SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT ON IN-MIGRANT LABOURERS: A CASE STUDY OF CHENNAI CITY

EnviroGeoChimica Acta (2014) 1(3):180-189

ORGINAL ARTICLE

180

Socio-Economic Impact on In-Migrant Labourers: A Case Study of Chennai City M. Sujatha • M. Sri Rama Laxmi Devi • D. Thulasimala • L. Janaki Received: 10 Mar 2014 / Accepted: 12 April 2014

©EnviroGeoChimica Acta

Abstract: The present study analyzes the socio-

economic conditions of in-migrant labourer

population in Chennai city. The main objectives

of the study are to analyze the cause & reasons

for in-migration, identify the problems faced by

in-migrant labourers in Chennai and to examine

the future plans of the migrants. The Area

Purposive Sampling Method was used for this

study to select migrants for this study. The

sample comprised of 327 in-migrants from 6

locations in Chennai City that were selected for

questionnaire survey. The information base for

this study includes both primary and secondary

data. Simple statistical charts created in SPSS are

used for data analysis. Result shows that most

labourers migrated from Northern India in our

study clusters, specifically from Bihar, Orissa,

U.P, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra and

Karnataka. Among these highest in-migrants are

from the state of Bihar (30%) and lowest from

Chhattisgarh (3%). Study of socio-economic

condition reveals that about 30% of migrants

moved south as they were facing economic

problems at their home state. As most of the

laborers are on temporary contract, they do

not have any concrete plans for their future.

Nor can they chart a future plan as their job

status is not guaranteed. The growing urban

population is indicative that a large scale

interstate in-migration from all over India is

currently faced by Chennai city. National

statistics shows that particularly 95% of the in-

migrants are from North India and not from the

home state, Tamil Nadu. Overall striking point

of the respondent population shows that

majority of the in-migrants are Hindu Muslims

and are from rural areas. Result emphasizes

upon two major facts of the in-migrants: their

entrepreneurial behaviour and inherent need

to improve their socio-economic status.

________________________________ M. Sujatha Directorate of Institute of Educational and Training, Chennai, India M. Sri Rama Laxmi Devi • D. Thulasimala Department of Geography, Queen Mary’s College, Chennai, India L. Janaki IMMCO Software Solutions, Pvt. Ltd, Cochin, India

Keywords: Interstate-Migration • Socio-

Economic Status and Problems• Entrepreneurial

behavior and Future Plans • labour in-migration

• rural to urban migration.

Introduction

Since the beginning of 19th century social

scientist have identified urbanization as one of

the major determinants of migration, while the

socio, cultural, and economic reasons are the

secondary determinants. Until recently distance

and duration were considered important but

tertiary determinants of migration such as

modern transport and communication advances

have made this insignificant. The present study

concurs with the above assumptions. Today

every urban environment perceptibly

corroborates that the incursion of migrant

laborers serve the city in every walk of life.

Similarly, heavy visual presence of in-migrant

labourers in Chennai and the problems and

concerns related to it instigated this study.

Todaro (1969) tried to explain the cause of

migration in developing countries in terms of

push and pull factors which also been observed

in Indian cities. Over time, the Census of India

shows an increase in urban migration due to

ISSN: 2348 – 7259


ORGINAL ARTICLE

181

inter-state labour influx. In India, the

percentage of total urban migration to that of

total migration increased from 28.7 % in 1981

to 29.5 % in 1991 and further to 32.85 % in

2001 (Census of India, 2001). Our study

concurs with these commonly observed push

factors that migrant labourer move from rural

to cities are poverty, unemployment, debts

due to failure in agriculture or business, and

lack of small scale industries or livelihood

options in the place of origin. Obviously the

greatest pull factor of Chennai City is the

availability of many employment opportunities

in its widespread commercial sector.

Purpose

The present research makes a modest

attempt to study the living condition of the

migrant labourers before and after their

migration. With the following objectives:

• To study the socio-economic status of in-

migrant workers in the place of origin and

at the destination.

• To study the causes & reasons for in-

migration.

• To analyse the distance migrated based

on the origin and destination location.

• To analyse the migrant labourers living

and working conditions before and after

migration.

