it is 90 per cent and in Aurangabad it is as high as 96 per cent. On the other hand none work as industrial labour which shows the absence of any industry in the area.

Box 2: Plight of Agricultural Workers/Marginal Farmers Agricultural workers either work as wage labourers or lease land from rich peasants as per a system known as batai. Under the Batai system, fifty percent of the produce has to be handed over to the owner of the land. The poor farmer who leases land has two vulnerabilities firstly, for credit he is dependent on the money lender and hence has to pay a high interest rate, and secondly, the agriculture is almost entirely dependent on monsoon. Irrigation system is poor and therefore when the monsoon fails the farmer fails to make any profit and sinks further into debt. Even under normal circumstances, it is very difficult to hand over 50% of the output and survive with the rest. On the other hand those who work as agricultural wage labourers get INR 100 as daily wage if they are men and INR 50 if they women. There is severe discrimination between male and female workers although their workload is the same. Both men and women workers do not get work throughout the year. Poor performance of the MGNREGS has meant that the Government has not managed to solve their problems. The plight of this vulnerable category is further aggravated by certain social practices such as paying dowry for female members of the household. They usually need to borrow money for this and this in turn aggravates their debt burden.

25

Table 8: Type of Respondents Families (percentage) Type of family Nuclear family Joint family Not stated Total Gaya
74 24 2
100

Bhojpur
66 33 1
100

Aurangabad
65 35 0
100

Total
69 30 1
100

There is a clear trend in all districts towards living in nuclear families rather than in joint families. Nearly 70 per cent of the respondents live in nuclear families. The percentage of joint families is the highest in Aurangabad (35%). Box 3: Profile of a Study Gram Panchayat Bania Gram Panchayat is located in the Madanpur Block of Aurangabad District. There are 7 revenue villages in the Gram Panchayat with a population of 13022. Male population is 6969 and female population is 6053. In all there are 1631 household. 780 households belong to the Scheduled Castes and 625 households belong to the Other Backward castes. About 45 % of the population is daily wage earners and about 40 per cent are small farmers. There is a lack of irrigation facilities in the GP. There is no industry either in the nearby area. In the absence of livelihood opportunities there is large-scale migration. Nearly half of the total number of families is dependent on remittances from migration.

26

Table 9: Number of adult male in families (percentage) Number of adult males One Two Three Four Five More than 5 Total Gaya
41 30 18 7 3 1 100

Bhojpur
36 26 19 12 5 2 100

Aurangabad
37 26 20 10 4 3 100

Total
38 27 19 10 4 2 100

In keeping with the trend towards nuclear families, the number of adult males in the families is usually one or two. In 65 per cent of the families there are either one or two adult males. Table 10: Number of adult female in families (percentage) Number of adult females One Two Three Four Five Gaya
48 32 13 4 1

Bhojpur
50 27 13 6 2

Aurangabad
45 28 16 6 3

Total
47 29 14 6 2

27

More than 5 None Total

1 1 100

1 1 100

1 1 100

1 1 100

Similarly, in majority of the families in all districts there are either one or two adult females. In case of 47 per cent of the families there is only one adult female and in 29 per cent cases there are two adult females. Thus in 76 per cent cases the household has only one or two adult females, which is in keeping with the general trend of nuclear families in the study villages. Table 11: Size of families (percentage) Size of family 5 or less 6-10 members 11-15 members 16-20 members More than 20 members Total Gaya
38 51 8

Bhojpur
33 51 12

Aurangabad
31 51 13

Total
34 51 11

100

100

100

100

28

The size of the families in case of 34 per cent of the families is 5 or less. However, more than 50 per cent have 6-10 members in the family, pointing towards more than two children per family. This figure also includes the fact that about 30 per cent (mentioned above) of the families are joint-families. Thus we can generally conclude that all three districts reveal a fairly uniform picture of the respondents. Overwhelming majority of them are lower caste Hindus, either marginal farmer or wage labourer or both, substantial portion is illiterate or have low levels of education and majority of them live in nuclear families. Box 4: Profile of a Study Village Ratnaragangabigha village is located in the Bodh Gaya Block of Gaya district. It is located in the bank of Niranjana river. It is located at a distance of about 3 kilometers from the Block Headquarters. There are 344 households in the village with a population of 2465. Total male population is 1246 and total female population is 1219. 240 households belong to the Scheduled Castes while 146 families belong to the Other Backward castes. 35% of the families live below the official poverty line. More than 90 per cent of the families are either marginal farmers or wage labourers or a mixture of both. The village has educational facilities in the form of one primary school, one middle school and one High School. There is one college also at about 4 km distance. The village has electricity facility but gets only 5 to 6 hours of electricity per day. About 50% o the population has migrated due to lack of working opportunity in the village.

29

7. Economic Condition
It has been mentioned in the profile of the districts that all three districts are listed under the 250 most backward districts of India. In our survey we tried to find out what the economic condition of the households in the study villages is. While there are problems in ascertaining the exact income of a rural household since income is not necessarily only based on cash income, nonetheless through a range of queries it is possible to determine roughly the economic status of the family.

Table 12: BPL status of families (percentage) BPL status Yes No In process Total Gaya
56 44 0 100

Bhojpur
54 46 0 100

Aurangabad
65 35 0 100

Total
58 42 0 100

It can be seen from the above table that 58 per cent of the families are located below the official poverty line. The percentage is as high as 65 per cent in case of Aurangabad district. While the Below Poverty Line list is not always fool-proof, it can nonetheless be surmised on the basis of the above table that a substantial percentage are very poor.

30

Table 13: Status regarding family members eating two meals a day (percentage) Family members eating two meals a day Yes No Not stated Total Gaya Bhojpur Aurangabad Total

90 5 5 100

97 1 3 100

99 0 1 100

95 2 3 100

While it can be seen that a substantial percentage is below the poverty line, it is also seen that the households are not desperately poor in the sense that they are able to have two meals a day. Only about 2 per cent of the households have said that they do not get two meals a day. Table 14: Type of respondents houses (percentage) Type of house Pucca/ concrete Half-pucca/concrete Kuccha/non-concrete Not stated Total Gaya 9 26 65 0 100 Bhojpur 11 41 48 0 100 Aurangabad 6 29 64 1 100 Total 9 32 59 0 100

31

An important proxy indicator of the economic condition of the household is the nature of the house in which the family members live. It can be seen that only 9 per cent live in concrete houses and nearly 60 per cent live in kutcha houses, i.e. houses made of mud, straw and tin. This percentage is very high for both Gaya and Aurangabad where more than 60 per cent of the families live in kutcha houses. Table 15: Familys possession of cultivable land (percentage) Familys possession of cultivable land Yes No Total Gaya Bhojpur Aurangabad Total

33 67 100

33 67 100

39 61 100

35 65 100

32

Another important indicator of the household economy in an agrarian economy is whether the household owns cultivable land. The assumption is that possession of significant amount cultivable land results in higher income. It can be seen that 65 per cent of the households do not possess any cultivable land. This data fits in with the data on source of income where more than 90 per cent of the respondents said that their occupation is either that of wage labourer or a combination of marginal farmer and wage labourer. Table 16: Size of cultivable land possessed by families (percentage) Size of cultivable land Less than an acre 1 to 2 acre More than 2 to 5 acre More than 5 acre Not stated Total Gaya Bhojpur Aurangabad Total

82 11 5

79 13 7

81 9 6

81 11 6

1 1 100

1 0 100

4 0 100

2 0 100

It can be seen from the table presented above that those who have land also have small quantities of land. 81 per cent have said that they have less than one acre of land. This data fits in with the information provided in the district profiles that all three districts have very high population density. The implication of having small plots of land is that such small quantities of land are not suitable for generating substantial income for the family. Hence the households which do have land are also not able to substantially raise their income level to survive purely on the basis of their income from land.

33

Table 17: Sources of familys income (percentage, multiple responses) Sources of income Agriculture Share-cropping Daily labour Domestication of animals Remittance sent by migrant family member(s) Gaya 29 8 67 13 Bhojpur 31 21 62 19 Aurangabad 37 15 52 2 Total 32 15 61 12

95

98

100

98

In the absence of land or substantial amount of land the two most important sources of income for the households are remittances from migration and daily wage labour at the local level. Income from agriculture forms the third most important source of income in all three districts. Thus although the economy is primarily agricultural, agriculture is not profitable enough for the families to be considered the most important source of income.

34

Table 18: Total monthly income of families (percentage) Total monthly income Rs.3000 or less Rs.3001-5000 Rs.5001-8000 Rs.8001-10000 Rs.10001-15000 More than Rs.15000 Total Gaya Bhojpur Aurangabad Total

48 39 10 2 1 0 100

31 47 19 2 1 0 100

42 39 14 4 1 0 100

40 42 15 2 1 0 100

Table 19: Total monthly expenditure of families (percentage) Total monthly expenditure Rs.3000 or less Rs.3001-5000 Rs.5001-8000 Rs.8001-10000 Rs.10001-15000 Gaya Bhojpur Aurangabad Total

49 38 10 2 1

31 47 19 2 1

42 39 14 4 1

41 42 14 2 1

35

More than Rs.15000 Total

0 100

0 100

0 100

0 100

We tried to find out roughly what is the monthly income and expenditure of the households. While in rural areas the exact figure is difficult to ascertain, it is nonetheless possible to estimate a range within which income and expenditure operates. It can be seen that in case of more than 80 per cent of the families the monthly income and expenditure is less than INR 5000 per month. This data also fits in with other corroborating data such as the nature of the house, possession of cultivable land etc. The overwhelming majority of the families are therefore low-income families although they are not starving Table 20: Familys status regarding loan taken (percentage) Loan taken Yes No Total Gaya
59 41 100

Bhojpur
50 50 100

Aurangabad
44 56 100

Total
51 49 100

36

An important element of the rural economy is credit. We found that about half the household have taken some kind of loan or the other. Loan itself is of course not necessarily a bad thing, provided it is taken from a bank which provides low interest rate. Hence we tried to find out what are sources of loan taken. Table 21: Sources of loan (percentage) Source of loan Moneylender Bank Neighbour Self help group Others Total Gaya
25 6 20 48 1 100

Bhojpur
32 14 48 1 5 100

Aurangabad
50 9 24 7 10 100

Total
34 10 30 21 5 100

37

It can be seen that only about 10 per cent of the households have access to credit from a bank. The majority rely on informal and non-institutional sources such as moneylenders and neighbours for their loans. In Gaya district, loans are available through Self-Help-Group based microfinance but in other districts such facilities are not available. Table 22: Monthly rate of interest on loan taken (percentage) Monthly rate of interest 2% or less More than 2 to 5% More than 5% No interest charged Not stated Total Gaya
50 16 31 3 0 100

Bhojpur
1 45 48 4 2 100

Aurangabad
7 18 63 12 0 100

Total
22 26 46 5 1 100

In the absence of bank loans, the rate of interest of the loans is predictably high. In rural India interest rate is usually calculated on a monthly basis and we found that 46 per cent of the households pay an interest rate of more than 5 per cent per month, i.e. more than 60 per cent per annum. The percentage is as high as 63 per cent in case of Aurangabad. In Gaya, because of the presence of the Self-HelpGroups the percentage is somewhat lower, i.e. 31 per cent. 50 per cent of households in Gaya pay an interest rate of 2 per cent or less but the same is not true of the other two districts where Self-HelpGroup based microfinance is not available. Thus it can be said that absence of formal sources of credit has a negative impact on the poverty of the households. The situation is slightly better in Gaya, where microfinance is available.

38

Table 23: Familys possession of ration card (percentage) Possession of ration card Yes No Total Gaya Bhojpur Aurangabad Total

72 28 100

73 27 100

89 11 100

78 22 100

An important source of welfare for the poor is the Public Distribution System (PDS). We tried to find out how many households have the ration card, i.e. the card which entitles them to subsidized goods from the Public Distribution System. We found that nearly 80 per cent of the households have the ration card but in Gaya and Bhojpur the percentage of households which do not have the ration card is also not insignificant. Table 24: Provisions available in ration shops (percentage, multiple responses) Provisions available Kerosene oil Rice Sugar Wheat Gaya
72 45 1 45

Bhojpur
73 53 1 53

Aurangabad
90 65

Total
78
54 0.4

0.3 72

54

39

Next we tried to find out what are important items that the households get from the PDS system. The most important item is kerosene oil which is used for light in the absence of electricity and also for cooking. Wheat and rice the second most important items, which helps the household to have their two meals in a day. However, nearly 40 per cent of the respondents have also said that they do not get rice and wheat from the PDS shops. In other words, they do not get rice and wheat at a subsidized rate or the quality is so bad that they do not buy it from the PDS shops. Thus, the PDS shops are primarily used for procuring kerosene oil which helps the families to some extent but is not capable of lifting them from their poverty. Table 25: Status regarding childrens discontinuation in studies (percentage) Status Yes No Total Gaya
5 95 100

Bhojpur
4 96 100

Aurangabad
5 95 100

Total
4 96 100

40

We tried to find out whether poverty is resulting in children dropping out of schools or not. We found that children usually go to school and only in about 4 per cent of cases children drop out of the school. What is interesting, however, is to note that children who discontinue their education usually do so because of financial difficulties. We can say that the households do send their children to school but in case of a small number of cases the children are forced to drop out because of financial constraints. To summarise the economic condition of the households, therefore, one can say that the overwhelming majority do not have the means to construct a concrete or semi-concrete house, are either wage labourers or marginal farmers, have to rely on informal sources for their credit which means paying high interest rate and nearly 60 per cent are below the official poverty line. However, they are not so poor that they would not be able to have two meals a day and would not be able to send their children to school. In terms of inter-district variations, we can see Self-Help-Groups in Gaya districts have made the credit situation better in the district. From the field visits to the study districts certain important facts have also come out. It is clear that in all villages absence of steady electricity is a major problem. While the villages officially have electricity coverage, the number of hours of electricity supply is small, usually 5-6 hours. This hampers both agriculture as well as household activities. Agriculture is also affected by poor irrigation facility and increasing cost of agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertilizers and is still dependent on good monsoon. It is also seen that there is very little scope within the district for livelihood opportunities in the industrial sector as there are almost no industrial units where wage workers can be incorporated.

