Labour file:
Migrant Workers are being pushed into
Permanent Vulnerability
Providers of cheap labour and scapegoats for all socio-economic ills
Inter-state migration seeking
jobs and lively-hoods is a stark
reality of our modern-India.
According to the 2011 census it is
estimated that more than 45.36
crores of inter-state migrants are
existing in India. Various surveys
pointed-out that inter-state
migration has been increasing in
considerable numbers for the past
two and a half decades. In other
words this situation of inter-state
migration has been aggravated as
a consequence of implementation
of neo-liberal economic policies of
imperialist globalization. It is
becoming obvious that the
‘stunning’ economic growth claimed
by our rulers and ruling-classes to
have been achieved during this
epoch of globalization in our
country would not have come up
without the sweat and labour power
of the migrant workers. But these
migrants’ workers are continuously
being problematical and being
made targets of attacks. The
regional politicians can blame them
for rising unemployment and crime
graphs, the locals can vent their ire
against them for being the cause
of collapsing civic amenities, the
chauvinists can rant against them
for not assimilating themselves
culturally, and the business and
industry class can use them for
cheap labour and services. For the
middle classes in the cities, they
also provide domestic services. It
is their vulnerable state lacking any
protection that is being exploited by
the vested interests in to targets
for attacks. That these inter-state
migrants are made targets for
attacks in every political, economic
and social upheaval that has been
occurring in our country is a
proved fact.
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In the past we have seen how
the political party ‘Sivasena’ made
the South Indian migrants as a
target for attacks for its political
gain of ascendancy in to state
power.
We have also witnessed how
Sikhs were targeted and attacked
in New Delhi and else-where, at the
time of assassination of Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi.
We also knew how people of
North-East are forced to leave
away from Karnataka, due to their
diverse culture, from the local
culture. Such incidents of attacks
have occurred even in the capital
of New Delhi against migrants from
North-eastern states.
During
the
period
of
demonetization it was the migrant-
labourers that were badly hit losing
their lively-hood and forced to
return to their native places empty
handed.
Now it is the turn in Gujarat
state that has targeted the migrant-
workers of Hindi speaking states
for violent attacks forcing them to
flee from Gujarat state without any
rescue. In 2002 unprecedented
communal riots tore up the social
fabric of Gujarat, killing 1000
people with communal hatred. Now
it is the hate wave that is turned
against migrant workers.
Before going in to details of the
violence in Gujarat against migrant-
workers, we shall know what
necessitated inter-state migration
in our country and the causes
behind it.
Despite the tall claims by the
rulers, ruling-classes and policy
makers that India has been achiev-
ing tremendous unprecedented
economic growth due to
implementation of imperialist
globalization policies, it is an
undeniable fact that those policies
have utterly failed in bringing about
well-being and affluence in to the
lives of toiling people of the country.
On the contrary those policies
have brought out distress to the
people, particularly in the rural
India. Those liberalized economic
policies have pushed the
agriculture sector in to a deep
morass and an intractable state of
crises. On the other hand those
policies failed totally in generating
employment avenues to the
requirement. Being the major
employment provider, agriculture
sector, pushed in to crises, was
unable and failed to provide
employment to the needed as was
able to do previously. Rural
distress and poverty is accentuated
in this period of imperialist
globalization. The consequence is
that the distressed rural population
was forced to migrate to distant
places and other states in search
of lively-hood and jobs. Day by day
as a consequence of failure of
globalization policies, the necessity
of inter-state migration has
increased considerably; due to
increasing poverty, unemployment
in rural areas resulting in large
scale migration. This condition of
distress and extreme poverty
rendered these inter-state migrant-
workers more vulnerable for
exploitation in multiple-ways and
targets of attacks of the vested
interests. On the other-hand inter-
state migration became inevitable
in the present day highly skewed
development status of states in
Class Struggle