• To identify the problems faced by them in

their current place of migration and to

examine the future plans of the migrants

• To suggest how to reduce the constant

influx of labourers into the city.

Study Area

Chennai City, the capital of Tamil Nadu is the

fourth largest Metropolitan City in India.

Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) comprises

of the city of Chennai and its agglomeration

extending to about 1189 Sq.km of settlement

area. The study areas selected includes 6 sample

pockets in Chennai City located between

12°59'50"N to 13°07'13"S latitude and

80°10'12“E to 80°16'17"N longitude. The

questionnaire data were collected from the

following 6 study areas:

1. Red Hills Bus Stop

2. TVS Nagar-Korattur

3. Tirumangalam

4. Kilpauk Medical College

5. Saidapet

6. Central –Reteri Junction

The First Master Plan (FMP) of Chennai had

estimated in 2001 the Chennai Metropolitan

Area (CMA) would have a total population

of 7.1 million including 4 million in Chennai

City by 2011.Consequently, the 2011 census

showed that just the city had 4.68 million

residents making it the sixth most populous

city in India. In reality the population of

Chennai urban agglomeration, which

comprises of both the city and its suburbs,

was home to approximately 8.9 million

population, well over the 2001FMP estimate.

Thus Chennai is the 31st largest urban area in

the world. This data establishes that Chennai is

a popular home to loads of in-migrants from

inter and intra state labourers. Chennai's


ORGINAL ARTICLE

182

economy has a broad commercial and industrial

base in automobile, construction, computer,

technology, hardware manufacturing, harbor

and healthcare sectors making it attractive to

in-migrants from neighboring states and from all

over India. Both the Census and NSS confirm an

increase in long-distance (inter-state) migration

in recent years for male laborers arises mainly

due to economic reasons. In Chennai, according

to 2001 Census, nearly 74.5 % of in-migrants

are from other districts of Tamil Nadu State.

This confirms that the in-migrants are not

limited to Tamil and Telugu speaking areas, but

25% of in-migrants are from other states of

India.

Figure 2 shows the interstate migration pattern

in India mapped by IIHS. A detailed analysis of it

with the results of this study shows that the

specific rural to urban movement is missing in

this map. So the present study tries to cover

the rural to urban migration in a limited manner

by studying 6 in-migrant clusters of Chennai

City (Fig.2). The analysis made by Indian

Institute of Human Settlement (2001-2011)

shows the 10 largest flows of interstate

migration (which includes rural and urban

migration) are mostly in the Northern states

of UP, MP, Haryana & Delhi, and in the

Eastern states are Bihar and West Bengal.

Our study shows that minor flows are also

significant as they play an important role.

Figure 3 illustrates that the respondent base

of this study are the in-migrants from Tamil

Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan to

Chennai city in large numbers. IIHS identified

significant flows between Tamil Nadu and

Kerala. But the present study does not

reflect this as the randomly chosen in-

migrant clusters for this study are not at all

from Tamil Nadu or Kerala. But the study

proves the fact that there is a large influx of

long distance rural to urban migration from

Central & North Indian states to Chennai

City.

Present study reveals that there is an alarming

need for immediate attention into this pattern

of in-migration influx. The labourers questioned

in this study have predominantly migrated from

UP, Bihar, Orissa, and AP. So it is obvious that

migrants have travelled long distances.

Predominant migrants (54%) are from 1000 to

1500 kms away from Chennai and another 37%

are from 1500 to 2500kms and only a small


ORGINAL ARTICLE

183

portion (16%) are present from immediate

neighbouring states or districts.

Methodology

This study has adopted systematic random

sampling technique to select the 6 in-migrant

clusters from the Chennai City. The

respondents in each of these pockets are

picked for data collection based on

systematic random sampling to avoid any

bias. This study primarily uses the

questionnaire data. Some secondary data

from the Census of India, National Sample

Survey Office, Chennai Corporation and

Chennai Metropolitan Authority and other

demographic studies carried out by third

party are also referred to achieve a

wholesome picture.