41

Box 5: Agrarian Economy in Crisis? The people of Sandesh Block of Bhojpur district of Bihar are primarily dependent on agriculture. Those who do not have land are either wage labourers or involved in share cropping. The block can be divided into two sections one which receives irrigation water and the other which does not. In the irrigated part, rice, wheat and lentils are grown; in the other part bajra, potato, etc. The farmers are heavily dependent on the monsoon rain; if the monsoon is bad then their crops suffer and the farmers are not able to recover their input cost. While the farmers are hard working and industrious they are handicapped by poor irrigation and lack of electricity. Income is often less than the input cost and as a result the farmers are more and more losing interest in agriculture. The government has recently invested in irrigation but electricity remains a major problem. As a result farmers have to buy water for cultivation at the rate of INR 100 per hour. Many of the tube wells are also defunct as water level has gone down. Input cost has also doubled in recent times. The farmers are of the opinion that agriculture is no more profitable for them. Agricultural workers have also complained of low wages. For a full days work a man gets INR 100 while a woman gets INR 50, which also indicates a patriarchal wage payment system. What is worse is the fact that year round employment is not available. It is also not possible for the people of the Block to find employment in any nearby industrial unit as such units do not exist. Those who are lucky are able to migrate.

42

8. Causes of Migration
The above discussion on the economic condition of the rural population in the study district clearly points towards the reason behind migration. It is sometimes argued that migration takes place because of the attractions of city life or because some people want more money than what they get in rural areas or for other personal reasons. While a few such cases may be found, there cannot be any doubt that the primary reason behind migration is the fact that sufficient livelihood opportunity is not available in the source region. This is also borne out by the reasons cited by the respondents, which are presented below.

Table 26: Reasons for migration (percentage, multiple responses) Reasons Inadequate fulfillment of livelihood Inadequate employment opportunities Big family size Quarrel in family For prestige Better society and culture would lead to familys development Education of children For development of family To earn more money Others Gaya
95

Bhojpur
96

Aurangabad
94

Total

95 96 98 98 97

15 9 3 5

12 7 1 3

7 3 2 3

8 6 2 4

10 48 27 1

9 62 12 0

2 77 12 0

7 62 17 0

It can be seen from the above table that the two most important reasons cited by the respondents are inadequate fulfillment of livelihood and inadequate employment opportunity. 95 and 97 per cent of the respondents have cited this as a reason. Qualitative data collected through Focus Group Discussions (FGD) have also corroborated this. A FGD carried out in Buxar village of Buxar GP of Goah Block of Aurangabad district for example revealed that wage labourers do not get adequate work and also do not get timely payment for their work in the village. Apart from this main reason, the respondents have also cited other factors like attraction of 43

urban life, family disputes etc. But the primary reason is definitely lack of employment opportunity in the rural setting. The FGD also revealed that the number of migrants is substantial and migrants come from all castes, especially Kayasthas, Koiri, Kumhar, Chamar, Mallah, Mushhar, Mali, Pasi, Kanu Teli, Yadav, Brahman, Rajput etc. The usual age group for migration is 20-30 although older people also migrate. Similar pattern has been observed across the study area. Another FGD carried out in Bakraur village of Bakraur GP of Bodh Gaya Block of Gaya District also revealed that the most important reason for migration is lack of employment opportunity in the village. The group also said that the payment given to agricultural workers in the villages is often in kind (food etc) rather than in cash. This also creates problems for the villagers as their options are limited as to what they wish to do with the payment. In addition to this the respondents have also cited other attractions of urban life such as possibility of better education for children and family disputes. This group also said that migrants are not restricted to some castes but belong to almost all castes of the village. An important feature of Bodh Gaya is the migration of children which takes place through dalals or agents. Although this was described as migration, it is actually a form of trafficking with the consent of the parents. A FGD carried out in Sandesh village of Sandesh GP of Sandesh Block of Bhojpur district has also corroborated that the most important reason is lack of employment opportunity. Another important reason cited in this FGD was high indebtedness. The migrants hope to earn enough in the urban areas to pay off their family debts. This group also corroborated that people of all castes migrate and the usual age group is 20-30. Box 6: Interview with a Gram Panchayat Functionary Baiju Yadav (Male, 31), is the Vice-President (Up-Sarpanch) of Bakraur GP of Bodh Gaya Block of Gaya District. In an interview with the research team on 2.09.11 he said that poverty is endemic in Bakraur GP. Most people are very poor. Lack of education has also resulted in rampant use of child labour. There is hardly any industry in the region (udyog dhanda ka koi byabasthya nahin hain); not even small-scale industry. Lack of employment forces the people of the GP to migrate. An important feature of the migrants from this GP is that they prefer to work in small restaurants in urban areas, popularly known as Hotels. He explained that this preference is because of the fact that the Hotels provide a place to stay and regular food. This attracts the migrant population to such jobs.

44

9. Process of migration
In order find out the process through which migration takes place we tried to understand the source of information on availability of jobs at the destination point. We wanted to see whether the age-old method of caste-based and family-based method of migration is still continuing or whether it has been replaced by a new system. Our survey has clearly brought out that the key sources of information are members of the same caste or members of the extended family; most of whom are also from the same caste. Table 27: Source of migration-related information (destination, travel plan etc.) (percentage) Source of migration-related information Migrant from own caste Relative Middleman Migrant from other caste Panchayat In the absence of information, decision taken on the basis of status of migrant population in potential places Others Total Gaya Bhojpur Aurangabad Total

34 39 8 11 0.2 4

42 39 2 14 0.2 2

38 46 4 10 0

38 41 5 12 0

1
4 100 1 100

2 2
100

1 100

It can be seen from the above table that the source of information in 38 per cent cases is from another migrant of the same caste, while in 41 per cent cases the informer is a member of the family. In only 12 per cent cases the source of information is a member of another caste. The role of middle men or agent is negligible. It can also be seen that migration hardly ever takes place without any prior information. Only in 2 per cent cases migrants have moved on the basis of information that is not directly from some source. The role local government is also negligible in this regard. It is clear from the survey that the migrant population rely on their caste and family connections for migration related information. Our FGDs in different district have also corroborated this general trend. However in Gaya district the agents are more active than in other places, especially with regards to recruitment of children.

45

Box 7: Child Trafficking in Bodh Gaya Naresh Paswan (M, 47) lives in Bakraur village of Bakraur GP of Bodh Gaya Block of Gaya district. He informed our researchers that children regularly migrate from his area. This takes two forms. Some children migrate locally or within the country to work in various small restaurants popularly known as Hotels. These children are used for washing dishes and as support staff for the cooks. Typically the children are paid less than adult males but are given food and shelter. They are exploited as child labourers. However there is a more dangerous form of migration which takes place in his locality. Some foreign tourists visiting Bodh Gaya also work as agents who lure poor parents by giving them some money as advances to let their children go abroad with them. Usually the parents do not see their children again. In some cases the agent who recruited the children calls the parents and says that their children have left and are missing or they have died. It is not clear whether the parents willingly sells the children or not but there is no doubt that this is a dangerous form of child trafficking.

10. Gender dimension of migration

In India inter-state and intra-state migration takes different forms. In some cases a single person migrates leaving behind his/her family, while in other cases the entire family migrates. Hence in our research we have tried to determine the type of migration which takes place from our study districts.

Table 28: Number of migrant population in family (percentage) Number One Two Three Four More than four Total Gaya
83 14 2 1 0 100

Bhojpur
82 14 3 1 0 100

Aurangabad
77 18 3 2 0 100

Total
81 15 3 1 0 100

46

The above table clearly reveals that in 81 per cent cases one person from the household migrates. In 15 per cent cases the number of migrants is two. Thus the dominant trend is for one person per household to migrate to urban areas in search of work. Table 29: Number of migrant male in the families (percentage) Number One Two Three Four More than four Total Gaya
83 15 1 1 0 100

Bhojpur
80 17 2 1 0 100

Aurangabad
76 18 4 2 0 100

Total
80 17 2 1 0 100

Next we tried to find out the number of male members who migrate. It can be seen that in 80 per cent cases one male member migrates. This corroborates the earlier table where we can see that in 81 per cent cases one person per household migrates. This table clearly reveals that the person who migrates is usually a man.

Table 30: Number of migrant female in the household (percentage) Number One Two Gaya
1 0

Bhojpur
1 0

Aurangabad
0 0

Total
1 0

47

Three Four More than four None Total

0 0 0 99 100

0 0 0 99 100

0 0 0 100 100

0 0 0 99 100

In order to double-check the data in the above tables we also tried to find out how many women have migrated. The answer is unambiguous. Ninety nine per cent respondents have said that women do not migrate. Thus in our study area the migrant is usually a man who leaves behind his family. Whole family migrating to a distant urban centre is almost non-existent. Our FGDs and interviews have revealed that the woman usually stays at home, running the household and looking after other family members including children. The migrant male usually returns home on holiday once in a year or at the most twice in a year. It is also very rare for the migrant males family members to visit the male migrant at the destination point. The migrants interviewed in this regard have said that they usually do not live in circumstances where their families can visit them. Several male migrants usually rent a room to live at the destination point and therefore it is not possible for their wives or families to visit them.

Box 8: Vulnerability of a migrants wife Rita Kunwar (F, 30) lives in Manikpur village of Rajapur GP of Koilwar Block of Bhojpur district. About twelve years back she was married to Viswakarma Sharma of Bamania village of Chapra district. Viswakarma was a migrant labourer to Mumbai. About four years ago he was coming back home for holidays for the Chhath festival. He had some valuables with him. Unfortunately a group of dacoits attacked the train and Viswakarma was killed. His body was identified by the police and sent back home. This was not the end of Rita Kunwars tragedy. She not only lost her husband, she was also told by her in-laws that they would not be able to look after her. So she was forced to return to his brothers home in Manikpur. There she continues to live as a widow.

48

11. Destination points

Traditionally migrant labourers from Bihar have been migrating to the important metro cities of India to work as labourers. During the colonial period the rise of the port cities of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras led to massive migration from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to these cities in search of work. Later as Delhi became an important centre of development, the new capital of India also became an important destination point. We tried to find out whether the traditional pattern has continued or whether there have been changes. We were surprised to see that migrants have gone to almost all states of India barring a few in the North East. We present below the states where at least 5 per cent have migrated.

Table 31: Major destination points (percentage) Places Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana Maharashtra Punjab Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh West Bengal Gaya
20.4 0.3 7 8.4 10.7 5.1 9.7 6.3 10.3

Bhojpur
15.4 1.0 21.6 5.7 12.8 8.6 4.6 3.8 6.2

Aurangabad
19.2 0.4 9.4 13.2 12.2 7.5 5.6 8.2 7.2

Total
18.3 0.5 12.6 9.1 11.9 7.0 6.6 6.1 7.9

We can see that the capital of India, New Delhi, is the most favoured destination point with 18.3 per cent of the migrants choosing it as their destination point. This is understandable as New Delhi over the last decade or so has witnessed a massive amount of expansion and hence construction activities where work is available for migrant workers. Gujarat and Maharashtra, understandably come next as these are important industrial bases of India at present. For Bhojpur district in fact Gujarat is the most preferred destination. Other states mentioned have also seen spurt in growth in industrial and urban centres. West Bengal has been a traditional destination point for migrants from Bihar and continues to be in the list of important destination points although the percentage is lower than Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra, as industrial growth has been less in the eastern region of India in recent times. It is also noticeable that migration is more in the Hindi speaking areas or where Hindi is understood rather the states in the South of India where Hindi is not that well understood. Our FGDs and field visits have also revealed that the destination points are usually urban centres and the nature of work that the migrants 49

prefer is to work in urban areas as wage labourers or contractual workers in factories rather than as agricultural workers in rural areas. Hence the trend is clearly towards rural-urban migration rather than rural-rural migration. It has also come out from qualitative research that it is not unusual for the migrant to shift from one state to another. Box 9: From one city to another in search of livelihood Rajendra Yadav (M, 28) is from Siloja village of Bakraur GP of Bodh Gaya Block of Gaya district. His family consists of his parents, three younger brothers, a younger sister, wife and two children. Being the eldest son he has the highest responsibility in earning for his family. Being from a family that is officially listed below the poverty line, he found it difficult to get very far in school but nonetheless acquired some education. He could not finish tenth standard and had to leave studies in search of livelihood. As he was not able to get any work in his locality, he decided to migrate. A friend of his was working in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He contacted him and left for Kanpur with him where he got a job in a sweet shop. He started with washing utensils. He got INR 1200 plus food and stay for this. Out of this he was able to send INR 800 to the family back home. He returned home after three years as he was not satisfied with the job that he had at Kanpur. From there he contacted another friend and went over to Bangalore (now Bangaluru). He had acquired some expertise in making sweets in the mean time. In Bangalore he used to get INR 3000 per month but had to buy his own food. This job also did not give him enough money to send back home. He was not able to send more than 800 INR per month. So from Bangalore he shifted back to Gorakhpur in Bihar in search of better job. There he got a job as a sweet maker (halwai). Here he got INR 3500 per month. He stayed there for a year. He ran into health problems for which he had to buy his own medicines. The sweet shop however did not make enough profit and therefore the owner said that his salary would be reduced. He returned to his village and stayed there for a month. From there he contacted a relative in Mumbai and left for Mumbai. Here he got INR 4000 as a sweet maker. But Mumbai was expensive and therefore this salary was not adequate for him. So he again went back home, where he was interviewed by our researchers. He told the researchers that he was again planning to go back to Kanpur. He sounded worried about the cost of his sisters marriage.

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12. Remittances
We tried to ascertain in our survey the amount of remittance that is sent by the migrant for the household annually. Most of the answers were given on a monthly basis but we have tried to infer from the answers what the annual remittance is. The table below gives the range of remittances from the migrants.

