Migrant workers returning, Part 2.0

Excellent study material for all civil services aspirants - begin learning - Kar ke dikhayenge!

  Migrant workers returning, Part 2.0

---

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

---

1. Nightmare 2020, repeating 2021: Hundreds of migrant workers are fleeing Indian cities as new restrictions in some states to contain the pandemic have stoked fears that they will be left jobless again. While the reverse migration from cities and industrial centres is still a trickle, companies fear another mass exodus, like the one in 2020, will trigger a shortage of workers at factories and derail their revival. 
2. Visibly shaken: Migrant workers in several states, including Maharashtra, were seen waiting to board buses and trains bound for their homes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, as their source of income dried up because of covid-related curbs. The Central Railway announced special trains from Mumbai to Gorakhpur, Patna, Darbhanga and Pune to Danapur, indicating that there is a surge in demand.
3. Fear: Automobile manufacturers and component suppliers around Pune are worried that fresh lockdowns in the state may prompt an exodus of workers. In March 2020, millions of Indians returned to their villages, many of them making the journey on foot, as businesses abruptly shut because of the nationwide lockdown, leaving them without money and shelter. Dozens of them lost their lives as they walked hundreds of miles home as buses and trains stopped plying during the lockdown. The bitter experience of the lockdown may have prompted some of the workers this year to go home before any restrictions on travel are imposed.
4. Textiles: Manufacturers in the textiles hub of Tirupur said that they are seeing some reverse migration because of the fear of lockdowns. This, they said, may turn into an exodus if steps to assure them are not taken. Experts said a second reverse migration would result in surplus labour in rural areas and scarcity in urban and industrial centres. That could depress demand, push more people into poverty and increase unemployment.
5. What they say: Automakers said that at the moment, no one was talking about production cuts, but we have to keep the migrant workers together. Without them, we cannot run factories at full capacity. In the next few months, we were expecting to run our factories at 100% capacity. Migrant workers play a key role in manufacturing belts and are a driver of the informal economy in cities.
6. Never returned: Around 40% of the labourers who had left last year have not returned. The second wave will hit production due to labour shortage as there is fear among workers and an urge to go back has escalated in the past few days.
7. Summary: It is clear that despite the horrendous experience of 2020, where crores of workers returned home in the worst imaginable conditions, no plan was made for a redux of those circumstances. There is no govt. scheme to offer temporary cash support and rations, to hold workers back. Hence, the year 2021 may again see reverse-migration-induced problems all over again. Covid's second wave isn't abating anytime soon.

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

Join UPSC Self Prep course | Online Course (PT Gurukul)  | Covid Special Course | Join PT courses

* Content sourced from free internet sources (publications, PIB site, international sites, etc.). Take your own subscriptions. Copyrights acknowledged.