An Investigation into the Wage Structure and Social Difficulties faced by Migrant Workers: A Study of Gandhinagar and Surrounding Districts
Date: 27.05.2022
Introduction
India is a country torn apart by poverty, illiteracy, superstition and discrimination. It is not surprising to note that a country which has served 200 years of colonial rule, which may also be called colonial slavery is reeling under states of poverty. Education is the base of any society. That being said, we need to know how it has evolved through time and how poverty is linked to illiteracy. In an Indian context, it can be said that the Indian educational system was elitist (Cheney, Ruzzi, & Muralidharan, 2005). History bears the evidence that the Indian education system was meant mainly for the Brahmin boys and hence was an avenue to the upper strata of the society and its objective was to preserve the over-inflated ego of this class (Cheney, Ruzzi, & Muralidharan, 2005).
Unfortunately, the British Raj also reinforced the same system and education started to serve as a ‘gatekeeper’ (Cheney, Ruzzi, & Muralidharan, 2005). This started snowballing and currently, there are 287 million illiterate adults in India which contributes to 37% of the global total (Oxfam, 2015). This is where lies the root of the rot. With this huge number of illiterate people, the country is burdened with the responsibility to feed them and to rear up their children. Here the government faces a massive challenge. It is seen that as the per capita income of a family goes down, the number of children dependents keeps on increasing. Though many studies have tried to formalize the relationship between poverty and the number of child dependents (Kim, 2019; Pernia, 1982; Singh et al., 2019), the relation between the constructs of poverty and number of child dependents is difficult to establish. Strikingly, Krishnaji (1980) has come up with a dataset which makes us believe that there may be a relation between poverty and the increasing number of dependents. Though the data sources are taken from a 1960 base, this is the only available study which shows the relation between poverty and child dependents.
Thus, it can be seen that as families tend to spend less because they earn less, their families are getting bigger. Thus, they are pressed to earn whatever they can to feed and educate their children. These people become the easiest targets for employers who are always looking for ways to increase their profit. This in turn forces the economy to shift from organized to unorganized labour. The table below reports the findings as per the 2011 census data, with 2017-18 data being compared with it.
This not only shifts the economy from organized to unorganized labour, but it also shifts the stance of the economy from a formal to a grossly informal sector. This makes the economy labour-intensive and makes the workers more vulnerable as they become dependent on the whims of their employers. In many cases, employers exert extreme pressure on their employees to create surplus value in return for minimum wage. Thus, there is a need we feel to make the lives and the livelihood of these people smooth and to ensure them a better life.
Motivations
A better life and livelihood are not the only motivation to conduct the study, but a better policy in place for the informal and unorganized sector is another motivation. The Minimum Wages Act, of 1948 has stipulated that daily wage for any labourer cannot be less than ₹ 100, the rule is rarely followed in the informal sector. Child labour and women discrimination are another two factors which the government is unable to curb, given the best attempt. The government – both at the state level and at the centre is making its best attempts to remove such maladies, but the poverty both seen and unseen is making the situation difficult. Thus, we were motivated to curate a feasible way by which wage discrimination can be removed and hapless children can be taken out of their lives as slaves.
Significance
The significance of the study lies in the fact that it is the first of its kind that discuss wage discrimination and the social difficulties of the migrant workers in and around Gandhinagar. Gandhinagar is a planned city and is an integral part of the Gujarat model. It is quite difficult to imagine that there can be any form of discrimination in those parts of the country. However, social problems exist and social discriminations continue to loom at large. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of studies concerning wage discrimination and social discrimination in and around north Gujarat. The current study bears a special significance in this perspective. As we will see in the later sections of the study how the existing research in the domain of wage discrimination is poised and how that creates a gap in the body of research.
There has been no dearth of studies on migrant workers in India, but that lacks a regional focus. There has been no dedicated research that studies the condition of the migrant workers in north Gujarat. The proposed study is unique from that perspective and expects that its findings will be useful in curating better-suited policies.
Limitations
Limitations to the study exist, however. It is extremely difficult to spot the workers who will be ready to share their plights and exploits, fearing that a true confession might throw them out of their jobs. Poverty in India is always expanding its arms, and in the post-pandemic situation, it is increasing exponentially. Thus, more families will be compelled to send their wards to work, while keeping the fact suppressed. In many cases, the district administration will try to suppress the malicious events of child labourers making it further difficult to come across the reality. Indian women are a souls for their families. Every time a family falls in poverty, these hapless women will go out to work irrespective of the reality they know about and endure the social evils without reporting. This leaves the administration with very little data that might help in the study.
A Brief History
Gujarat has made remarkable progress in the last 20 years, most of it being attributed to the neo-liberal policies of the state government especially in the sectors of infrastructure, corporate policies and an unprecedented growth in agriculture. The agricultural growth is attributed to the fact that textile products which form a part of the economic legacy of the state, continue to rule the textile market of India and abroad.