Table 32: Amount of remittance sent in a year (percentage) Amount Rs.12000 or less Rs.12001-20000 Rs.20001-30000 Rs.30001-50000 Rs.50001-75000 Rs.75001-100000 More than Rs.100000 Total Gaya
21 12 39 23 4 1 0 100

Bhojpur
15 9 37 31 6 1 1 100

Aurangabad
8 7 41 32 9 2 1 100

Total
15 10 39 29 6 1 0.4
100

We found that it is rare (6%) to remit more than INR 50,000 in a year. Fifteen per cent remit less than INR 12000 in a year or less than INR 1000 in a year. Another 10 per cent send between 12001 and 20,000 INR. Thus about one fourth of the total sends less than 2000 INR per month. The maximum per 51

centage, almost forty per cent sends between 20001 and 30000 INR or between 1600 and 2500 INR per month. Another significant percentage sends upto 4500 INR per month. Thus if the first three segments are added, we can see that 64 per cent sends INR 30000 or less i.e. INR 2500 or less per month. This has been corroborated by our field visits, Focus Group Discussions and interviews. Next we tried to understand the frequency at which remittances are sent. The result is provided in the table below:

Table 33: No. of times remittance sent in a year (percentage) Number Once 2-4 times 5-8 times 9-12 times More than 12 times Total Gaya
1 21 24 54 0

Bhojpur
0 8 31 61 0

Aurangabad
0 6 19 75 0

Total
1 12 25 62 0

100

100

100

100

We see that in 62 per cent cases remittances are sent at 9-12 times, i.e. almost on a monthly basis by the migrants. On the other hand in only about 12 per cent cases it is sent every three to six months. In 25 per cent cases it is sent 5-8 times in a year. Thus one may conclude that in majority of the cases remittances are sent either once a month or once in two months. This indicates that the remittances are an important part of the monthly budget of the households and therefore needs to be sent on a regular 52

basis. If it would have been an additional income then the households could have afforded a less frequent remittance. In order to understand what is done with the remittance and whether it is resulting in improvement of assets or not, we tried to understand how the money is spent. There were multiple responses, which are given in the table below: Table 34: Benefits of remittance sent by migrant to families (percentage, multiple replies) Benefits of remittance Able to meet healthcare needs Contributes to familys living conditions Education of children Development of resources Construction of house Others Gaya
76 95

Bhojpur
80 97

Aurangabad
78
99

Total
79 99

50 35 10 1

50 47 15 0.4

40 60 19 0.3

47 49 15 0.4

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It can be seen that only in case of 15 per cent of the respondents this results in construction of a concrete house. Nearly 50 per cent have, however, said that it leads to improvement of the resource base of the family. From our qualitative research we have found that this means in some cases buying land and in some other cases buying inputs for agriculture and also paying off family debts. Thus the remittances are definitely used to improve the economic base for the household for nearly half of the respondents. It is also clear that the remittance money is used by almost all households for their day-today expenditures such as medical costs and daily livelihood expenditures and also education of children.

13. Beneficial aspects of migration

We can see from the above discussion that remittances sent by migrants are an important element in the household economy and has positive impact on the economic condition of the households. We tried to find out from the respondents the benefits of migration in the eyes of the respondents. There were multiple responses, which are presented in the table below:

Table 35: Benefits of migration (percentage, multiple replies) Benefits of migration Enhanced status and prestige Increase in familys income Improvement in living conditions Better education for children Peace at home Ability to afford healthcare expenses Ability to repay loan Others Gaya
3 83 87

Bhojpur
3 91 84

Aurangabad
3
81 97

Total
3 85 90

21 33 37

26 26 41

17 47 25

21 35 34

40 2

26 0

28 0

31 1

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It can be seen that in 90 per cent cases the respondents have said that migration has resulted in an improvement of living conditions of the household and 85 per cent have said that it has led increase in familys income. More than 30 per cent have said that it has led to improvement of their ability to repay loans and 34 per cent of the respondents have said that it had helped to meet medical expenses. Curiously enough, 35 per cent of the respondents have also said that it results in peace at home. From our qualitative explorations we have found that internal conflicts within the household sometimes act as a motivating factor for migration. This may be due to economic as well as non-economic factors. Such family disputes are often solved when one person migrates from the household. It reduces internal conflicts as well as increases family income.

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Box 10: Fruit juice business saves a poor family Dinesh Prasad was a poor man living in Buxar Gram Panchayat of Aurangabad district. He had a large family of eight. He had four sons Ambuj, Sanjay, Arvind and Chotu. In addition he had two daughters Rinki and Sinki. He had only one-third of an acre of land (1 Bigha). This was not enough for his family to survive. So in addition to farming in his own land he had to work as an agricultural labourer. The eldest son Ambuj finished primary level schooling and then started working as an agricultural labourer. As this did not give him enough income he started planning to migrate. He contacted some friends. Luckily he found a friend who used sell fruit juices in Delhi. He left for Delhi. He started his life in Delhi as a fruit seller. Slowly he managed to buy a juicer machine and like his friend he also started a small business of selling fruit juices which has tremendous demand in Delhi especially during the summer months. In course of time he brought over his two brothers from home to help him in his business. In the meantime Dinesh Prasad passed away. His wife and children somehow managed to make two ends meet but were constantly under pressure from various people from whom Dinesh Prasad had taken loan. However Ambuj and his brothers in Delhi came to the rescue of their family back home. They were now able to make enough money to take their mother and rest of the family members to Delhi. Their fruit juice business prospered even further and after a year they were able to build a concrete house in their village. A little later the debts were also paid off. All the brothers and sisters got married. One brother out of four now lives in the village with their mother and works as a farmer while the three other brothers live in Delhi and manage the fruit juice business.

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14. Problems faced due to migration

Having explored what are the benefits which migration results in, we tried to understand what the problems of migration are. Once again there were multiple responses and the results are shown below: Table 36: Problems associated with migration (percentage, multiple responses) Problems of migration Migrants separation from family Problems of living, food etc. Job instability due to absence during visit to native place Health of migrant Migrants absence felt by family members Inability of father to look after his children Discrimination of migrants in others states Adverse impact on native culture Gaya 88 63 15 Bhojpur 91 83 11 Aurangabad 97 93 2 Total 92 79 10

35 80

28 65

16

26 71

67 16 6 4 10 16 20 5 2 2 3 15 8

The emotional loss due to separation from the family is considered to be the most important negative aspect by the households. Ninety two per cent have said separation from the family is the most important negative aspect while 71 per cent have said migrants absence is felt by the family members. This is borne out by our qualitative research as well which has shown that migrants return home usually once in a year and sometimes not even that. Many of these migrants are young men in the age group of 20-30 and are newly married. Hence, they have to endure long periods of conjugal separation from their wives. Twenty six per cent, or a little more than one-fourth of the respondents, have expressed the concern that migration leads to health problems of the migrant. A reasonably significant 15 per cent have also said that the migrants are discriminated against in the places where they visit. Since parenting responsibilities are largely carried out by the mothers who stay at home and by other male members of the household, absence of the father does not seem to have much of an impact in case of bringing up the children. Only about 8 per cent have said that this is an important problem. In terms of district-wise variations, however, we can see that in Gaya, 16 per cent have said that this is a problem. Thus, one can say that although this is not one of the most important problems, it is recognised by some as a problem. 57

Box 11: Health Risks of a Migrant Worker Gulbatiya Devi (F, 70) lives in the Chilhaush village of Chilhaush GP of Sandesh Block of Bhojpur District. She did not receive any formal education. Their economic condition was not very good anyway and the sudden death of her husband made matters even worse. She started working as an wage labourer and bring up her children four daughters and one son. After some time when her son, Munna, became an adult, he decided to migrate in search of livelihood. He made contacts and left for Pune in Maharashtra in 1996. There he got a job in a factory and slowly was able to get her sisters married. He himself also got married and had five children. However while working in the factory he developed some illness. He was not in a position to pay for the treatment and did not get any help from the employers either. In 2011 Munna fell severely ill and came back home. However very soon he died due to this illness, whose name Gulbatiya Devi could not specify. Today Gulbatiya Devi can no more work as she is seventy years old. Munnas widow and her children work as agricultural labourers to somehow find the required resources for survival.

In addition to the problems faced by the migrant workers we have found cases where the family or the wife of the migrant worker is particularly vulnerable if the migrant worker decides to either stop remittance or decides to develop other sexual relationship. We have found cases where a migrant worker has settled down in the city and stopped caring for her aged mother back home. We present below a case of a woman who after marriage found that her husband is in love with someone else Box 11: Patriarchy and Migration Poonam Kumari (F, 19) lives in Siloja village of Bakraur Panchayat of Bodh Gaya Block of Gaya district. She did not get any formal education and was married off by his family in 2004 to Mr. Karun Mangni (name changed). Karun used work in Delhi as a daily wage labourer. In an exception to the general rule, Poonam also went to Delhi to stay with her husband. Unfortunately her husband got attracted towards another woman. This changed Karuns attitude towards Poonam. He used to regularly beat her up. Matters became so grave that Poonam felt that her husband may even kill her. Secretly she called her father and managed to escape with her father. Karun was not interested in keeping Poonam. He did not return the dowry that he took during marriage either. Poonams father is a poor man who himself works as a mechanic in a shop in Punjab which repairs bags. The remittance he sends to the household is not adequate for the livelihood of Poonam and her family which consists of a brother and a sister apart from her mother. They were also suffering from the pressure of debts. As a result it was not possible for Poonams father to file a case against her husband. Returning home after marriage is also a social disgrace. However Poonams family could not take any action against her husband or his family. Today in order to supplement the remittance that is sent by her father her family has to work as wage labourers in the locality. They do not have the financial resources to get Poonam married again. So she is likely to remain in her present position for the rest of her life.

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15. Role of Panchayati Raj Institutions

One of the objectives of our study was to understand how far local government is playing a role in stopping distressed migration from the rural areas. The most important instrument in the hand of local government (Gram Panchayat) in preventing migration is the employment scheme known as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which is the result of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (2005) which gives the rights to any rural household to get 100 days of unskilled employment if such a demand is made. This is also one of the flagship programmes of Government of India. It was hoped that if MGNREGS is properly implemented then it would result in income for the rural poor and therefore reduce the demand for migration to other places. We, therefore, tried to find out what is the status of MGNREGS in the study area.

Table 37: Families listing under MGNREGS (percentage) Listed for MGNREGS Yes No In process Total Gaya
24 76 0 100

Bhojpur
33 67 0 100

Aurangabad
23 77 0 100

Total
27 73 0 100

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Our first question to the respondents was whether they had received the job-card which entitles them to demand employment. It can be seen that as many as 73 per cent of the respondents have said that they are not listed under the scheme. Table 38: Availability of work in a year under MGNREGS (percentage) Availability of work No work available 1-5 days 6-10 days 11-20 days 21-30 days 31-50 days 51-75 days 76-100 days Not stated Total Gaya Bhojpur Aurangabad Total

93 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 3
100

54 7 7 9 13 2 1 0 7
100

100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
100

79 3 4 4 5 1 0 0 4
100

Our next query was how many days of employment the respondents got from the scheme. This question was asked to get any idea as to whether MGNREGS is a viable substitute for migration or not. It is clear from the data presented above that 79 per cent of the respondents have said that they have received no work under MGNREGS. In case of Aurangabad district, all the respondents have said that they have not 60

received any work under the scheme. On the other hand, 4 per cent of the respondents have said that they have received 76-100 days of work. It is thus quite clear that in the study area MGNREGS is badly implemented and therefore is not able to offer any alternative to migration. From our qualitative research we have found that even when work is available under MGNREGS there are procedural problems, because of which employment under the scheme is not attractive. The most important procedural problem is the fact that the wage is deposited in a Post-Office or Bank and it takes several days before the wage is available to the worker. If adequate wage could have been provided in cash then there would have been much greater incentive for the workers. We have also noticed another social problem because of which there MGNREGS is proving to be unattractive to some. Those who are educated to some extent find it socially degrading to do manual labour under MGNREGS. They explain that if they live in some other place then their neighbours are not able to see under what condition they live and what they do. This is more acceptable to them than doing manual labour in the village. From our field visits to the Gram Panchayats of the districts it also seemed to us that the Gram Panchayats functionaries, even when they are otherwise sympathetic to the rural poor, do not have the capacity to plan and implement projects under MGNREGS. Box 13: A Gram Panchayat President on failure of MGNREGS Vinod Mishra (M, 56) is the Mukhiya (President) of Madanpur Gram Panchayat of Madanpur Block of Aurangabad district. He is one of the few Mukhiyas who have won the election more than once and is a popular figure. Most of the people of the GP are landless and are situated below the poverty line. He told our researchers that a large section of the people of his Gram Panchayat has migrated to Mumbai in search of work. Others have migrated to Jaipur and Kolkata. He admits that without migration these people would not survive. Even those who have some land find it difficult to make two ends meet as ground water level has gone down and irrigation facilities are not good. When he was asked regarding MGNREGS he said it is a complete failure. He cited several reasons as to why the scheme is not functioning in his Gram Panchayat. Firstly, the delay in payment because of the guidelines of the scheme acts as a disincentive. Because of complicated procedures sometimes more than a month of delay takes place. Poor people do not like to endlessly wait for their payment and therefore lose interest in the scheme. Secondly, he complained that the wage that is paid under the scheme is not attractive and is lower than the wage rate available to a migrant worker. Thirdly, he mentioned that because the wage of the worker is deposited in the Post Office, a worker has to spend INR 50 to open an account. This they do not want to do. Fourthly, he said that the scheme involves complicated paper work and sometime there isnt enough staff due to vacancy or absence to carry out these procedures. Fifthly, the scheme is plagued by the corruption of the contractors at the Block level. They invariably pay less than the sanctioned wage to the job-card holders, usually between INR 50 and 100 per day. Sixthly, some of the local politicians are also agents who take workers away from the Gram Panchayat to work. They try to ensure that MGNREGS is not successfully implemented so that their business does not suffer. Finally, this region is affected by Maoist violence, and the Maoists do not allow government schemes to be successfully implemented. In some cases Panchayat functionaries have been killed to prevent the GPs from functioning.

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16. Conclusion and Recommendations

Based on the discussion above it is clear that there are several problems in the study areas which are forcing people to migrate for work. The issue is particularly complicated as migration has both positive as well as negative impact. Thus, it is necessary to improve the conditions of the agrarian economy so that there is an alternate option to migration and at the same time the lives of those affected by migration can be improved. The most important problems resulting in migration that have been noticed in course of the study are: 1. The agrarian economy of the region is not able to produce enough livelihood opportunity for the rural poor. It has been observed in course of our discussion that that most of the households either do not have any land or have small plots of land which are not able to generate enough income for the households. Agriculture is hampered due to lack of electricity and irrigation facilities and prices of inputs have gone up. Thus even those who have land find it increasingly unprofitable to do agriculture. 2. Majority of the rural population do not have access to credit from banks. This forces them to pay high rates of interest which leads to increase in debt burden for the families. There is also, except for Gaya district, shortage of Self Help Group based microfinance which can give credit at a lower rate than the rate charged by moneylenders. 3. There is hardly any small-scale or large industry in the districts which can provide employment at the local level. 4. MGNREGS is not implemented successfully as a result of which poor people do not get adequate employment locally. 5. While migration can improve the economic condition of the households to some extent, it remains a risky proposition. There is no official intervention in helping the poor people who are migrating in terms of awareness generation measures, better information regarding where to migrate, what safeguard measures need to be taken and what to do in case of health hazards related to migration. 6. In Gaya district, there is clear evidence of child labour and child trafficking which goes unpunished. 7. Gram Panchayats are generally weak in capacity to play any effective role in the process of migration either in terms of prevention or in terms of facilitation. Recommendations: Based on the general problems listed above, we make the following recommendations: Short Term (0 -2 Years):

1. Union Government may set up a committee to review the implementation of The Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979.
2. Central/State Government may give a block grant to the Gram Panchayats to support migrants through awareness generation, for helping migrants who have fallen seriously ill due to work at the destination point and for helping families who have suddenly lost their migrant earning member. 62

3. Gram Panchayats may be given the authority to certify a migrant worker before he leaves for the destination point. The migrant may be issued a certificate and a card with necessary phone numbers where he can call in case of any distress at the destination point. 4. Gram Panchayats may also be encouraged to declare in a Gram Sabha that migration of persons below the age of 14 for work is illegal. The certificate from the Panchayat may only be given to persons above the age of 14. 5. Gram Panchayats may be encouraged to maintain a data-base of migrant workers. This data may be shared with the District Labour Officer. 6. State Governments should identify which migration prone districts are doing poorly in implementation of MGNREGS. The District Magistrate should be issued directives to address the problem on a war footing. 7. District Administration needs to be issued directives to address the issues of child labour and child trafficking in districts (such as Gaya) where such incidents are taking place.