The questionnaire study was conducted in

six areas namely Redhills Bus Stop,

Tirumangalam, Saidapet, Kilpauk (KMC), TVS

Nagar(Koratur), and Central. The scope of

the present study is confined to in-migrant

labourers who leave their home village to

reach Chennai City as their destination place

for employment opportunities and have lived

for more than 3 months in Chennai. This

study concentrates on collecting data from

such labour groups settled in temporary

hutment clusters. The study was conducted

on 327 labourers. Which 197 respondents

were dependable and completed the

questionnaire thus averaging to a minimum of

30 respondents for the six areas. For want of

complete picture some sections of the

questionnaire were used for analysis as

respondents. For some answers only 197

respondents are considered as total

population. All respondents were male. It so

happened that randomly selected clusters did

not house local laborers or inter-state

migrants from Tamilnadu or Kerala. A brief

pilot study on 10 migrants helped to

determine the 4 categories of the

questionnaire that elaborates details of in-

migrant labourer’s living and working

conditions.

1. Background information of the in-migrant

labourer (5 questions)

2. Current Employment status (12 questions)

3. Working and living conditions (35questions)

4. Labourers plans for future (4 questions)

Foremost causes for in-migration

After the questionnaire interviews, following

three classifications were identified as the

main reason for the in-migration among the

327 male respondents.

Economic factors

Most respondent’s reason for the move was

in search of better employment. They had

moved leaving behind poor or no job in their

home villages. Everyone concurred that they

were better off today with respect to job

prospect compared to what they had earlier

on. Some respondents frankly revealed

extreme strained financial situation back home

that they had run away and thus escaping from

money lenders.

Social factors

In-migrants have come to Chennai to improve

their family’s social status in their hometown.

Socially they have been backwards due to

poverty and indebtedness, caused mostly by

repeated crop failure due to consecutive bad

monsoon spells. Some also expressed to have

lost all in repeated failed business venture. All

in-migrants state that it is a temporary move

to upgrade their social status in hometown.

Personal factors

A smaller percentage of respondents

expressed personal reasons for their

migration. A few respondents said they

wanted to pursue higher studies and to have

access to better educational opportunities. A

few owed their move to need for good

medical and health facilities for their near and


ORGINAL ARTICLE

184

dear ones. A small percent of respondent

expressed their intolerable sufferings in their

hometown due to natural calamities and had

been forced to seek security in new place.

Major findings from respondent

personal data

A quick analysis of the age structure of the

respondents together in the 6 sample area of

Chennai city revealed that 71% of the in-

migrants are young men between the ages of 21

to 35 years.11 to 15% of respondents were

below 20 years and between 36 -45 years. (Fig.

4.) Most labour migrants are below the age of

45 years.

Study showed that young men who migrated

were mostly married. 69% of married men

moved leaving behind family in the native

town in search of better prospect and wanted

to reach higher status in life (Fig 5). About

70% of the migrants are in the age group of 20

to 35 years and predominantly married with

more than two children.

The religious category of the respondent’s

pie-chart closely matches the national average

of religious population distribution of the

country (Fig 6). Hindu are the highest in-

migrants laborers moving to Chennai followed

are from Odessa, West Bengal, Bihar,

Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh are largely

Hindus.

Percentage of literate and illiterate migrants is

found to be 1:1 (Fig. 7) but a noticeable

percent of semi-illiterate sway the chart

towards literacy. Thus we can report a

positive correlation between literacy and

migration. Literacy boosts the confidence for

people to migrate and also entices them to

move in search of education opportunities.

The mapping of distribution of respondent’s

place of origin (nativity) shows a varied

picture but it clearly indicates that neither the

sample is biased nor do people of any


ORGINAL ARTICLE

185

particular place of origin favour Chennai City

specifically. The widespread distribution of

nativity indicates that modern transport and

communication has dwarfed migration

distances. As Srivastava (2011) recognized that

three out of ten Indians are internal migrants

in cities. The respondents of this study

comprised of in- migrants from 15 different

states of India and also included two from the

neighboring country of Nepal (Fig.8).

The NSS estimates 326 million in-migrants in

2007–2008 all over India (28.5 per cent of the

total population). The proportional pie map

based on the data of this study shows that

labourers from Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, UP and

West Bengal favour Chennai City in large

number. Followed by central states such as MP,

Maharashtra, Assam, AP and Karnataka also

move to Chennai City in search of work. The

findings of this study matches with UNICEF

2012 announcement. UNICEF identified the

lead source states from where migration

origin are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan,

Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,

Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Uttarakhand

and Tamil Nadu.