Unfortunately, the number of families living under the poverty line in Gujarat is increasing every year with 31.56 lakh families reported to be under the poverty line as of August 2021. Thus, the growth model of Gujarat has only seen a partial influence on poverty reduction (Vivek et al., 2015). Hence, it becomes important to discuss the economic conditions of different states of Gujarat before moving into the details of wage discrimination and social discrimination.
Economic Overview and Performance
It has already been discussed that Gujarat is one of the prosperous states of India, as revealed by the last census of India. According to the census data, the per capita income of the state is ₹ 75115, which is higher than the last census data by ₹11,566. The incidence of poverty in Gujarat is significantly lower than the national poverty levels. Even after the sterling success, every 1 person out of 4 is living in poverty in Gujarat.
Gujarat is divided into 5 administrative regions – Saurashtra, Middle Gujarat, South Gujarat, North Gujarat, and Kutch. As per the last census of India, the economic performance of the administrative divisions is reported in the table below.
It can be seen that the economic status indicator of Gandhinagar reflects a lower status than that of the other six districts of Gujarat. Further, the food availability and the sanitation scenario also cuts a sorry figure. This is attributed to the fact that the condition of the working class, especially the unorganized sector is reeling under economic blues and uncertainties. In the next section, the researcher will now discuss the economic uncertainties.
Migration pattern
Migration is not a new word for India. India has seen migration as early as during colonial rule, where the main motto of migration was to escape the exploitation of the zamindari system. Currently, there are 454 million migrant workers in India, which is 31.8% higher than in the last decade (Das, 2020).
According to the data published by the administrative office of north Gujarat, it is seen that most such migratory labourers work in the agricultural lands under contracts and the contracts happen in May, when the monsoon is set to begin. It is seen among the migratory workers, the tribals of Gujarat, and people from the bordering state of Rajasthan get the maximum employment. Other migrants are from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Among the migratory workers, the tribals of Danta, Khedbrahma, and Meghraj prefer to migrate to Gandhinagar, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha and Mehsana. Though the migrant worker is allowed to migrate alone to the place of work, the migrant worker, who is mostly a male person, takes the entire family with him. His children who are barely of working age, take care of the farm and his wife takes care of the cattle. Such labour is not included in the contract and usually comes free of cost. Most of these people find employment in the B.T. cotton field.
As per the government data, 62, 343 tribal migrants worked in the fields in the year 2010 and they usually work from dawn to dusk, with a couple of hours of break in between for cooking. These people live in mud huts, usually with no electricity connection and no proper sanitation. In many cases, it has been seen that the labourers are living under open skies. Another means of earning is masonry. The masons’ living conditions are further worsened by the fact that they get neither the stipulated wages nor a roof above their head. They have to manage everything on their own out of their meagre monthly income.
Supply of labour
The Behavioural Science Centre in their report published in 2010 found that the supply of labour which operates through a chain of exploitation (Xavier, 2009) is the root of where wage discrimination starts.
At the top of the pyramid, the multinational companies start the ripple. They are the ones who have captured a large part of the BT Cotton fields in the said area. Being enforced by the agreements they can interfere with all the activities starting from seed procurement to production. The cost of the crop is determined by them.
In the next step, the farmers play the most crucial roles. They have to buy seeds at a higher price and sell them at competitive prices. The only way by which this can be done is by cheating mats. Mats are the people who have the responsibility of providing labourers to the farmers. The farmers to make a substantial profit, keep on cheating the mats by seizing their commissions. This is where tampering of the wage structure starts.
The mats who are experienced workers of a cotton field are coerced by the farmer to provide cheap labour. To procure cheap labour, the mats convince the parents of the adolescent boys and girls to send their wards to work by dropping out of school. In many cases, it is seen that these young boys and girls are booked in advance.
At the bottom of the pyramid lies the huge chunk of labourers who are not very aware of the working conditions, wages and the level of exploitation.
Wage Discrimination
As per the data available with the Behavioural Studies Centre, St. Xavier’s College, Navarangpura, the basic wage for casual of labour is as low as ₹ 20 in the Danta district, which cannot be justified by any means. The maximum a casual labour can earn from a day’s work in Danta is ₹ 250, which can help a family manage a square meal. Similarly, in the Khedbrahma and Meghraj locations, the minimum wages for casual labour are ₹ 50 and ₹ 40 respectively. The worst scenario, which the researcher noticed in due course of research is the condition of BT Cotton field workers in three locations Danta, Khedbrahma, and Meghraj. The minimum wages for a worker in these three locations are ₹ 40, ₹ 50 and ₹ 40 respectively. The highest wage received by labour in these cotton fields is ₹ 70 only in the Meghraj location, all of which cannot be justified. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 has stipulated that the minimum wage to be paid to a labourer is ₹ 100, which is by far less than the wages received by the migrant workers.