Medium Term (0 -5 years): 8. Union and State Governments need to develop a data-base of migration so that appropriate planning interventions can be made regarding the problem of distressed migration. Just as 250 districts of India have been identified as most backward districts and a BRGF scheme has been introduced along with other measures, the migration prone districts need to be identified and appropriate financial allocation should be made for the purpose of reducing migration from these districts. 9. Donor Agencies may consider distress migration as a priority issue to allocate more funds for Civil Society Organisations to play a greater role in the migration process. Civil Society Organisations may be involved in awareness generation, providing information to the migrants on good employers in different destinations, provide hand-holding support to the migrants while migrating and keeping in touch with them at the destination point in order to ensure that they get the facilities that are their rights as workers. They may be allowed to run help-line services at the source and destination points.

10. The migrant workers, although huge in number, are largely unorganised. Trade Unions, Kisan Sabhas and appropriate Ministries/Departments need to find ways of organizing the migrant workers. There are several small-scale examples of organisations trying to improve the lives of the migrant workers. These need to be documented and replicated.

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Long Term (0 -10 years): 11. More branches of rural banks need to be opened so that the rural poor can have access to formal credit. A plan to improve coverage by rural banks need to be developed. A push is required regarding formation of Self Help Groups in the villages so that a lower rate of interest is available to the rural poor. Support of NABARD and distinguished Civil Society Organisations may be sought for this purpose. 12. The National Rural Livelihood Mission needs to be properly implemented in the migration prone districts.

13. A comprehensive district-level plan is required to boost irrigation and power supply to the villages so that agriculture can be improved. 14. Union and State Governments may consider providing some inputs at a subsidized rate through the Gram Panchayats so that input cost of agriculture is reduced. 15. Union and State Governments need to develop a plan for giving incentives to small-scale industries to develop in the region so that more full-time/part time jobs are created in the locality.

16. Union and State Governments need to start a process of re-thinking about current agricultural practice in densely populated parts of India. It is clear that some form of co-operative farming would have to be evolved in areas where the individual farmers own very small plots of land in order to achieve economies of scale and make agriculture profitable.

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Appendix: Suggestions from Members of Solution Exchange, UNDP6

Query: From Debraj Bhattacharya, Institute of Social Sciences (ISS), Kolkata Posted 6 July 2012 Dear Members, At the Institute of Social Sciences (ISS), New Delhi, we are currently working on the issue of migrant laborers who migrate in search of livelihood from rural to urban areas in India. Besides physical and cultural displacement, migrants are more vulnerable to poverty and marginalization as their rights are often not secured. Issues of certification, proof of identity, remittance which impinge on their access to basic services in urban areas. Our recent study in three districts of Bihar has shown that migrant laborers receive very little support from the Gram Panchayats once they have left the villages. The Gram Panchayats are also not sure, in the absence of any such directive from higher authorities, as to what they can do to help the migrant laborers at the sourceregion. But both migrants and Gram Panchayat members agree that there can be systems and mechanisms for support and safeguard. As we are entering the advocacy phase of the project, we need to know whether there are experiences of local government or state governments helping the migrant workers before, during or post exodus. In view of this, I would like to pose the following questions to the members of Decentralization and Work and Employment Communities: Are there successful experiences of Gram Panchayats helping the migrant workers before they leave? How do they help them? Are there efforts by state governments to ensure that migrants from their state are safeguarded at the destination point? If a state level or national level policy is to be formulated, what could be advocated in terms of the role of Gram Panchayats to help migrant workers?

Your feedback will be valuable in terms of building our advocacy strategy and I really look forward to receiving your inputs.

Responses were received, with thanks, from 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

6

Uma Mahesh Allaka, District Supply and Marketing Society, Gajapati (DSMS), Odhisa V.G. Reddy, Rural Reconstruction and Development Society (RRDS), Nellore, Andhra Pradesh Ravindra Mishra, Save the Children India, New Delhi OnkarNathTripathi, Center For Children Studies, Unicef-KIIT University Initiative, Bhubaneswar Nupur Sinha, Centre for Social Justice, Ahmedabad, Gujarat BrijBhushanGoel, Independent Consultant, Rural Development

The discussion has been compiled by Ms Swati Dogra and Warisha Yunus of UNDP.

65

7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

Bipasha Roy, Sahbhagi Sikshan Kendra, Lucknow Ramit Basu, Independent Consultant, New Delhi Vikas Jha, Policy, Institute for Rural Research and Development (IRRAD), Gurgaon, Haryana Alok Pandey, PRIA, New Delhi IzharuddinQureshi, Samarthan- Centre for Development Support, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh Ajay Kumar, Child Fund India, Patna Brijendra Singh, Freelance Development Consultant, Gurgaon SantoshPoonia,Aajeevika Bureau, Centre for Migration and Labour Solutions, Udaipur Dhirendra Krishna, IA&AS (Retired), New Delhi HarshitaBhatnagar, Ministry of Oversees Indian Affairs, New Delhi Maya Ratnam,Ph.D Candidate, Department of Anthropology, The Johns Hopkins University, USA J.C. Sharma, Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh R.S. Shrivastava, Retired (Additional Director), Tribal and Scheduled Caste Welfare Department, Madhya Pradesh 20. Anjali Borhade, Disha Foundation, Maharashtra (response 1) Offline Responses: 21. Lolichen, 22. Sudarsan Das, Human Development Foundation, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 23. Abani Mohan Panigrahi, Member Secretary, Lokadrusti, Odisha 24. Anjali Borhade,Disha Foundation, Maharashtra (response 2)

Summary of Responses Members shared that Migration is a widespread and common phenomena as there are equally powerful forces at source and destination to promote and perpetuate it. For the migrants, it is economic compulsions, livelihood, and search for better opportunity that leads to a shift of residence. For the employers, it is the need for unorganized labour or cheap labourand a vested interest in high inflow of migrants to maintain low wages. States like Kerala and Punjab have been able to build infrastructure or continued to practice labour intensive agriculture because of large scale migration. It was agreed that migration is a rather complex phenomena and the rural to urban migrant population is a fairly heterogeneous group. Patterns of migration in different parts of the country vary on the nature of occupation and industry. Thus, strategies to bring migrants into the mainstream of the society have to keep these complexities and heterogeneity into account. This could be done by mapping the extent and magnitude of migration; tracking whether it is seasonal or perennial or nomadic; assessing whether it is single migration, family migration; whether it is intra-state and inter-state migration group wise/area wise assessment of issues. Members elaborated on the kind of issues faced by migrants and how their rights are always on the fringes both at source and destination. Poor and irregular wages, lack of access to housing, health, sanitation and dignity of life; Children not having access to schools or recreation and getting dragged into labour work; Women becoming vulnerable to health hazards and sexual exploitation and so on. Also, moneylenders, contractors and industrialists have a strong nexus to exploit the vulnerability of the migrants creating conditions like semi-bonded labourers. As migrant force is often dispersed, generally they do not have awareness or access to legal recourse which makes them further vulnerable. Lack of identity proofs makes it difficult to access social welfare schemes. High price of ration further threatens food security. Back home and at destination, poor data and records puts migrants on the fringes of any possible benefits. 66

A number of existing Constitutional Acts were shared, effective implementation of which could help address some of the issues and improve access to rights and services. To name a few, The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923; The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947; The Factories Act, 1948; The Minimum Wages Act, 1948; The Contract Labour Act, 1970; The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976; Equal Remuneration Act, 1976; The Inter-State Migrant Workmens (Regulation of Employment & Conditions of Service) Act of 1979; The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986; The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005; The Right to Education Act 2009. Members also pointed as policies like provisioning for Rain Basera one per one lakh population; schemes under Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996 which provide many benefits to the registered workers, certified for 90 days of work in a year in construction sector; new efforts being proposed under Unique Identification Authority of India etc. Panchayats and Migrants There was a unanimous agreement that Gram Panchayat could be a key player in providing support to migrant workers but there was also an acceptance that as of now it does not have the apt power and authority to do so. Definitely, Panchayats have a clear role in implementation of MGNREGA (designed to enhance livelihood security by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work) but that is only meant to discourage migration. Members shared some efforts which have shown the potential that Panchayats have and the difference they can make in the lives of migrants and their families.These have been either in the form of maintaining data and records or providing services and benefits or strengthening employability/improving skills or helping in legal recourse with the support of non-governmental organizations. Based on a model set up by Labor Department of the State of Karnataka, Centre for Social Justice in Baruch, Gujarat has set up Workers Facilitation Centers within Gram Panchayats.Gramin Vikas Trust (GVT)is supporting some Gram Panchayats in Jahbhua district of Madhya Pradesh to provide services to a large number of migrants to Surat (in Gujarat).SehbhagiShikshan Kendra (SSK) in Uttar Pradesh and Samarthan in Madhya Pradesh have helped set up Migration Resource Centre (MRC). Aajeevika Bureau works through ShramikSahayataEvamSandarbha Kendra works in Southern Rajasthan. Disha Foundation in Nashik region works through Migration Information and Resource Centers (MIRC). These efforts of NGO-Panchayat collaboration have been crucial as it provides migrants with need based support like registration through timely and accurate data collection and record keeping, photo IDs, skill training, linkages with social security schemes, collection of claims, legal literacy and aid, financial literacy, mediation in employer and employee disputes, tracing missing migrants, forming collectives and supporting labour collectives.The above examples and efforts to map and trace a complete chain of migration and providing support at source and at destination demonstrate the crucial role that local governments have played. Suggestions and Recommendations Members shared that efforts have to be made at the level of Perspective, Policy and Practice. Perspective: Issues of migration are inherently linked to larger issues of poverty and vulnerability so the solutions cannot be in isolation. An integrated approach is the ideal way forwardand Gram Panchayat becomes an appropriate medium for providing the integrated services to people. This brings attention to the issue of devolution and strengthening the role of GPs to be able to assess developmental needs and provide solutions through integrated planning based on principles of social justice and inclusion. On the contrary, social welfare and protection of migrant workers was seen as an urgent need of the hour and focusing on 67

devolution or creating new roles for already under-resourced and relatively powerless panchayats, may dilute the issue and further delay the required action. Policy: For any civil society group, working on issues of migration, it is important to keep in mind the available constitutional provisions which protect/safeguard labors and their families. Keeping in view the potential for local governments to support migrants, it was pointed that the upcoming scheme of Government of India - Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat SashaktikaranYojna could ensure that mechanisms are developed for Gram Panchayats to monitor/track migrants as well as play a supportive role. Subsequently, linkages between Gram Panchayats and District Labour Office can be suggested for effective implementation. Since migration cuts across different geographical boundaries and administrative jurisdiction, inter-state coordination and cooperation were seen as crucial for migrants to secure their rights and get access to services. Practice: Members pointed at initiatives that civil society groups along with Gram Panchayatscould take up to support migrants. o Simple short term efforts to be undertaken at source:issuing BPL ration cards, identity cards, strengthening the registration mechanism; linkage to insurance schemes and support in opening bank accounts; supplying migrant data to District Labour Department; register the record of migrants and use that data to develop their Labour Plan under NREGS; registration of senior citizens/old/inform/widow etc.(who are left behind) and maintaining information on contractors who are taking the labourers; o Long term efforts like forming labor collectives, awareness generation on labor rights, building para-legal professionals and community leaders, skill enhancement for better employability. o These have to be supplemented with state government efforts forroaming ration cards and other facilities; proof of identity from the local District Labour Offices; coordination between District administration and DLO; use of data collected at GP level to map pockets of high rates of migration and in the state and strengthen employment guarantee and other livelihood schemes in the block o Services for migrants at destination like shelter, school, health, safe drinking water, insurance schemes, protection from harassment.