Distance and duration

The migrant flow map here confirms that

distances and durations are not of matter

anymore. The laborers of north Indian states

consider Chennai City as an economically

lucrative option when they make a decision to

migrate for betterment. The respondent

migrants have travelled small to long distances

between 300 to 2500 kms (Fig.9).

This study validates that rural to urban and

urban to urban is still most predominant today

in India. Similarly, inter-state migration is

happening in large scale. In this study

considering the duration of migration the

three categories of Casual- children remained

in the villages while males migrated to the

modern sector (Gill, 1998). Predominant

migrants (54%) are from 1000 to 1500kms

away from Chennai and 37% are from 1500 to

2500kms and only 16% are from neighboring

states that have moved between 300 to 1000

kms distance (Fig.10).


ORGINAL ARTICLE

186

Main Reason to Migrate

Questions on their first reason to move to

Chennai clearly indicated that most of them

need to better their economic status with a

better job (Fig.11.) Institute of Social Sciences

(2012), supported by European Union

Delegation to India carried out an extensive

study on “Why I Left My Village: A Study on

Migration from Rural Bihar, India” for four

villages also recognized the two most important

reasons cited by these respondents as causes of

migration: inadequate fulfilment of livelihood,

and inadequate employment opportunity. The

study elaborates that the main purpose of

migration to Chennai by these labourers is

simply “to get any job” (54%) which solves their

joblessness and lack of income situation. Twenty

Four percent of labourers have migrated to see

“better salary” than they were getting in their

native place. About 21% claimed that they “like

to work in Chennai” as they find the security of

a big city that offers continuous job possibility.

Expenditure pattern of the respondent in-

migrant for a month is between two to three

thousand Rupees which by normal standard is

very low to poor lifestyle. The average monthly

expenses of these migrants are only Rs. 2500 as

75% of the respondents spend between Rs 2000

to Rs 3000 per month. (Fig.12). It is clear from a

handful of interviews that they send heavy

remittance to their home town or family. Most

were hesitant to inform the actual amount they

sent home but a 15% informed that their

remittances have resulted in construction of a

concrete house back home. Most of them said

off records that their remittance leads to

improvement of the family home, land and

welfare, such as buying land, buying inputs for

agriculture and also paying off family debts. This

information was not derived from questionnaire

responses but off paper, during interviews.

Commonly, an in-migrant laborer owned not

more than two gadgets. One being a stove and

the other a mobile phone (42%), proving life

without these two is impossible these days.

Nearly 75% of the respondents were proud

owner of more than 2 gadgets (Fig.13). Bicycle

is cheap and considered best mode of transport,

followed by one’s own feet. 74% of the in-

migrant respondents owned a bicycle as it

requires minimum maintenance and no

expensive fuel (Fig.14). Following 16% may walk

or use public transport to commute between

their cluster settlement and workplace. Thus

these findings prove that migrant laborers have

been able to succeed in improving the social

0

20

40

60

To get job Like towork inchennai

Goodincome

Fig. 11. Reasons for in-migration in %


ORGINAL ARTICLE

187

status by doing home improvements and

increasing their property value in home. They

also have the passion to add to their gadget

collection here as part of economic

Improvement.

Employment conditions

The questionnaire made enquiry into few

employment conditions of the in-migrant

labourers. The migrants in Chennai mostly find

their job through friends and relatives and 7% of

the migrants find their job through contractors

(Fig.15). Although most of the migrants find

their job through friends and relatives, their

work terms are on contract basis (87%) in

Chennai City. This shows that migrants are

ready for any little job that they are not bound

by any length of time period while securing jobs.

This type of work term is beneficial to

employers as they can pay daily wage and need

not pay for any employment benefits etc (Fig.

16).

