Policy exemption under labor law limits effectiveness of post-Covid-19 migrant worker initiatives A closer look at some governments’ post-pandemic immigration policies reveals that key structural exclusions in the Labor Code, One Country, One Rationing Card (ONORC) and the PMAY system threaten serious exclusion became.
January 9, 2023 | Legal Researcher
Given concerns about the resurgence of Covid-19 in China and a repeat of the situation faced in 2020, it is important to understand what legal elements India needs to deal with pandemic-related changes. becomes important.
Migrant workers are a critical factor in India’s transition from being dependent on agriculture to being dependent on the manufacturing and services sectors. Whether this transition is sustainable and viable is the subject of another debate. However, in countries with large populations, labor migration is a byproduct of development modes that are necessarily chosen and facilitated without due deliberation. life. Of course, this development itself is skewed, unsustainable in terms of the environment and climate change, and therefore often not holistically, and disproportionately concentrated geographically and sectorally, of course in other ways. It’s a discussion.
India experienced one of the worst migrant worker crises during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown. Migrant workers from different parts of the country were abandoned by the government and simply could not find the means to move to their hometowns or villages. They were forced to walk hundreds and thousands of miles (kilometers) to their homes by state agents who seemed indifferent and paralyzed. Since then, various programs have been launched by the government to address the concerns of migrant workers. The results of implementing these schemes are not yet known, but this article provides a brief overview of these recent policies aimed at protecting migrant workers. The scope of this article is limited to the themes of health, housing and food security for migrant workers.
new labor law
Before going into the above scheme, it is important to note that the new Labor Law passed by the Center has had a significant negative impact on the rights and livelihoods of migrant workers. The 2020 Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code specifically (and arguably) excludes obligations for establishments employing fewer than 10 employees. According to the Sixth Economic Census of 2013-2014, 70% of establishments in the country employ less than six of his employees, and the majority of establishments are intentionally excluded from the law. , thereby deprived from the outset of all the protection provided for by law. action. In addition to this structural exclusion, an E-shram portal launched by the government aims to record data on unorganized workers, including migrant workers, construction workers. With this measure, the government hopes to provide migrant workers with the necessary data to make ready whenever necessary for the purpose of providing assistance, assistance and protection.
food security
One Nation One Ration Card
The government had launched this scheme even before the pandemic to extend the public distribution system to unorganized workers in various cities. The scheme allows workers, especially immigrant beneficiaries, to purchase food grains in whole or in part from domestic Fair Price Stores (FPS) via existing ration cards combined with biometric/adhaar authentication in a seamless manner. can be claimed. The system also allows you to claim leftover food grains on the same ration card if you have family members at home. ONORC implementation started in August 2019.
A prima facie concern about this scheme, which has been publicly expressed, is that the digitization of records means excluding those who do not have the respective digitization i.e. Aadhar cards and smartphones. . Therefore, this scheme is initially exclusive. A study found that transactions in another city or state were rejected four times (multiple times) he than at a registered center. [1]
Recent research also found that not all grocery stores are equally attractive (or accessible) to migrant workers. Only 8% of fair-priced shops did 80% of transactions involving interstate immigrants. This distorted reality is almost nonexistent in trading in Delhi.[2]
health
In the health sector, the Interstate Migrant Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 1979 allows contractors employing interstate workers to provide workers with prescribed medical facilities free of charge. Obliged. But leaving the entire health of migrant workers across states to contractors is a very precarious paradigm.
This was before the controversial Occupational Safety, Health and Conditions of Work Act 2020 was enacted, stating that health and working conditions in the workplace, i.e. maintaining working conditions and protecting the health of workers. responsibility is vested mostly or wholly with the contractor. Or a major employer, another relatively volatile assumption or paradigm.[3] Various disparities exist in both health and economics, and migrant workers experience financial stress to cover the cost of medical burdens. Access to health insurance increases access to health care and reduces financial stress, but the coverage of the insurance scheme is very narrow.[4] A legal system that imposes responsibility on one agency or body so that access to healthcare can be streamlined is unrealistic. The state’s basic responsibility in this critical area is conveniently sidelined.
The importance of infrastructure to migrants is also not recognized, as some jobs take them to new places in foreign lands. For example, there have been studies warning of the lack of infrastructure for defecation and the consequent open defecation leading to unsanitary living conditions and illness. [5]
housing
A survey of various construction workers living in Ahmedabad and on site found no place for decent living and sanitation, drinking water or other sources of water. Open defecation was also found to be present and prevalent on site.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PM-AY) has been promoted as India’s ‘largest’ housing policy initiative, with the goal of providing 20 million affordable housing in both urban and rural areas. is. Under this scheme, government-funded housing in the city has been converted into affordable rental housing complexes (ARHCs) in his PPP mode through a concessionaire. This is also the first scheme in which segregation (as different classes of the population) has taken place between urban poor and migrant workers.
The Affordable Residential Rental Complex (AHRC) scheme recognizes the needs of migrant workers who spend short periods in the city and do not seek permanent housing.
model 1 The scheme, which relies on retrofitting vacant public housing, will arguably add just 88,236 units of rental supply nationwide. Demand for affordable and safe rental housing could be in the hundreds of thousands in each of the country’s largest cities. To meet this, ARHC needs to expand its range significantly. The provision of public land and financial incentives may entice developers to sign up for Model 2, a scheme that is currently not at all attractive to the private sector. Another way to expand the reach of ARHC is to involve small housing entrepreneurs who currently supply informal rental housing through ownership formalization, financing assistance and technical assistance programs. That’s it.[6]
Conclusion
Because migrant workers do not form the electorate, they are often overlooked by state governments, making it difficult to implement policies for migrant workers. Therefore, first of all, it is important to coordinate between state and central governments regarding the implementation of any scheme.
The over-emphasis on digitization to enable scheme utilization is particularly exclusive in the current scenario.
Related
Immigration Diary: Tink Shake
Immigration Diaries: Dilip Rana
Migrant Diaries: Mohammed Jamaluddin
Immigration Diaries: Sagar Ali
[1]Derek Xavier Addresses Gap in One Nation One Ration Card Scheme
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/developing-contemporary-india/addressing-the-gaps-of-the-one-nation-one-ration-card-scheme179075/
[2] Sartak Agrawal, Archana Agnihotri
Food Security of Interstate Migrants – An Empirical Analysis of ONORC, Vol. 57, No. 51, December 17, 2022
[3] Section 60, Interstate Migrant Workers, Work Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.
[4]Bhoi SR, Joshi SH, Joshi A (31 October 2022) Out-of-pocket health care costs among migrant workers in India: a narrative review. Cyreus 14(10): e30948. doi:10.7759/cureus.30948
[5] Divya Balan, Health and Safety of Interstate Migrant Workers in India During Covid-19: Deficiencies in Labor Laws
https://grfdt.com/PublicationDetails.aspx?Type=Articles&TabId=10129
[6] Mukta Naik, a housing rental program for migrant workers in India, needs more nuance and ambition. ambition/