Comparative Experiences

Andhra Pradesh Tracking Inter-state Migration Using Flagship Programmes Can be Replicated (from Ravindra Mishra, Save the Children India, New Delhi) Government's flagship programmes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) are being used to track the interstate migration. The SSA, Andhra Pradesh arranged for Oriya text books, teachers and mid-day meal at the destination and children evaluated at destination for admission to school at the source depending on their evaluation certificate. This interstate migration tracking arrangement helps track and possibly support migrants and their families. Orissa Maintaining a Record of Migrants is Useful in Tracking Them, Nuapada District(from Uma Mahesh Allaka, District Supply and Marketing Society (DSMA), Gajapati) To keep a record of the migrants from the area, Panchayat with support from locally formed committee maintain a Red Register that contains all information about the migrants - date and place of migration as 68

well as expected time of return. The committee has a linkage with District Labour Office that registers the labour contractors who send migrants to various places. It is a good practice that helps in record keeping and supporting families who are left behind. Gujarat Setting up Special Centres for Migrants Within the Gram Panchayats is a Good Practice (from Nupur Sinha, Centre for Social Justice, Gujarat) An organization working on the rights of migrants has established Workers Facilitation Centre (WFC) within the Gram Panchayats. The WFC facilitates registration of workers, management of information centers, access to social security schemes, oversees collection of claims by panchayat and collects data regarding beneficiaries. A team of volunteers has also been prepared. A total of 11,000 applications have been made so far for registration under Social Security Act 2008. Using Gram Panchayats for Verification of Photo ID Card - A Best Practice(from Santosh Poonia, Aajeevika Bureau, Centre for Migration and Labour Solutions, Udaipur) Through its Resource and Information Centers, an organization provides a variety of services to migrants. It seeks gram panchayats help in the verification of the photo ID card that they issue to the migrant workers. The information given by the migrant in the application form is verified by the Sarpanch of the panchayat. The card is also recognized as a valid identity proof by the Department of Labour and Employment. In 5 years, 80,000 migrants have been registered. Madhya Pradesh Orientation and Sensitization of Panchayat Functionaries is Helpful, Panna District(from IzharuddinQureshi, Samarthan Centre for Development Support, Bhopal) An organization works on a complete chain of migration - from source to destination - in 3 districts. It works with gram panchayat functionaries to sensitize them on the issue of migrants. Out of 40 panchayats, 34 panchayats started maintaining a register with information - name of the migrant, number of family members migrating with him/her, duration of migration, destination, name and address of labour contractor with whom they are migrating. Read more

From Anjali Borhade, Disha Foundation, Maharashtra Maharashtra Preparing a Cadre of Local Leaders Takes Care of Many Problems, Nasik An organization facilitates migration through Migration Information and Resource Centers (MIRC) at source and destination. It has identified and trained 300 local leaders from within the migrant community. These leaders can handle the grievances, demand and facilitate other migrant's access to public services at source and destination. The process has been very effective within the migrant community as these leaders are taking up issues on behalf of their community. Aadhaar - A Distant Dream Still, Nasik An organization enrolled 100 migrant workers in Aadhaar and helped them to apply for a bank account in SBI and Maharashtra Bank. However, the bank rejected the application saying that Aadhaar cannot be used as a KYC document. This happened despite NACSOM's (National Coalition for Security of Migrant Workers) association with UIDAI. The promise of UIDAI of Aadhaar turning into a foolproof method of accessing services for migrants is yet to be kept. 69

Uttar Pradesh Building the Capacity of Migrants through Skill Development is Another Good Practice(from Bipasha Roy, SahbhagiShikshan Kendra, Lucknow) For migrants, an organization established a Migrants Resource Center where they are registered and provided free legal aid and linkage with social security schemes. It also invited Gram Pradhans to meetings to sensitize them and share migration data with them. It also provided skill building training to migrants to enhance their chances of employability amd made them aware of their social, economic and legal rights through collectives of migrant families. Read more

Related Resources Recommended Documentation Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Work) Act, 1979 (from Ravindra Mishra, Save the Children India, New Delhi and Onkar Nath Tripathi, Centre for Children Studies, UNICEF-KIIT University Initiative, Bhubaneswar) Act; by Government of India Available at http://hrlabour.org/docs/labourActpdfdocs/Inter_State_Migrant_Act.pdf Regulates the employment of inter-state migrant workmen and provides for their conditions of service. From OnkarNathTripathi, Centre for Children Studies, UNICEF-KIIT University Initiative, Bhubaneswar Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act Act; by Government of India, 1986 Available at http://nrcw.nic.in/shared/sublinkimages/28.htm Prohibits the engagement of children in certain employments and to regulate the conditions of work of children. Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 Act; by Government of India, 1976 Available at http://pblabour.gov.in/pdf/acts_rules/bonded_labour_system_abolition_act_1976.pdf Provides for the abolition of bonded labour system, to prevent the economic and physical exploitation of the weaker sections of the people. Minimum Wages Act, 1948 Act; by Government of India, 1948 Available at http://pblabour.gov.in/pdf/acts_rules/minimum_wages_act_1948.pdf(PDF; Size:80 KB) Regulates the payment of wages of certain classes of employed persons including migrant workers. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970 Act; by Government of India Available athttp://pblabour.gov.in/pdf/acts_rules/contract_labour_regulation_and_abolition_act_1970.pdf (PDF 126 KB) Regulates the employment of contract labour in certain establishment and also provides for its abolition in certain circumstances

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The Unorganized Workers Social Security Act(from Nupur Sinha, Centre for Social Justice, Gujarat) Act; by Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India; 31 December 2008 Available at http://labour.nic.in/act/acts/Unorganised-workers-social-security-act-2008.pdf(PDF 375 MB) Provides for social security and welfare of unorganised workers; includes domestic workers under the purview of unorganised sector workers. Memorandum of Understanding(from Maya Ratnam, Department of Anthropology, The Johns Hopkins University, USA) MoU; by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and National Coalition of Organizations for Security of Migrant Workers Available at http://uidai.gov.in/UID_PDF/Front_Page_Articles/MOU/CSO/MoU_UIDAI_Coalition_of_Migrant_Workers_NGOs.pdf(PDF; size 3.28MB) Its the MoU signed between UIDAI and NACSOM for ensuring security and protection to the migrant workers. Lokadrusti Experience with Children of Migrant Parents(from Abani MohanPanigrahi, Lokadrusti, Odisha) Report Available at ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/decn/cr/res-221-01072012.pdf(PDF; 1490 KB) The report discusses the problems of working with the children of the migrant workers and also presents solutions to address the problem of migration of children. Recommended Contacts and Experts Mr. Rajiv Khandelwal, Aajeevika Bureau, Rajasthan(from Warisha Yunus, Moderator) 38, Mangalam Complex, Syphon Colony, Off Bedla Road, Udaipur 313004; Tel: 91-294-2454092; info@aajeevika.org; http://aajeevika.org/index.html Works for providing services to migrant workers at both the source and destination to enhance their well-being. Recommended Organizations and Programmes Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat SashaktikaranAbhiyaan (RGPSA) (from Uma Mahesh Allaka, District Supply and Marketing Society (DSMS), Gajapati, Odisha) http://indiacurrentaffairs.org/panchayats-to-be-strengthened-through-rajiv-gandhi-panchayatsashaktikaran-abhiyan/ Upcoming scheme of GoI to strengthen panchayats across the country; it could be used to ensure mechanisms are developed for panchayats to monitor & support migrants. From Ravindra Mishra, Save the Children India, New Delhi Ministry of Human Resource Development ShastriBhawan, New Delhi 110001; Tel: 91-11-23383936; Fax: 91-11-23381355; dsel-mhrd@nic.in; http://mhrd.gov.in/ Inter alia, it keeps track of inter statemigration - the source as well as the destination areas. Action Aid India New Delhi R-7, HauzKhas Enclave, New Delhi 110016; Tel: 91-11-4064-0500; Fax: 91-11-4164-1891; http://www.actionaidindia.org/index.htm 71

Works with migrant workers in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha; it estimates about 4 lakh workers seasonally migrate from Odisha to work in brick kilns of Andhra Pradesh. Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Gujarat(from Nupur Sinha, Centre for Social Justice, Gujarat) C-105, Royal Chinmay, Opposite IOC Pump, Next to Simandhar Tower, Off Judges Bunglow Road, Bodakdev, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad 380015; Tel: 91-79-26854248; Fax: 91-79-26857443; socjust@gmail.com; http://www.centreforsocialjustice.net/index.html Works for the rights of migrant workers through Workers Facilitation Centres that register the migrants and help them access social security schemes, inter alia. SahbhagiShikshan Kendra (SSK), Uttar Pradesh(from Bipasha Roy, SahbhagiShikshan Kendra, Lucknow) ChhathaMeel (Behind Police Fire Station), Sitapur Road, Lucknow 227208; Tel: 91-522-6980124; info@sahbhagi.org; http://www.sahbhagi.org/index.html Works with migrants at source and destination towards reducing their vulnerability by establishing Migration Resource Center. Samarthan - Centre for Development Support, Madhya Pradesh(from IzharuddinQureshi, Samarthan Centre for Development Support, Bhopal) 36, Green Avenue ChunaBhatti, Kolar Road, Bhopal 462016; Tel: 91-755-2467625; Fax: 91-755-2468663; info@samarthan.org; http://www.samarthan.org/ Concentrates on issues related to rural to urban migration over 3 districts in MP encompassing a complete chain of migration from source to destination. Aajeevika Bureau, Rajasthan(from SantoshPoonia, Aajeevika Bureau, Centre for Migration and Labour Solutions, Udaipur, Rajasthan) 38, Mangalam Complex, Syphon Colony, Bedla Road, Udaipur 313004; Tel: 91-29-4245-4092; Fax: 91-294245-4429; info@aajeevika.org; http://www.aajeevika.org/index.html Provides various services to the migrant workers at the source and destination including providing them with photo identity cards. Gramin Vikas Trust (GVT), Uttar Pradesh(from Alok Pandey, Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), New Delhi) KRIBHCO Bhawan, 5th Floor, Sector 1A-10, Distt Gautam Budha Nagar, Noida 210301; Tel: 91-120-2535619; Fax: 91-120-2535-619; info@gvtindia.org; http://www.gvtindia.org Works to provide photo identity cards and a legally enforceable identity to the migrant workers, inter alia. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA),Delhi(from Ravindra Mishra, Save the Children India, New Delhi) Ministry of Human Resource Development, Shastri Bhawan, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi 110001; Tel: 91-11-2316-1336; Fax: 91-11-2338-1355; http://ssa.nic.in/ Working in collaboration with MIRCA to facilitate a statewide mapping of migrant workers, which will in turn help facilitate education for the migrant children. From Harshita Bhatnagar, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, New Delhi Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India 119-H, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi 110001; Tel: 23782327/73; http://rural.nic.in/ A GoI Ministry for implementing schemes of poverty reduction, employment generation and provision of basic minimum services for poor, underprivileged and marginalized.

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Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Delhi Ministry of Rural Development, KrishiBhawan, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi 110001; Tel: 91-112338-5027; Fax: 91-11-2688-8254; psjspa.rd@nic.in; www.rural.nic.in Scheme of MoRD, it was formulated to arrest migration and is implemented through Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR). Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE), Delhi Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi Works for the welfare of labour in the country; it may have some data on internal migration of labourers/workers. Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), Delhi Akbar Bhawan, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021; Tel: 91-11-24197900; Fax: 91-11-24197919; info@moia.nic.in Regulates the international migration through its 10 offices known as Protector of Emigrants (PoEs) spread across India. Disha Foundation, Maharashtra(From Anjali Borhade, Disha Foundation, Maharashtra) 2, Wild Orchids, Tidke Colony, Nasik 422002; Tel: 91-253-2583969; foundation.disha@gmail.com; http://DishaFoundation.wordpress.com Works on inter and intra state seasonal labour migration, public health and related development issues. National Coalition for Security of Migrant Workers (NACSOM) (from Anjali Borhade, Disha Foundation, Maharashtraand Maya Ratnam, Department of Anthropology, The John Hopkins University, USA) http://www.samarthan.org/2010/11/26/convention-of-the-national-coalition-for-security-of-migrantlabour/ It is a country wide coalition of CSOs, activists, researchers and academicians committed to improving the well being and conditions of labour migrants in India. United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Gujarat(from P. J. Lolichen, UNICEF, Gujarat) Plot No. 70, Sector 19, Gandhinagar 382019; Tel: 91-79-23225366; Fax: 91-79-23225364; gandhinagar@unicef.org; http://www.unicef.org/india/state_profiles_4321.htm Works with the children of migrant labour to ensure they are enrolled in school at source and destination areas with limited success. Human Development Foundation (HDF), Location(from Sudarsan Das, Human Development Foundation, Bhubaneswar, Odisha) M-4, Samant Vihar, Near Kalinga Hospital Square, P. O. Mancheswar Railway Colony, Bhubaneswar 751017; Tel: 91-674-2301019; http://www.hdf.org.in/ Working in collaboration with other organizations to create model panchayats in capacity of a technical partner. Related Consolidated Replies Return Migrants Access to NREGS, from SeetaPrabhu and Prema Gera, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New Delhi (Experiences; Examples). Work and Employment Community, Solution Exchange, India,Issued 30 September 2009. DownloadPDFversion (PDF,90 KB) Seeks experiences on return migrants accessing NREGS for work and examples, if at all, of NREGS utilizing the skills of the return migrants for selection of activities and their livelihood promotion. 73

Identity Cards to Migrant Labour through Panchayats- Experiences; Advice.Issued 30 June 2009.DownloadPDF (Size: 197 KB). Seeks experiences of Panchayats issuing identity cards to migrant workers, legal implications of this and solutions to problem in absence of such a step Voting Rights for Migrant Labour in Panchayat Elections,from ANANDI, Ahmedabad (Examples).Issued on 4 December 2006. Download PDF version(Size: 97 KB) . Seeks experiences and examples on facilities that could be given to migrant labour to exercise their voting rights away from their villages of domicile

Responses in Full Uma Mahesh Allaka,District Supply and Marketing Society, Gajapati (DSMS), Odhisa I would like to share some experiences from district Nuapada in Odisha where I worked in a Poverty alleviation Project. It was common in this district as well as other districts like Bolangir, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Rayagada and Gajapati that the poor migrated for employmentto South India. In Nuapada, on an average, local governments with the support of a locally formed committee maintained register (called Red register) containing information on all the migrants. It contained record on each migrant date of migration, place and expected time of return. The committee had a linkage with the District Labour Officer where Labour contractors were registered who sent migrants to different places for jobs. This was a good practice in terms of record keeping and providing a sense of support to the families left behind as the local Labour Office was involved. I would also like to suggest that the upcoming scheme of Government of India - Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat SashaktikaranYojna could ensure that mechanisms are developed for Gram Panchayats to monitor/track migrants as well as play a supportive role. Subsequently, linkages between Gram Panchayats and District Labor Office can be suggested for effective implementation.

V.G. Reddy, Rural Reconstruction and Development Society (RRDS), Nellore, Andhra Pradesh In our experience in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, local governments and elected leaders extend support to migrants only during election and the rest of the time, no one cares! The rights of the migrants are always on the fringes both at source and destination. Policy safeguards are not in place. At destination, migration laborers face issues like poor and irregular wages, lack of access to housing, health and other facilities. Their children dont have access to schools. The women are sexually exploited. There is a lot of need to build advocacy strategies which can inform policies which safeguard the Migrant workers. We appreciate the efforts by ISS and would like to extend our support and solidarity.

Ravindra Mishra, Save the Children India, New Delhi Migration is driven by economic compulsions. People migrate in search of their livelihood. The problem of migration varies across the nation and shows different causes, factors and hurdles to overcome. The heterogeneity of the migrants makes the situation complex. There are various patterns of migration in different parts of the country depending on the nature of occupation and industry. It is not only difficult to understand the issues regarding the migrants but also strategize ways to bring them into the mainstream of society. Some categories of migrants include: youths and adults, rural and urban, women and children 74

children are extremely vulnerable, for example, HIV infected children living with constant fear of death, children living day after day in heinous life conditions at brothels and those who work as domestic servants. people working in brick kilns migrate after monsoons and come back to the source before breaking of monsoon. Similarly persons working in Sugar Industry, Salt farms, Tiles factories, Crop sowing and harvesting etc. have a different pattern of migration.

