By Dr. S. Saraswathi
Hundreds of workers who had gone to Kashmir in search of employment are reported to be fleeing the region to the nearest safest State gripped by a fear after reports spread far and wide of non-locals being attacked to be driven out of Kashmir. Targeted killing of workers from Bihar has become a big threat to all migrant workers, who as a category has hardly recovered from the pangs of Covid-19 exodus. This is as serious as an attack on Kashmiri Pandits to evict them permanently from their home State. Both seem to bea ethnic-religious cleansing operation in pursuit of an imaginary goal of making and keeping Kashmir for Kashmiris — another imaginary demographic group.
Rough estimates put the number of seasonal migrant labourers in Kashmir as 3 to 4 lakh, comprising mostly Hindus from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.There is certainly a historical background for what is happening in Kashmir which has to be dealt with as a State-specific issue.But, attack on migrant workers draws our attention to the plight of such workers elsewhere in India and the growing unhealthy trend of parochial outlook submerging our national spirit in many places.
Distinction as insider-outsider, or locals and migrants has caught hold of several political parties and pressure groups and is voiced loudly and sought to be justified as part of social justice. The insider/local is here portrayed as the victim or the deprived and the outsider/migrant the exploiter and villain.
A migrant is a person who either migrates within the home country or outside to pursue work. He or she usually has no intention to stay permanently in the country or region where he/she works. Migrants are welcomed in the beginning as they bring knowledge, skills, and efficiency, and also motivation and energy which are lacking or inadequate among locals.Problems start when local people begin to realise that they are deprived of chances of getting employment because of these “outside” workers.Whether or not they acquire merit and skills necessary, they begin to dislike“outsiders” as an unwanted lot.
It is universally true that as long as the services of foreign workers are needed in a country, whether it is low level plantation labourers or high-tech engineers, they are accepted. But once locals acquire necessary skills and expertise, foreign workers become targets of attack physically or otherwise to make their continued employment and stay abroad difficult.
With the rise of regional parties, many of them with their roots in a State and language, a strong need for expressing “love for “locals” has grown among political classes as a “vote-catching” strategy. In the “hate politics” spreading fast, accusation of opponents from outside the State as an outsider and the local leader and politician as “sons of the soil’ has become common. It was witnessed in the recent West Bengal Assembly election to prevent even entry of leaders from outside the State for electioneering.
The DMK in its election manifesto promised to bring a law to reserve 75% of jobs in companies set up in Tamil Nadu for Tamils. Earlier, the party had sought 90% reservation for Tamils in central government jobs in the State. In 2019, the PMK was for 80% private sector jobs for Tamils in the State, and wanted all State government jobs to be reserved for Tamils.
TheTN Government has also introduced 7.5% reservation for government school students, mostly locals, in engineering courses.Nearly, 8,000 seats have been allotted this year under this quota. Opposition to NEET is for promoting local rural candidates.
Recently, there has been a sudden interest in many States to pamper locals who matter most in State elections. One way to do this is through offer of concessions which in India translates into reservation or quota in employment. A common argument given in many States is proliferation of urban slums due to increase in migrant labour employed in the unorganised sector for wages lower than that of locals.
Migrant is a touchy issue in Maharashtra where it’s at the core of Shiv Sena and MNS politics. The parties accused migrants of spoiling the Maratha culture. According to the Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2019-20, the number of migrants from other States stood at 38.13 lakh. Migrants who left the State during Covid-19 stood at 12 lakh with many waiting for their turn. They were engaged in about 50 kinds of jobs.
Haryana Government has reserved 75% of new jobs with salaries below Rs.50,000 a month for locals in the private sector under Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill. The government also provides incentives per person per year to employers who hire locals under the Haryana Enterprises and Employment Policy 2020. In June 2019, Andhra Pradesh also followed this, but it is not yet implemented. In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress Government was considering a proposal to reserve 70% of jobs to locals when the government fell. The successor BJP government is exploring the possibility of reserving 100% of jobs meaning appointing only locals in government jobs.Jobs for the “children of the State” by applying the rule of domicile has become a popular slogan.
Jharkhand passed the Jharkhand State Employment of Local Candidates Bill in 2021. The cabinet has also approved a proposal to reserve 75% of jobs carrying a salary less than Rs.30,000 per month in the private sector to locals.
The census of 2011 recorded a total of 5.6 crore inter-State migrants in the country.But, divergence between States is noticeable with Kerala earning a reputation several decades back that there is no place on earth where you will not find a Malayalee. There is a village in Kerala nicknamed Dubai village where at least one in every household is said to be in the Middle East.Intra-State migrations from village to town and between villages are more common in India than inter-State. “Outsiders” available for wages lower than that of “insiders”, are preferred by employers thus creating a new labour problem.
Anti-outsider sentiment in workplaces is a universal phenomenon. It works in European countries, but between countries and not within as in India.One of the main reasons for Britain to quit EU is loss of jobs for British subjects.
Growing anti-immigrant sentiment is the cause of tightening visa regulations to prevent job loss to locals in the USA.The question of growing size of workforce with work permits, that is, green card holders, became an election issue in the last Presidential election.
To denote workers moving within a country as “migrant workers” in India to distinguish them from locals has promoted a tendency to look upon workers from another State as “outsiders”. The Indian Constitution grants to all citizens freedom to move, work, and settle in any part of the country with provision for essential protection to local people in the North-East. Therefore, to distinguish employees as “insider” and “outsider” is untenable.
The rule of “domicile” may be an accepted factor to encourage recruitment of locals. By stretching it too far, we will be creating ill-will between States which are already divided by linguistic patriotism. — INFA
(The writer is former Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)