This remorseful situation is brought about by the mat who plays the role of an operator in the wage structure.
The role of the mat is crucial indeed. They are continuously coerced by the farmers to bring in more of them. It is seen that the mat victimizes a migrating farmer by deducting ₹ 7-₹10 from his daily wage. From this perspective, if a mat supplies 40 labourers to a farmer, then he can make ₹ 400/day. In this way, a mat can make ₹ 20,000 for a 50-day season. Thus, there is an economic disparity noticed. Usually, a contract lasts for 4-6 months in which a labourer working in the BT cotton field in the Meghraj location after a mat deduction of ₹ 10 can earn ₹ 10,800 only for a season, whereas a mat earns almost double. The labourers work from dawn to dusk, while the mat works a little.
Migrating workers are also found in the construction sector. According to an RTI filed with the Aajeevika Bureau, about 2595 construction workers are working in Ahmedabad itself. According to Xavier (2009), almost 69% of the workers are migrant workers from the adjoining state of Rajasthan. Jain & Sharma (2018) report that in 2013, tribal migrant workers from the rural areas of Gujarat were paid as low as ₹ 110 per workday which started at 7 AM and ended at 1-2 AM. Because of wage malady, many migrant workers are forced to return home. Thus, the unskilled labourers remain unskilled even after 10 years of entry into industry. Thus, the growth of the country is getting stalled.
Social Discrimination
The social discrimination faced by migrant workers is beyond the boundaries of imagination. The social discriminations that are widely spread across Gandhinagar and Banaskantha can be divided into two broad heads – discrimination towards women and child labour. In the current section, the researcher will briefly discuss these two problems before concluding the section.
Child labour
It has already been discussed how child labour is being induced in the workforce. The researcher in due course of study finds that child labour is very high in rural Gujarat. Based on Participatory Learning Actions (PLA) organized at 18 villages, it was found approximately 200-300 children migrate every year to the BT cotton fields from Veenchi village to Khedbrahma. The situation in Kansa village also cuts a sorry figure. For each of 197 families living in the village, 2 children from each family must be sent to the BT cotton fields. Though the families of the children deny any such incident, the reality by far is worse than a nightmare. As early as 2009, the official records with the state government report that 3423 child labourers were found in Khedbrahma, while 2094 child labourers were found working in Danta, working mainly as sharecroppers. In Danta, the number of child labourers was found to be significantly higher than the adult male or female workers. While the number of adult male workers in Danta was 1339, the number of adult female workers was 963. This strongly indicates social discrimination, which may be labelled as torture.
The district welfare report published by the state government of Gujarat indicates that there is a high demand for child labours. Employers usually look for people who are in the age group of 30-45 years. Thus, only one or two such members of a family are available for cheap labour. Thus, the demand for child labour becomes high because they can work from dawn to dusk. The process of employment involves hunting for young boys before the season of pollination. Boys are recruited for this role as they can be made to work for long hours. In many cases, these poor creatures are beaten and abused verbally to make them work even in the wake of night. Children are forced to wake up at 5 AM and go to the fields to check whether the flowers are ready for cross-pollination. The working hours for these children start since then and last till 2 PM. Cross-pollination is a very tedious process and must be done at specific times of the day. If a child labour fails to do the cross-pollination properly s/he must face a pay cut. The physical and mental abuse comes as a cherry on the top.
These young boys are deported from their houses to the farms which are distant and remote. They live in temporary accommodations and are exposed to extremely hazardous working conditions. These include insect bites and snake bites. Further infection can be caused by insecticides and pesticides. Extensive hours of work lead to further woes. If any such kid falls ill, the cost of the treatment is deducted from his daily wage. It is even reported that in case of an event of death, the employers completely deny any responsibility. Extreme weather conditions further fan the flames of discrimination. The talukas of Bhabhar, Deodar and Dhanera lie on the western ridges of Banaskantha where the weather conditions are extreme. The summer temperatures range from 42°C - 45°C and the winter temperatures range from 2°C-5°C. Thus, working conditions become extremely difficult for adolescents.
Suppression and discrimination towards women
The migrant workers who come to work in north Gujarat usually move with their family which includes wives and children. In many cases, the wife’s service comes as a free package and also becomes an easy target for the farmer for sexual harassment. The farmer threatens the migrant worker and his wife to stop their payment. These migrant workers are mostly illiterate and their contracts are made verbally. Thus, the farmers threaten the migrants that if they report any such events of torture, they will throw the family out of work.