So the first challenge is to map the extent and magnitude of migration - tracking whether it is seasonal, perennial, nomadic etc. or whether it is single migration, family migration, migration of adults and children; or whether it is intra-state and inter-state migration. There is need to intervene at source and destination both end by making arrangement of shelter, school, health, safe drinking water. It is important to honour BPL ration cards at places of destination and source, identity cards to be respected at the destination of migrant/s and strengthening the registration mechanism. As per the Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI, every year the poor from Western Orissa districts (Bolangir, Naupada and Kalahandi) migrate to work in the brick kilns of Andhra Pradesh (around Hyderabad and Secunderabad). According a report of Action Aid India, the number of such seasonally migrant labourers is around four lakhs. These laborers migrate in semi-bonded conditions due to acute shortage of sustainable livelihood options in their native places. Moneylenders and contractors further aggravate the socio-economic condition of these laborers because of exploitative practices. Middlemen or labour contractors emerged as a set of exploiters. Their job is simple: They coax the poor people and farmers into migrating for work to other states where the rich industrialists, brick-kiln owners or road contractors savour the cheap but skilled labour. The Labour contractors have a very strong nexus with the brick kiln owners. Advances are given with the condition that the labourers fulfill their obligation with the contractor by going to the pre-determined destinations where their labour is harnessed The conditions under which these people live are far from satisfactory. Makeshift huts constructed in the kilns are so small that one has to crawl to enter these. Needless to say, basic sanitation is absent. The worst affected are the children, for whom there is neither any amusement nor any form of recreation. They also help their parents in making bricks. The workers are never allowed to even take a day off, not till the end of their term. These laborers do not qualify as migrants under the Inter-State Migrant Workmens (Regulation of Employment & Conditions of Service) Act of 1979, since they migrate on their own volition. There have been some good practices which we can learn from: An interstate migration tracking arrangement in collaboration of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan Odisha (Source) and Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan Andhra Pradesh (Destination) may be replicated in other parts also. A survey was conducted in collaboration with Action Aid India. Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan Andhra Pradesh arranged for Oriya text books and teachers and Mid day Meal at the destination and children evaluated at destination got admission to school at the source depending on their evaluation certificate. Bhonga Shalas and Shakar Shalas in Maharashtra and schools at salt farms in Gujarat (both at source and destination) are also efforts in changing lives of the migrant workers and their children. This initiatives covered small geographical area of Andhra Pradesh and some pockets of Maharashtra and Gujarat and catered a small population. The extent of migration is large and a larger coverage is needed to ensure livable conditions to the people who seasonally migrate to other states and districts. It would be ideal if working opportunities are sprinkled across the nation with provisions of basic amenities and better standard of life instead of making the metros hub of employment. This will help in reducing magnitude of distress migration. 75

Onkar Nath Tripathi, Center For Children Studies, Unicef-KIIT University Initiative, Bhubaneswar I have worked on issues of Migrant labourers and role of panchayat in streamlining the same and would suggest the following nine points for your inclusion in advocacy strategy: 1. The prime importance is the registration of migrant labourers at District Labour Office (DLO), check the registration of labour contractor at district office who are taking the labourers, in case if the labour contractor is taking the labourers without registration, or the number of labourers exceed the number for which contractor is registered it is illegal and panchayat should stop this at the place of origin itself. The migrant labourers should be issued a proof of identity from the local district labour office. In absence of this perpetual and continuous denial of rights of labourers at various junctures never gets recognized even by government authorities. The labourers generally fail to ensure and contractor take them without prior information to panchayat, this complicates the matter further. 2. The panchayat should delist the name of migrants from the list of beneficiaries in all the schemes meant for them and a letter for diversion of benefits to the place of migration should be sent to the District Collector, who should in turn write to the concerned district collector with a list of migrant labourers, to extend the facilities for these people upon production of cards at the place of migration. 3. Enrollment of children in schools at work site. If language varies the transfer of school teachers from local schools to the schools at the place of migrant should be facilitated through the district administration appropriate authorities. If there is going to be a guideline from government it should definitely include this as achievable. 4. Benefits for health on work site through medical camps and upon production of Identity Proofs should be done, direction to this effect from District Collector to Health department. 5. The District administration should write to district labour office, police, health, education, and civil supply and other departments in order that upon production of Identity proof migrant labourers may get the benefits which they were otherwise receiving at the place of origin. 6. Ensure insurance for any kind of unforeseen incidents during the journey, or at the work site and during the return, this should be facilitate at local level by DLO and follow up by Panchayat. 7. Protection from harassment during transit by ensuring proper tickets/seats/Identity cards for these labourers, competent authority for ensuring these should be DLO and panchayat should ensure that this happens. 8. Registration of senior citizens/old/inform/widow etc who are left behind and family has migrated as the main chief earner mainly migrates into suitable scheme and ensure that their entitlement are delivered at their door step and on time, there are many instances of denial of rights of such people at the place of migration. 9. Please ensure to look into the following Acts and find out the provisions, which can be implemented by Panchayat. The following eight Acts are being violated at different stages of migration. 76

Interstate Migrant Workmen (Regulation Of Employment And Conditions Of Service) Act, 1979. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923. (The) Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. The Factories Act, 1948 The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 The Contract Labour Act, 1970. Non-enforcement and abuse of the above Acts by the state, the employers and the labour contractors leaves the migrants to the mercy of destiny. I would suggest the enforcement of these Acts through requisite rules and guidelines which can bring a change in the situation. Also, we need to look at capacity building of concerned stakeholders/officials/elected leaders who are crucial to changing the landscape.

Nupur Sinha, Centre for Social Justice, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Centre For Social Justice has been actively working on the rights of migrant workers. In the district of Bharuch, Gujarat, we have set up Workers Facilitation Centre [WFC] located within the Gram Panchayat. This is based on a model being practiced in Karnataka by the Labor Department of the State. The WFC functions with the following objectives: facilitating the registration of the identified workers establishment and management of information Centre ensuring that the government social security schemes reach the eligible unorganized worker households providing assistance in the identification of social security needs among the members overseeing collection of claims by Gram Panchayat and follow up with the higher authorities for ensuring the benefits reach the claimant data collection regarding beneficiary, claims, procedural blocks in implementation In Gujarat, we have not been able to get it integrated in the bureaucratic structure and WFC is functioning as an informal body. In selected Panchayats that report high rates of migration [in coming as well as outgoing], there is a group of volunteers that has been oriented about the different rights and entitlements of the migrant workers. The volunteer groups educate the workers regarding their rights, provide relevant forms and help in filling up the forms. A total of 11,000 applications were made by the WFCs for registering the workers under the UnorganisedSector Social Security Act 2008 for social security. Initially the registration was started but we realized that the same was not being done under the Act but as agricultural workers. When the matter was referred to the Secretary, a reply was received stating that the rules under the 2008 Act have not been formulated. A Public Iinterest Litigation had been filed by another organization for formulating the rules under the Act and the High Court directed the government to set up a committee to facilitate implementation. These 11,000 applications were referred to the committee for action. Oncethe workers are registeredunder the Act, the process of facilitating entitlements will be undertaken. Also, the Supreme Court in its famous Right to Food case has recommended roaming ration cards for migrant workers, a facility available for migration within the State. There is a need to develop similar 77

inter-state collaboration models forroaming ration cards and other facilities when the migration is interstate.

Brij Bhushan Goel, Independent Consultant, Rural Development I feel migration is a universal phenomenon and the urban areas which receive majority of migratory labor, should be prepared to host them too. The migrants provide significant labor for construction and other industry which keep the city going and it is important to realize that migrants need to be looked after. I suggest that there should be temporary shelter areas with basic civic amenities like drainage, water, electricity, education, health and transportation. People coming to work can stay there at designated spots on short term lease say 4-5 years. The area could be of 5-10 acres depending upon the size of the city and can be organized by the municipality or NGO. The migrant labor would have no right of inheritance. This way we can have organized and planned slums which are coming up in the cities anyway. Now the gram panchayat can help the migrants in terms of identification and security.

Bipasha Roy, SahbhagiSikshan Kendra, Lucknow Sahbhagi Shikshan Kendra (SSK), a centre for Participatory Learning was established in 1990 at Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) as a non-profit, non-governmental organization. The Kendra's emergence was in response to the developmental scenario of the Hindi-speaking belt of India. It has always strived towards building and strengthening capacities of CSOs through people centric approach in developmental initiatives. Since 2009, in 66 villages and in small urban areas, SSK has been working with the migrants at source (Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh) and destination (Ghaziabad, NCR). I would like to share our experiences while working towards reducing vulnerability of migrant workers. We found that the main issues migrants faced were- high price of ration, ID proof and lack of legal recourse. We set up a Migration Resource Center, where migrants used to visit and shared about their issues and we registered them and provided them some services like- free legal aid and linkage with social security schemes. To involve Gram Panchayats, we used to invite the gram pradhan in our meetings, sensitized them on the issue and also shared with them the consolidated migration data. SSK also worked on capacity building in two areas: provide skill building workshops to enhance their chances of employability and provide awareness on social, economic and legal rights at source and destination. This was also done by strengthening collectives of migrant families which as a pressure group demanded identity proofs and access to goods and services. I would suggest that there should be special attention from PRI to help the migrants in accessing social security benefits, better housing, getting ration at a minimum cost and last but not the least identity proof which is crucial for this special group.

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Ramit Basu, Independent Consultant, New Delhi I would focus on issues which are very important for a migrant labor to have a relatively peaceful life at the workplace. Most migrant laborers carry with them their families but often conditions are not conducive to the survival of women and children. Lack of immunization facilities, supplementary feeding, early schooling, proper healthcare etc. are facilities that cannot be often provided to the women and children at such locations. This makes them more vulnerable than ever. Gram Panchayats can play an important role in two ways. First of all they can or should be empowered to make provisions of ensuring that the family especially with children stays in the village (in case conditions are not conducive for their living at the destination point) wherein the woman is provided some alternate livelihood options while the children are taken care off by the Anganwadis and under the Mid-Day meal at schools. Secondly, if at all the family has to accompany the migrant labour, they should be provided proper documents like a ration card, the mother and children should be adequately immunized, basic literacy to the man and the woman (in case they are illiterate), essential medicines provided before their departure and a register to be maintained indicating such measures - family and individual wise. Gram Panchayats can also levy some minimum fees on the migrant labour (in case he or she is single) to take care of old / physically challenged parents / siblings apart from their entitlements from the Government. The Gram Panchayats can also issue limited railway concessions to migrant laborers (and their families) so as to encourage them to visit their village at their convenience especially during events like immunization, delivery, admission to schools etc. These measures will not only prevent migrant laborers from feeling alienated from their surroundings but will also ensure a safe and dependable environment in case of unforeseen circumstances at the destination. Such pro-active measures by the Gram Panchayat could also lead to an increase in the GP revenue as well as could reduce the pressure on the Urban Local Body of accommodating migrant influx thus adding pressure to the already scarce resources. This will also make the migrant laborer responsible and sensitive towards the issues in the village and pro-actively participate in events like Gram Panchayat elections etc. Hope the above helps.

Vikas Jha, Policy, Institute for Rural Research and Development (IRRAD), Gurgaon, Haryana Rural migrants in India can be divided into two categories: permanent migrants and temporary (seasonal) migrants. While permanent migrants move out with the intention of settling in urban areas but temporary migrants move only for the period of 3-6 months. There is no doubt that temporary migration can, sometimes lead to permanent migration. Both categories of migrants are mostly poorest sections of village who are mostly landless. Permanent migrants may or may not leave their family behind the villages. Temporary migrants are mostly likely to leave family behind as their objective is to earn maximum in three - six months and return. Gram Panchayats should make sure that family members of both kinds of migrants have their ration cards and other documents which helps them in getting benefits of social welfare schemes. Gram Panchayats can also form a committee who ensures that family members of migrant do not face any difficulty in getting entitlements.

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Railway concession to temporary migrant would not be relevant as the person is anyway going to return in short time. Permanent migrants get their ration cards, voter Id etc. made at place of destination and the person is likely to return only during festival time. Gram Panchayats know that how many persons migrate in a particular period but the need is to document it in a panchayat register. This will help Block Offices know the number and pattern of migration and they can give suggestions to district and state level governments to check the migration. State governments on this basis identify pockets of migration in the state and strengthen employment guarantee and other livelihood schemes in the block. The issue is how to make governments, whether state or local become sensitive and pro-active towards migrants, reasons of migration, facilities that can be provided, sensitivity that needs to be maintained. Whether to take the family along or not is a personal decision and Gram Panchayat should not get the right or authority to come between an individual and his/her family. Also, levying of fee on migrant labor is neither desirable nor recommended as they belong to one of the poorest sections. Rather the focus should be on generating enough livelihood opportunities for landless migrants.

Alok Pandey, PRIA, New Delhi There are some very good examples where Panchayati Raj Institutions, in support of civil society organisations had been able to play an important role for the migrants. I am sharing one of the examples where Gramin Vikas Trust (GVT) was supporting some of the Gram Panchayats in Jahbhua district of Madhya Pradesh (during 2000-2002) as a large number of people from Jhabua were used to migrate to Surat (in Gujarat) to earn their livelihood. Gram Panchayats were providing identity cards to the persons who were migrating to protect them from various kinds of harassment. As far as the role of Gram Panchayats in supporting the migrants workers is concerned it could be seen in following ways1. Gram Panchayats (GPs) can issue identity cards and take the responsibility of the individual (native people) who is migrating with support of minimum formalities. For that GPs can take a token amount also. 2. GPs can register the record of migrants and use that data to develop their Labour Plan under NREGS and can plan their activities during the period when migration takes place in a huge number. 3. As suggested by various contributors, GPs can ensure the supply of food grains (through Ration Cards), Education and Medical facilities to the wards, especially to the infants, aged and pregnant members, of migrants and for that also they can charge a token amount. 4. GPs in consultation with the District Magistrate of their area can supply the data related to migration to the Department of Labour (Resident Commissioner in case of people who are migrating to Delhi) so that these agencies can be reached in case of any conflict.

