New path for migrant labourers to tread

In perspective

The fear of the Covid-19 has frozen economic activities in urban India. Nearly 80 million migrant workers who were engaged in factories, construction companies, retail outlets, entertainment industries, malls, hotels and restaurants etc lost hope, income, and shelter.

Government support, community kitchens, and voluntary agencies’ efforts have failed to stop the exodus. As the death toll is increasing in every passing day, it is difficult to forecast when the economy will restart; the migrant workers may continue to return home in large number despite the risk.

Before the virus outbreak, urban centres gave them a regular income. Raju, a plumber from Odisha, used to get salary of Rs 12,000 per month from a housing society in Hyderabad. “I can’t earn even Rs 3,000 per month in Odisha,” he says.

Carpenters, painters, electricians, marble cutters and tile fitters earn minimum Rs 1,000 per day in Hyderabad. Pramod, a carpenter from Gorakhpur, works for a petty contractor in Hyderabad and earns Rs 22,000 per month. “I won’t get Rs 8,000 in Gorakhpur,” he laments.

Skilled workers in Hyderabad happily earn Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per month which they cannot earn in small towns and villages. A large number of migrants from UP, Bihar, North East and Odisha used to run eatable shops, drive autorickshaws, work in malls, factories and serve as security guards in Mumbai. Except for good housing facility, Mumbai gave them income and hope to sustain their families 2,000 km away. Sustainable income opportunities bring migrants to cities.

It is estimated that the net migrant flows at the all-India level have averaged close to nine million annually between 2011-12 and 2016-17. A report by Working Group on Migration has identified 54 districts that account for half the male inter-state out-migration in the country. The entry of nine to 10 million people in the urban centres every year not only crumbles urban infrastructure but creates an acute shortage of farm labour. The corona outbreak may reduce the rate of migration.

The unorganised sector, transparent supply chain, good governance and the corona package may help migrants settle down in villages. Around 400 years ago, a group of artisans migrated from Rajasthan to Nirmal of Adilabad to make paintings and carve on woods for local nobles. Today, nearly 50 artisans struggle to keep the famous craft tradition survive.

Though the artisans add high value to their products, they don’t get the share of the profit margin they always deserve. They cannot start their business because they don’t get the raw material, the poniki wood freely. Like the artisans of Nirmal, thousands of weavers in the Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha work for traders and middlemen for a daily wage varying from Rs 100 to Rs 500 per day.

A horn artisan of Cuttack can convert an ordinary horn piece worth Rs 20 into an amazing piece of art which can fetch Rs 3,000 in the craft bazaar. Over a decade, those artisans have left their profession due to low wages and social apathy. The artisans of Ramadugu village of Telangana make stone idols of gods and goddesses which are sold in the Indian and foreign markets. Today hardly 60 artisans are left to work for idol traders on a daily wage basis.

Hapless weavers

A handful of Paithani saree weaver of Aurangabad can still make a saree which will fetch more than Rs 1 lakh in the market. Traders and middlemen exploited those hapless weavers to their bones. The famous Bidri craft of Bidar has met a similar fate as senior artisans never knew the actual profit margin.

Some of the chikankari artisans of Lucknow are pulling rickshaws as the chikankari artisans have never received the profit margin they deserve nor have they got any social recognition. Many of the complicated chikankari stitcheries have almost disappeared. How to preserve the original skill and artistry is the biggest challenge before the states.

Every district has exclusive products which do not find a place in the domestic supply chain. Locally made rasgolla of Cuttack district is tastier than the sweet sold under some well-known brand names.

The famous kheera, rabidi, khaja, malpua and rasabali of Puri, specially made small vada, piaji and chenapoda of Cuttack, the puranpali and wakarwadi of Maharashtra have not established their place in the domestic supply chain. Parwal or pointed gourd of Odisha has high demand in all big cities. But, it is not found in many of the malls in big cities.

There are hundreds of vegetables, food grains, herbs, shrubs and biodegradable handicrafts which do not reach the supply chain. Monopoly, corruption, mismanagement, lack of quick transportation facility, illiteracy among original producers and lack of market research block many local products.

Barring a few eatables like dosa, vada and idli, a large number of delicious native foods of different regions have not reached the food plates. The unorganised sector contributes more than 50% to the GDP. This is high time to handhold the unorganised sector which will create jobs in small towns and villages to absorb the migrant labourers.