Since the in-migrants laborers motive is

primarily to get a job and get better salary, 70%

of the respondents are working 12 hours per

day (Fig 17). They are happy to take up

overtime apart from their regular work to earn

extra money. Long hours even though a stress

to health is preferred by the employers and the

labourers as they are on a mission to maximum

extraction on both sides. Most labourers work

all days of the week. Thus life for them is all

work and no play in the questionable home and

work environment. Even though this would

have heavy negative stress on the in-migrants

health and as a single individuals away from

home prefer to work long hours for monetary

benefits (Fig. 18).The wage disbursement or

payment schedule trend shows that the in-

migrant laborers are mostly paid monthly.

About 5% of the respondents are paid weekly.

And another 5% of laborers have suffered from

consistent pay check waiting for disbursement

indefinitely from employers. Based on work

load and finances of the employer they are paid

occasionally (Fig. 19). Still the laborers find that

it is still economically beneficial to continue with

these employers.


ORGINAL ARTICLE

188

The 96.97% migrants questioned have claimed

that this migration is temporary only. They have

left their hometown to earn extra income to

support their family's livelihood in their

hometown. Most claim they want to move back

to their home town after period of employment

in Chennai. This kind of thought or mental

makeup allows them to work hard and long

hours. Despite the deplorable living and

working condition in Chennai City (Fig. 20).

In-migrant experiences

The study has analyzed the responses of the

laborers and observed that none of laborers

have high praise for their lifestyle here in

Chennai and the unkind work environment

they face every day. Here are the issues that

are faced by them:

1. Population density and cramped living

quarters

2. Exploitation by employer

3. Depression due to loneliness

4. Hopelessness and feeling of insecurity

5. More Indebtedness

6. Draining of energy and lack of joy in life

as newer issues add to their already

existing home problems

Most of the time labourers realize that in-

migration has not solved any of their problems

but has increased manifold with new facets.

Workers have to depend upon insignificant

monetary advances and irregular payments.

Migrant’s laborers often get lower wages than

local labourers. Thus they face discrimination in

a big way. They work long and odd hours and

still are not properly compensated. Moreover

the payments are not made on time or on

shorter interval. Monthly salary of such small

amount makes living very difficult especially if

most of it needs to be sent back to the family.

Suggestions for the healthy in-migration

• There should be grass-root level programs

in rural India to ensure there are many


ORGINAL ARTICLE

189

employment opportunities that will

dissuade migration to urban areas.

• Basic comfortable infrastructure,

sanitation, low income housing, education

and health in rural areas must be

provided. They must monitor crop

failures, natural disaster and increase in

unemployment rate and create new basic

livelihood opportunities and support.

• The Central and States governments

should take efforts to ensure that honest

implementation of the existing schemes to

reach the mass and should come up with

ingenious schemes as per need.

• Rural credit schemes must encompass

more bodies including the women of a

household thus enabling a more uplifted

economic condition of a family.

• In urban scenario the City Municipal and

Urban Development Authority must

anticipate these influx of migrants and

create low-income housing.

• These labourers must have a board which

they can approach for help and support to

obtain and maintain their livelihood.

• Employers must be warned and

monitored to provide healthy living and

working environments.

• The labour clusters are not hidden or

small and can be located by Health

Department and periodical visit to check

them for healthy condition will help

improve these out of state labourers.

References

Salve WN. (1990), A Socio-Economic Study of Seasonal Migrants in Co-operative sugar Factories with special Reference to Kolhapur District. PhD Dissertation, Shivaji University, Kolhapur.

Salve WN. (2009) Labour Rights and Labour Standards for Migrant Labour in India, Shivaji University, Kolhapur.

Gill, Sucha Sing, (1998) Migration of labour in India, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics. 41 (4).

Todaro MP (1969), A model of labour migration and urban unemployment in less development countries, American Economic Review. 59 (1).

Ravi Srivastava (2011) An Overview Of Its Features, Trends And Policy Challenges, Internal Migration In India Initiative, National Workshop on Internal Migration and Human Development in India, 6–7 December 2011, Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi, India.

Institute of Social Sciences (2012) A study “Why I Left My Village: A Study on Migration from Rural. Bihar, India” supported by European Union Delegation

SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT ON IN-MIGRANT LABOURERS: A CASE STUDY OF CHENNAI CITY

Documents

Transcript of SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT ON IN-MIGRANT LABOURERS: A CASE STUDY OF CHENNAI CITY