Izharuddin Qureshi, Samarthan - Centre for Development Support, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh One of the recent initiatives of Samarthan concentrates on issues related to rural to urban migration which over three districts in Madhya Pradesh encompassing a complete chain of migration i.e. from 80

source to destination. The initiative strives to provide a consolidated support by linking source with destination. Source districts are Panna and Chhindwara and Destination is Bhopal. Our experience reveals that before we started there was no support available to migrants at the Panchayat level. We observed that after continuous efforts of orientation and sensitization of Panchayat Representatives, migration emerged as an important issue. Out of 40 intervened panchayats, a total of 34 Panchayats are maintaining a register which records all necessary information including name of migrant, number of family members migrating with him/her, duration of migration, destination city, name of labor agent/ contractor with whom they are migrating and permanent address of labor agent/contractor with mobile number etc. So that, in case of any urgency, appropriate actions can be taken. It was seen, especially in Panna district, that cases of missing migrants are very common. Such records would help in tracing them. Samarthan is running migrant resource centers at all three sites. One of the important functions of these centers is to issue Photo ID card to migrants as address proof in which skill of migrant is mentioned and is verified by panchayat. Centers play a role of facilitator in case of any dispute between employer and employee emerges. Free legal services and awareness drives on legal rights are organized for migrant labor. Skills development trainings are organized for youths who are on threshold of migration. Apart from trainings, health camps, financial inclusion services like opening bank account for remittance and registration in insurance policy is also facilitated through these resource centers. Formation of occupation wise collectives of laborers at the destination city i.e. Bhopal are also in process. There are four Rain Basera (night shelters) running in Bhopal. As per the guidelines, there must be one Rain Basera on per one lakh population. Therefore, in Bhopal, at least 18 such shelters should be functional. Rain Baseras are situated in the mid of the city and therefore are not much useful for migrants, as construction sites spread all over the city especially in outer parts of it. These Baseras must be geographically inclusive. Some important legislations: The scheme provisioned under The Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996 provides many benefits to the registered workers, certified for 90 days of work in a year in construction sector. A strong network of brokers are working to divert the benefits provided under this scheme and genuine people i.e. construction labor remain out of the purview of the scheme as they are not able to pay bribe or they do not have proper facilitation process from the government. Bhopal is a popular destination site for most of the labor coming from Chhattisgarh state. It is being observed that about 33 percent migrant laborers come to Bhopal from this source but the enforcement of Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979 is nearly absent. No contractor or employer comply with the provisions of this Act in terms of providing better living conditions and other welfare services mentioned in it. As for as the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 is concerned, the implementation of this is weak in all three district covered under the initiative. Women, usually, get 20-30 rupees less than her male counterpart for the work that she is doing. More often, women get lesser wages than minimum notified wage in the state. Usually tribal migrate with their families and their children do not get benefits of Right to Education Act. Other problems like unavailability of safe drinking water and sanitation facility are very common at construction sites.

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Ajay Kumar, Child Fund India, Patna Issues of migration are inherently linked to larger issues of poverty and vulnerability. However, I believe that migration is a very complex issue. We cannot find solutions in isolation or by confining ourselves to sporadic activities. Therefore, I feel that integrated approach is the ideal way to address the migration issue. In that context, I strongly feel the Gram Panchayat is the appropriate medium for providing the integrated services to people. The design and philosophy of Panchayat are inclusive in nature. Article 243 G of the constitution of India gives all rights to Panchayat for planning and implementing the activities listed on 11th schedule (where we find majority of issues are taken care by Panchayat). Further, the 29 subjects listed in 11th schedule largely focus on capacity building, management of resources and public work related activities. Therefore, we can say that within the framework of Panchayat there is the provision of skill enhancement to rural masses that will also help us to earn the fair wages even in case of migration. To achieve this I believe that there is an urgent need to build the capacity of Panchayat and at the same time we should initiate the dialogues for devolve the 3F i.e. Fund, Function and Functionaries at the Panchayat level. Secondly, if we really wish to build the capacity and given the space in the system then we have to abolish the parallel structure of delivery mechanism and strengthen the Panchayat standing committee to implement and monitor all the programs. This will also help to build the core functioning of Panchayat that will be the core entry point for rendering the services in integrated packages.

Brijendra Singh, Freelance Development Consultant, Gurgaon Gram panchayats role is irrefutable in addressing all aspects related with migration. They can map and monitor migrant families, reduce vulnerabilities of migrant families and workers through access to education, health care, social support schemes, provide platform for discussion on risks, vulnerabilities, rights, services, and work for improved economic avenues at the village level itself. They can provide feedback on gaps, need and future directions. They can also be effective in generating pressure on the system to undertake effective steps in addressing trafficking, gender vulnerabilities, rights for street children. We need to help them develop their own plan of action based on minimum essential components and have a system of an integrated monitoring plan that covers all aspects of their development activities which includes component on migration related activities and outcome.

Santosh Poonia, Aajeevika Bureau, Centre for Migration and Labour Solutions, Udaipur I would like to share some experiences of engagement with migrant workers in Rajasthan and Gujarat and offer some experiences of working with gram panchayats. I am associated with Aajeevika Bureau - a non-governmental organization for providing services, support and security to rural, seasonal migrant workers. Aajeevika Bureau works directly in the source Rajasthan district of Udaipur, Rajsamand and Dungarpur and in Ahmedabad, Surat, Banaskantha and Sabarkantha districts of Gujarat which are major destination areas for migrants from southern Rajasthan.Aajeevika Bureau was established with the idea of transforming labour migration into a more dignified livelihood opportunity for workers and their families. The Bureau runs walk-in resource and information centers Shramik Sahayata Evam Sandarbha Kendra both at the source and at the destination. Through a large network of Shramik Sahayata Evam Sandarbh Kendras (3SKs) AB offers the following services: Registration, photo ID of migrant worker Skill training and placement for youth 82

Legal literacy and aid Financial literacy, inclusion and services Opportunities for collectivisation to migrant workers Linkages with social security schemes

In terms of the involvement of gram panchayat in the migration services the most significant involvement is in the verification of a photo ID card being issued by Aajeevika Bureau to migrant workers. The migrant worker applies for the identity card by filling out a simple registration form that captures all the relevant demographic information of the migrant including the duration of his migration cycle, his destination, trade and income etc. This information is verified by the Sarpanch of the Panchayat thus authorizing an ID card to be issued to the worker. The ID contains a number of relevant details including the workers domicile, occupation, education level and contact details. The ID card issued by Aajeevika Bureau is recognized as a valid identity proof by the Department of Labour and Employment of the Rajasthan State.With the government authorisation, the card has found greater acceptability as a credible proof of identity among employers, police and local administration. In a span of five years, Aajeevika Bureau has been able to register a total of about 80,000 migrants. Large numbers of migrant workers join the informal and unorganized sectors of the economy. Workers are often at the receiving end of malpractices, unfair wage deductions and fraudulence. In order to help workers confront the growing instances of labour market disputes Aajeevika Bureau offers legal education, aid and counseling. The legal aid service includes legal literacy, mediation between parties and litigation assistance in special cases. Aajeevika Bureau organises legal clinics on specific days at the field centres where workers, contractors and employers are invited to settle their long standing disputes. There is also a cadre of community based para-legal workers who engage in workers' education and counselling. A number of labour dispute cases have seen the panchayats get involved in dispute settlement and mediation between migrant workers and their contractor agents or employers. Migrant workers in sectors such as construction, brick kiln work, head-loading, small manufacturing, domestic work and agriculture etc., comprise an overwhelming part of our unorganised and dispersed workforce. They are unable to come together to demand better wages or decent work conditions from their employers or contractors. They are also unable to organise as groups for self-help and solidarity in a volatile labour market. In its work with migrant workers in urban labour markets, Aajeevika Bureau has promoted collectives and unions for mobilising workers. These occupation-based collectives, serve as platforms for migrant workers to come together, find solutions to their common problems and advocate with the government and employers for their rights. Panchayat members from source areas have provided crucial support and help to Aajeevika Bureau in the mobilization of workers. Their familiarity and empathy with residents of their panchayats who are at work in cities has proved to be an important stimulation for workers to gather. Social security linkage for migrant workers is another area of partnership with Panchaysts. We regularly conduct camps for enrollment of migrant workers in construction welfare board schemes, pension and insurance programmes. Similarly there are a number of social welfare schemes implemented by panchayats with which we aim for linkages of migrant workers. On account of the migration data weve collected and shared at the panchayat level there is much greater awareness among local representatives about the status of migrants workers from their region. Before such formal data was collected and presented the panchayats did not really acknowledge the extent of out-migration from their area. In our experience the gram panchayat is a stakeholder in providing support to migrant workers but it is not a very influential one. Except MNREGA it does not really have specific programmes to support 83

those affected by distress migration. It does not have the jurisdiction or systems to regulate or document outflow of workers from their areas. Also the panchayt does not have legal authority to bring to task offending local contractors or labour agents who round up migrant workers and put them to work in harsh, under-paid conditions. The problems of migrant workers are more powerfully related to conditions of work, access to essential services and entitlements at destinations and highly unorganized and adverse labour markets. Over all these the gram panchayat has little control or influence. The primary beneficiary of the cheap labour provided by migrant workers is industry and business the relevant question to ask therefore is how they are contributing to the social welfare and protection of migrant workers, rather than put the focus on under-resourced and relatively powerless panchayats.

Dhirendra Krishna, IA&AS (Retired), New Delhi Basic issue is whether migration is a positive feature to be encouraged by deliberate policies of the Government or not. In my opinion, international migration is definitely a positive feature with several advantages: (i) Remittances from NRIs, (ii) Jobs for employable youth and (ii) Deriving advantages of demographic dividend and large educated human power in India. Policy directions to encourage international migration should include assessment of requirement in US, Europe, Australia, Canada etc. and training inputs to enable our youth to fill those gaps. If GOI or the State Governments have proactive approach to promote international migration, I am not aware of it. Migration within India is to human power-deficit States from areas where there is surplus human power that cannot find gainful employment locally. Constitution of India provides complete flexibility: issue to be considered is whether there should pro-active stance by State Governments with surplus human power. Whether the Government encourages it or not? Inter-state migration would happen, due to economic factors, despite neutral stance of State Governments. Next issue is whether PRIs should have a pro-active stance to promote international and inter-state migration? It is in public interest to promote both kind of migration. It is also in the local interest of effected persons and their family to promote migration. The country side in Kerala would not have developed, had it not been for the history of migration, fueled by higher level of education and "exportable" skilled human power. Migration of unskilled labor to Punjab from UP/ Bihar/ etc. is at a large scale, due to shortage of human power in Punjab, arising from international migration from Punjab.

Harshita Bhatnagar, Ministry of Oversees Indian Affairs, New Delhi MoPR (Ministry of Panchayati Raj) deals with all matters related to decentralized governance structure in India - the PRIs (Panchayati Raj Institution). As far as I know, District/Block/Village Panchayats do not have much role in migration related issues. MGNREGS was formulated to arrest the migration. MGNREGS is a scheme of Ministry of Rural Development, however it is being implemented through MoPR/PRI functionaries. In GoI, for labor migration related issues, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) regulates the international migration through its 10 offices known as Protector of Emigrants (PoEs) spread across India. All PoEs have statutory powers. Any disputes/policy matters are handled by Protector General of Emigrants (PGoE), MOIA, GoI. PGoE is fairly senior GoI post.

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MOIA grants emigration clearance (EC) to those labors/workers who go for employment (employment visa only) on ECR passport to notified countries (currently 17, mostly in gulf except Egypt, Yemen, Jordan etc.) However, for internal (across states) migration, there are not concrete policies. May be State Department of Labour or Ministry of Labour and Employment, GoI have some data on internal migration of labourers/workers. Please note that views expressed are solely my personal views and should not be taken otherwise.

Maya Ratnam, Ph.D Candidate, Department of Anthropology, The Johns Hopkins University, USA In July 2010, an MOU was signed between the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the National Coalition of Organisations for Security of Migrant Workers authorized by Aajeevika Bureau representative of a Working Group (including 20 CSOs across the country working on migrant issues). UIDAI is mandated to take special measures to ensure that AADHAAR is made available to poor and marginalized persons, including street/orphaned children, widows and other disadvantaged women, migrant workers, the homeless, senior citizens, nomadic communities, tribals and the differently abled. AADHAAR is further intended to enhance access of marginalized communities to various government schemes and banking and other financial services. To tackle the identity proof issues the MOU talks of eligible CSO leaders and staff working with migrant communities as 'Introducers' for those without Proof of Address or Proof of Identity. The MOU is available at http://uidai.gov.in/UID_PDF/Front_Page_Articles/MOU/CSO/MoU_UIDAI_Coalition_of_Migrant_Workers_NGOs.pdf (PDF; size 3.28MB)

J.C. Sharma, Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh The challenge is that Panchayats themselves do not have rights and authority. In Himachal Pradesh, for workers coming from outside, Panchayats have to maintain their records and the District Administration is responsible to arrange for minimum living conditions. But we can see that both district and state administration are not being able to deliver basic services like housing, health, sanitation, education to the migrant clusters. With available jurisdiction, resources and administrative back up, there is such a lack in service provisioning. Thus, we need to see how we can make existing systems work before we create new roles for the Panchayats.

R.S. Shrivastava, Retired (Additional Director), Tribal and Scheduled Caste Welfare Department, Madhya Pradesh I have observed that the Bhils of Jhabua and the Gonds from Balaghat migrate to cities on temporary basis in search of employment. This is during the time,tribals are free from cultivation of their fields. Besides shelter in the cities, it is their children whose education suffers as school calendars do not coincide with the cropping season and related migration pattern. Arrangements need to be made in cities for educating the children of such migrant workers especially the girls. If organizations which have contributed to this query and otherwise could look at these issues then it will be of great help for migrating tribals. Wishing you all the best! 85

Anjali Borhade, Disha Foundation, Maharashtra (response 1) Disha Foundation is working to ensure Safe Labour Migration in Nashik region since December 2002. Issues that we address include: Identity, Education, Livelihood skill building and job linkages, Improving living conditions and access to public services. Facilitation for positive migration through Migration Information and Resource Centers (MIRC) is core of all activities of Disha at Nasik city (as destination) and 6 panchayats of Peth and Trymbak blocks of Nasik district (source). Disha has identified and trained the local leaders within migrant communities from different labour markets at destination as well from source villages. 300 of these leaders can handle the grievances, demand and facilitate other migrants access to public services at source and destination level. This process seems to be very effective among migrant community, as these leaders are working towards taking up their issues and rights on behalf of their community. If these leaders number multiplies, it will definitely help to sustain the project for long term. Hence the migrants leadership development is an important agenda in next few years. We also conduct two fold skill building Program: first to upgrade the existing skill and second to provide training on new areas based on the interest of migrants. Disha has initiated trade union of migrants (working in all kinds of sector) in 2004 at Nasik city, as its the only official platform available for migrants then and now. Disha could enroll around 15,000 migrants in the union, who are provided with official membership and photo identity card of the union. The total cost is Rs 10 for life membership.

