An Employment Guarantee for the Urban Worker
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An Employment Guarantee for the Urban Worker J. Krishnamurty1
© Indian Society of Labour Economics 2020
Abstract Public attention has focused on the problems of urban migrants returning to rural India due to the Covid-19 crisis. It may be months before the majority of returning migrants, including several different kinds of migrants, go back to urban areas and are absorbed in employment. We know that there is considerable movement of labour between rural and urban areas, some of it long-term and some of it short-term or periodic or circular. This is necessary and is not going to change. There is a case for extending the existing rural employment guarantee to urban India. This works through self-selection and can reach groups not always reached by other, equally important, welfare schemes. Given how little we know about the magnitudes and characteristics of migrant workers, it is desirable to proceed with caution. A pilot project may be started in one or more selected cities, without calling it a guarantee. Based on what we learn from this experience, it can then be extended to the whole of urban India. Components on adult education and training/retraining should be included in the project to improve skills, productivity and worker rights. Keywords Urban Employment Guarantee · India · Lockdown · Migrant Workers Public attention has rightly been on the immediate problems of migrants from urban areas returning to rural India as a result of the dramatic fall in urban employment due to the COVID-19 crisis. They have not always been welcomed to their villages; they are seen as an additional burden, especially since they are not remitting income to their families any more. Some have already returned to their erstwhile urban jobs at the call of their employers, but many appear unwilling to go back to urban areas after the pandemic. However, such initial reactions may not be a good guide to their intentions. Economic pressures may weigh against the memories of hardship before and during their journey. The insecure and poor quality of employment that awaits many of them may, therefore, not prove to be such a deterrent.
* J. Krishnamurty [email protected] 1
Institute for Human Development, New Delhi, India
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Vol.:(0123456789) ISLE
The Indian Journal of Labour Economics
1 Who are the Migrants? When the migrants left urban India following the abrupt lockdown, little was known about them. And this continues to be the case. There are conflicting reports on their numbers and characteristics. How many men and women migrated back from the urban areas? What are their demographic particulars, education and skills, income, savings and consumption levels? They have rightly been called the invisible people or the nowhere people. Estimates of the number of urban vulnerable workers, including migrants who might have lost their jobs and attempted to return to rural areas, are hard to come by. On the basis of Ravi Srivastava’s pioneering work, the number of vulnerable workers in urban India can be placed at 169 million
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