However, the ILO in their report published in 2020 on migrating workers in India, reported that the field data on migrant women is very low because national statistics record them as ‘marriage migrants’ (ILO, 2020). This is one of the major reasons why the discrimination and the torture faced by a migrant woman is less on the record. In most of the records, women workers are not even found or even identified as workers The ILO in their report mentions that migrant women mostly work in the construction sector where certain jobs like carrying and lifting of construction materials are exclusively reserved for them. In many construction sites, a jodi-based system is largely employed where a woman is clubbed with her husband or any male relative and they are paid 1.5 labour units. This means that a woman is getting exactly half of what her male counterpart is getting for almost the same job.
Apart from working in the construction sites, the ILO reports that a good number of women are working as domestic maids in the cities in and around Gujarat. Among these women, live-in workers’ conditions are the worst as they do not have a definite duty hour and, in many cases, they have been exploited as forced labour. They lack the privacy of their lives. A single domestic maid has multiple employers in a single house and she must attend to every single call of these employers. They are stripped of their rights to earn the minimum wage, and protection of health as stated in the ILO Domestic Worker Convention, 2011 (number 189).
Another migration trend which is commonly seen in the case of female migration is the rural-to-rural migration. In these cases, the women move within the state to work mostly in brick kilns or the mines without any contract or agreement. They face complete exclusion from the rules, regulations, and rights. They are invisible workers who stand as the most vulnerable workers. Harassment and trafficking are most common evils among them. The ILO reports that these women workers are compelled to work for 17 hours per day, of which five and half hours are spent in domestic and caregiving work and three and half hours are spent on accessing basic requirements of life like water, sanitation and collecting fuels. They are frequent sufferers of poor antenatal care and return to work within 15-20 days of childbirth because they cannot afford to lose earnings.
The Problem
The disparity in the wage structure of the migrant workers in and around Gandhinagar and the consequent social difficulties faced by these workers have been a major reason for stalled development in the state of Gujarat.
Gujarat is one of those states which sees maximum industrial growth and advancement. Consequently, it becomes one of those states which can provide employment to a large number of migrant workers in Gujarat. According to a study conducted by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Labour, around 14.97 lakh migrant workers left Gujarat during the lockdown. This indicates the large number of workers from other states, with 68% of the migrant workers being employed in the unorganized sector. This becomes the root of the rot.
The majority of the migrant workers are employed in three main sectors as unorganized labour – construction, agriculture and hospitality (Jain & Sharma, 2018). Most of the migrant workers who work in these areas belong to the tribal classes and are the easy targets of employers. From an economic perspective, this is called primitive accumulation- a method for rural immiseration which forces large number of workers from rural parts of the country to look for wages (Mitra et al., 2016). This is particularly important for the tribal workers who are compelled to shift their focus from land- and forest-based producers to wage earners (Lerche & Shah, 2018).
Jain & Sharma (2018) on the basis of their study report that migrant workers are living in abject poverty and their lives have been made miserable by their employers by employing three main factors-
1. Large amounts of workload are dumped on them, which leads to mental and physical extortion with hazardous living conditions.
2. Extensive hours of work. This is done in many ways. The employers force migrant workers to work beyond their duty hours, with little or no overtime pay. In many cases the migrants are forced to live on the work site where the owners force them to work in a piece-rate system of work.
3. Underpaid workers. The employers of these migrant labourers pay them much below the value of their labourers. This is grossly inadequate for subsistence. In many cases, it is significantly lower than the wages paid to the local labourers. According to Cockcroft (2016), this renders the migrant workers to the state of a sub proletariat the poorest in the continuum.
This not only creates a divide among the working classes who are the makers of the country but also creates an imbalance between labour and the economic system. This unfair practice leads to the creation of more poverty and prevents further workforce from entering the state. The Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Labour in their study reports that at least 6% of the migrant workers who have left Gujarat have shown no interest in returning because of such financial discrimination.
From an economic point of view, this leads to a system of surplus value creation in the market. The extra value over the constituents is created by the employers who are exerting the maximum physical and mental forces on the workers and in many cases, they exert maximum forces given the fact that the labour laws in India are poorly implemented in Gujarat (Papola, 1967).
Conclusion:
The issue of wage disparity and social difficulties faced by migrant workers in Gujarat, particularly in and around Gandhinagar, is a pressing concern that demands further investigation. The exploitation of these workers in unorganized sectors like construction, agriculture, and hospitality, coupled with poor implementation of labor laws, has led to severe economic and social consequences. To address these challenges, comprehensive research by social workers and policymakers is crucial.
Future research should focus on understanding the socio-economic conditions of these workers, evaluating the effectiveness of existing labor laws, and proposing robust frameworks to ensure fair wages and safe working conditions. Additionally, studies should explore the impact of such disparities on the overall development of the state and propose strategies to create a more inclusive and equitable labor market. By highlighting these issues, social workers can advocate for policy changes and initiatives that protect the rights and welfare of migrant workers, ultimately contributing to more sustainable economic growth and social harmony in Gujarat.
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