MIRC set up in 6 panchayats, Gram panchayats are playing crucial role in facilitation like: Providing space free of cost in their premise for MIRC Maintaining migration record which is powerful step to create evidence base of the migration flow from these villages. This data would be utilized for management of various government programs at source level mainly by Tribal department. Support in pre departure training to migrants before the migration. Authorizing trade Union card has been authorized by the gram panchayats, which is of immense value to migrants at destinations. The identity card has proved very important document for migrants against police harassment, wages exploitation, and identity in general for accessing public services in the Nasik city. Some migrants were able to vote with the union card in absence of any other photo id at one of our source village Kharwal in Peth block. Generating demand for livelihood skill building for migrants, and further building linkages to jobs with local contractors. Working with Migrant Labour Grievance cell, which is jointly set up by Labour Department and Disha Foundation to handle issues like wage rates and exploitation at workplace. These panchayats have made contractors accountable for paying minimum wages and avoid wages exploitation and harassment at workplace. Few panchayats have banned few contractors in their villages who had wages exploitation cases against them. Looking at those promising results, there is growing demand from other panchayats to start the MIRCs at their villages, mainly in Trymbak and Peth block which are high migration corridors to Nasik and Gujarat. It can be summarized that panchayts can play very significant role in addressing or managing migration at source level. I would like to share that National Coalition for Security of Migrant Workers (NACSOM) is a network of organizations working on issues related to internal labour migration and urban poverty in India. The 86

Coalition represents 30 plus organizations spread across states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat. The Coalition has been working to mainstream concerns of migrant workers at the state and national level and make the existing policies sensitive to the rising incidence and complexity of rural to urban and inter-state migration NACSOM has signed an MOU with UIDAI for inclusion of migrants, mainly to address the identified concerns among migrant community for access to key public services such as financial, mobile purchase, health and others. As a part of MOU, Disha Foundation, convener organization of NACSOM has piloted the enrollment of 100 migrants in Nasik, but even after getting UID cards migrants are not able to use UID card as KYC for financial inclusion, and mobile purchase as assured by UIDAI. Hence these ID cards are of not much beneficial to migrants to access public services during their migration period. NACSOM has conveyed this information to UIDAI. The further enrollments of other migrants by coalition would be entirely depending upon the UIDAIs further response.

P.J Lolichen, UNICEF, Gujarat Inter-state and intra-state migration of labour force, especially seasonal, is a major issue for the state of Gujarat. This occurs particularly during cotton spraying, pollination and picking season, and during other agricultural activities, for working in salt pans and for fishing. Inter-state migration to Gujarat is mostly from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The migration of families is along with children of all ages, and it affects adversely all aspects children's growth and development. Children not only are denied of basic rights, but are also engaged in labour, in certain instances, bonded along with the family. UNICEF Gujarat has been grappling with this issue, and we have not been able to develop any sustainable strategies that could address this issue. Child Protection Committees at the village level, composed of key community members, with 2 child members, have been set up and they have been addressing protection rights of children at the village level to an extent. School Management Committees have been strengthened to ensure all children, including migrant children, have been enrolled in school. However, these efforts have been partial and at micro-level.UNICEF Gujarat is open to learn from the experiences of organizations and institutions on addressing migration woes, particularly through the system, including the PRIs.

Sudarsan Das, Human Development Foundation, Bhubaneswar, Odisha The issue of migration vis-a-vis the role of Panchayat needs to be looked at from a broader perspective. Addressing the issue of migration in a Gram Panchayat cannot be taken up in isolation, meaning, without looking at over all development interventions in the GP. With the available resources with the GPs, we need to take care of the effective implementation of various developmental schemes/programmes of the Govt which ultimately can address the issues under discussion. In that respect Human Development Foundation (HDF) Bhubaneswar, Odisha has taken up a small initiative of developing model panchayat in one of the remote panchayats of Tribal dominated district of Mayurbhanj, Odisha. You may be interested to know the approach with which we have started the initiative. 87

Developing Gadighati as a Model Panchayat: Self-reliant, Self-sufficient and Sustainable Backdrop Unless the community plans for their development, implements the plan with full involvement and monitors the execution of the plan against the desired outcomes, no real development of the people can take place. It was expected, Panchayat as the lowest level of administrative and governance unit in our democratic polity would ensure the above. But down the years, it did not happen as it was envisaged. Needless to mention, the Panchayats, as a democratic institution is yet to mature itself to the level where self governance really takes place or planning, implementation and monitoring of developmental projects/schemes are truly done by the people. We have been advocating for the bottom up approach in planning and development but in reality it hardly happens and Panchayats have been reduced to an administrative structure to implement the top-down decisions. The intensity of involvement of the people in the election process to Panchayats also vanishes when it comes to management and governance of the Panchayat. Community as a whole hardly get involved truly in planning, implementation and monitoring of the programmes under it. They see themselves as beneficiaries of the PRI system only but not the masters. Can we reverse the situation? Can we make self governance a reality at Panchayats where people behave like masters not the beneficiaries? Can we really develop people's plan for their development taking village and Panchayat as unit? Can we create a condition where people get involved really in executing the plans? Can we develop a mechanism where people themselves will monitor the execution of the plan and periodically review the outcomes? The present initiative to develop Gadighati GP under Rasgovindpur Block of Mayurbhanj District as a Model Panchayat is an experiment to find the answers and solutions to the above questions. It is expected that the result out of the experiment will be replicated in other panchayats of the state. In this initiative Human Development Foundation (HDF) will provide the technical support while UNNAYAN, a CBO working there for last 10 years will provide the role of a facilitator. The elected representatives and the people are the owner of the initiative and HDF and UNNAYAN will be catalyst in the process. Declaration The people of Gadighati Panchayat declared on the day of March 10th 2012 that they would together build Gadighati GP as a model and ideal Panchayat in the state of Odisha. Where, the people will plan, implement and monitor the developmental schemes coming under the purview of the Panchayati Raj system as per the prescribed norms and guidelines. We, solemnly resolve that we will work towards inclusive development of the Gram Panchayat where all the MDG Goals are achieved within stipulated time period and where, the people will have the total ownership of the initiatives and ensure their full involvement in translating their dreams of model panchayat into reality- this was the oath they had taken in a mass function. Defining Model Panchayat: 1. Social Security-All the old men and women below poverty line and persons with physically challenged living in Gadighati Panchayat will be covered under Old Age pension/ Physically challenged pension scheme as per the Government norms within one year of assuming office by the new office bearers. A geriatric care centre will be formed to take care the varying needs of the aged people. The Panchayat will be hunger free and not a single person will be allowed to die with hunger which refers to not only lack of food (three meals a day) but it also includes malnutrition among the new-born babies, adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women. The 88

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Anganwadies in each ward will be strengthened and the nutritional status will be monitored meticulously. Education- The Gram Panchayat will be declared as literate Panchayat and not a single person will remain as illiterate within 1 year. All children will complete 8th class in schools and there will be no drop out before 8th standard. The schools will be developed as centre for joyful learning and have all such facilities and activities as per the RTE guidelines. The school management committees will be strengthened to plan and implement the programmes pertaining to the development of education and schools of the GP. There will be annual education development plan to be prepared by the Gram Sabha for the GP and all the activities will be carried out as per the plan. Panchayat will have a library within 1 year for general public. To facilitate the children in education and involve in socio - cultural activities an organization structure will be formed outside the school limits but within the village like BalaSabha / Bala Parliament. This will enable the children to articulate and empower on Child Rights. Health- There will be 100% immunisation and institutional delivery in the GP and health of mother and children will be given priority. All the health facilities and service providers will be strengthened and motivated to ensure timely delivery of services for the good health of the people. The GaonKalayanSamitis (GKS) will be strengthened to take care of the activities as per the GKS guidelines. The GKS and the GP will also undertake periodical monitoring of the implementation of various schemes and programmes under H& FW. Within 5 years the GP will have a PHC and till the time GP has its own PHC, regular health camps will be organised and for referral cases ambulance facility will be provided in the GP. All BPL Families will be covered under Universal Health Insurance scheme with cashless facility. Water and Sanitation-Each house-hold of the GP must have access to safe drinking water within close vicinity of the habitation. Each of the HH of the GP will be having a latrine/toilet within 2 years and at least 90% of the population will use it rather than go for open defecation. All toilets in the schools will be operational and all the school children would be oriented for hand washing. A Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) will be launched in the GP to make the people aware of water-borne diseases and change their behaviour and attitude. Livelihood & Local Economic Development: There will be micro level plan taking each household as unit and all the HHs in the GP will be provided with livelihood opportunity either in farm or non-farm sector. The average income of the HH of the GP will be increased by 30% within 5 years of time. The micro-plan for livelihood for each family will be done within 6 months and focus will be given to BPL families, to ensure that 50% of them go above poverty line within 3 years. Agriculture-Agriculture being the major source of livelihood of the GP, there will be planning for optimal use of land within the GP. Not a single patch of land will be left fallow. Irrigation to all land in the GP will be provided within 5 years time. Appropriate technology, improved cropping methods, credit linkages, value addition to the agricultural produces etc will be taken up through promotion of farmers clubs in each village which will do micro-planning and execute the plans. Other allied activities such as dairy farming, goat rearing, fishery, broiler farming, mushroom cultivations, horticulture etc. will be undertaken as part of livelihood opportunities. A producer cooperative will be set up for providing backward and forward linkages in each village and networked into a producer company with the participation of all stake holders. Women Empowerment- All the women in the GP will be organised under SHGs or Mahila Mandals. The existing SHGs will be strengthened and new SHGs will be formed to cover all the women folk of the GP. The SHGs will be provided adequate training and exposure in the field of livelihood, health, education, and at least 60% of them must be capacitated to get involved in all the decision making and implementation processes of developmental activities of the GP. Mahila Santi Sena (Women Peace Corps) will be formed in each village to maintain peace in the village and prevent violence against women. The SHGs will be federated at Panchayat level to 89

ensure sustainability of the SHG Movement. Later the Panchayat level Federation will take over the role of a micro finance institution (MFI) to cater the varying financial needs of the SHGs. 8. Micro enterprise development: As a measure to reduce poverty and empower women a series of viable micro enterprises will be created as income generation activity. The SHG members will be provided General Orientation Training (GOT), EDP, Skill Development Training (SDT) etc. for setting up of enterprises. 9. Market for Rural Products: The Village market will be developed with modern facilities to sell the products of farmers and SHGs. The village market will be transformed in to a rural haat so that people from outside village are also attracted to procure quality products. 10. Youth Empowerment- 60% of the youth of the GP will be skilled in any of the skills required for maintaining livelihood with dignity within 5 years. Youth clubs will be promoted in each village and regular sports and games will be undertaken besides annual sports for all the youth of the GP. Programmes for exposing their creative ideas will be taken up in regular intervals. Kisohre and Kishori clubs will also be promoted for the adolescent boys and girls who will be oriented towards life-skill education. 11. Social Justice- Irrespective of caste, class, creed the GP will ensure justice to all. The GP will have a Naya Panchayat to settle disputes, misunderstandings, conflicts among the villagers and there would be no need of police to be called for unless there is some kind of heinous crimes committed in the GP . 12. Environment- The GP will have an environment friendly habitation. All the roads of the GP and fallow land of the people/Govt will be filled with plantation. The natural resources of the GP like water, soil etc are to be protected for sustainable use. The use of plastic will be controlled and polythene bags less than 40 microns will be banned in the GP. To make the ban sustainable alternate products like cloth bags, paper bags etc. will be promoted through micro-enterprise activity. 13. Financial Inclusion- There will be no family in the GP who will not be having bank account in any bank either rural, commercial or cooperative bank within one year. All payments/transactions to the people under any scheme/programme will be made through the bank accounts. Credit linkages to 70% of the families will be established within 5 years. 14. Resources- To undertake the above programmes and activities the funds available with the Panchayat may not be adequate and hence resource mobilisation drive would be taken up by a committee which will mobilise resources both in cash or kind from different sources including individual donation, grants from Govt. and Non-Govt. organisation and other donors.

Abani Mohan Panigrahi, Member Secretary, Lokadrusti, Odisha Lokadrusti is working with children of migrant parents from 2004 till date and restrained the children (age group 6 to 14) from migration and help them to continue in the village school. This year we have requested the education department Govt. of Odisha to adopt our intervention model in migration prone districts of western Odisha by involving school management committee and respective Gram Panchayat. In this regard we have share our experience with OPEPA Govt. of Odisha in their workshop. The school development plan to be made with the active participation of SMC and other stake holder and address the problem. The attached document will show the way to address the problems of migration of children. ftp://ftp.solutionexchange.net.in/public/decn/cr/res-221-01072012.pdf 90

Anjali Borhade, Disha Foundation, Maharashtra (response 2) The National Coalition for Security of Migrant Workers (NACSOM) is a collective forum of organisations working to support migrant workers and advocate for their services and entitlements in India. The coalition is formed of nearly 30 organisations across the country mostly grassroots organisations from of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat who have direct work with migrant workers. It aims to highlight gaps in the policies for migrants and also work collectively to respond to their unique and complex demands. NAC-SOM hopes to become a powerful platform on issues of internal migration, migrants inclusion in urban governance and policies. Enthused by the promise of a nationally credible identity for migrant workers, the NAC-SOM signed a two year MOU with UIDAI in June 2010 for widening the spread of Aadhaar among migrant groups. This MOU created a broad framework for collaboration between NGOs working with migrant workers and the UIDAI. On the part of the NGOs with NAC-SOM the hope was that Aadhaar will become a gateway to services for migrants especially those services that are denied to them because of their mobility. This includes entitlements such as a bank account at the point of their work or access to portable PDS or universal health coverage etc. In order to test whether Aadhaar is actually able to link migrants to services, Disha Foundation in Nasik undertook a small pilot. Disha Foundation is the convenor organisation of NAC-SOM and in some ways its experience was to be seen as a learning ground for other members of NAC-SOM at large. In 2011 Disha Foundation enrolled about 100 migrant workers in Nasik in Aadhaar. Once this enrolment was completed Disha helped the migrants apply for a bank account in State Bank of India, and Maharashtra Bank. However the applications of the migrants quoting the Aadhaar number were categorically rejected and bank accounts could not be opened. Disha attempted to argue on behalf of the migrant applicants but the bank branches where adamant that Aadhaar was not a suitable KYC. This became a contentious point between Disha and the local banks but the banks argued that they have not instructions to use Aadhaar as a KYC document. Finally the applications became invalid and were withdrawn by Disha. Local leaders among migrnat community informed Disha about it. NAC-SOMs association with UIDAI created a high level of hope and expectation. However the UIDAI promise is yet to be kept on Aadhar turning into a foolproof method of accessing services for migrants. The MOU with UIDAI has now concluded but NAC-SOM is hopeful that Aadhaar will deliver on the high hope for migrant workers it has also communicated the results of this small pilot to the UIDAI and there is as yet uncertain assurance of how these problems can be overcome. The involvement and authority of NAC-SOM in the roll out of services for migrants needs to be an important one, otherwise the interest among constituent teams will slowly fade away.

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