UP initiative on migrants

A war of words has broken out after UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s announcement that his state will set up a migration commission to help find jobs for workers returning home and that any state that wants labourers from UP has to seek its permission. The statement met with a strong response from MNS chief Raj Thackeray who hit out, saying migrant workers will have to seek permission from the Maharashtra Government and register for that purpose. The Samajwadi Party and the Congress, too, have said it was a ruse to divert attention from the inability to handle the situation. The exodus has created a row, with allegations being levelled that workers were not treated well in the host states and the home states facing the prospect of finding avenues to keep them engaged.

The UP initiative has a precedent in Kerala, where a department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs exists. The department takes into account the problems faced by the people, who do not reside there, and aims to safeguard their rights and rehabilitate those who return home after spending many productive years elsewhere. After the pandemic, the department has allowed people stuck in different parts of the country to register and return.

The task at hand for Yogi Adityanath is enormous, with an estimated 20 lakh people having returned. Most belong to the unorganised or informal sector, and it reveals the unregulated way in which work gets done. While the push-and-pull factors may have accounted for the migration — fuelled by industrialisation and urbanisation — the crisis could well offer an opportunity for both the place of work and the workforce to address the needs arising out of the changed circumstances, ensuring some stability and social security. With already too many government agencies implementing sundry schemes, the priority should be to ensure workers do not get a raw deal with now even the apex court taking note of it. It will call for greater coordination. The exodus should not end up in a confrontation between the home and host states. Betterment of the system should remain the aim.