Migration of Labour in India: The squatter settlements of Delhi PDF
Preview Migration of Labour in India: The squatter settlements of Delhi
Migration of Labour in India Migration – both within and between countries – is increasingly one of the world’s most important policy issues. The faster the Indian economy grows, the larger will be the geographical redistribution of the workforce from localities of low to those of high employment growth. Thus, territorial mobility is fun- damental both to realizing the full economic potential of India’s people and to allowing the population to escape from rural poverty. The book analyses the decisive factors in labour migration. Based upon a thorough and robust examination of migrants to three slum localities of Delhi stretching over four decades, the author examines why people migrate, the circumstances of their decision and their experience at their destination. He investigates the myths of urban policy – that “rural development” will reduce migration to the cities, that “growth poles” can be created to divert migrant flows, and that government has the power to influence significantly migration scales and directions while pursuing essentially unpredictable market-driven economic growth. Testing the essential theoretical basis for urban policy in India, the book is of interest to academics studying migration of labour and urbanization, and those interested in South Asian Studies. Himmat Singh Ratnoo teaches in the Department of Economics at Maharshi Dayanand University, India. His research interests include migration and urbanization. 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Robles 115 Sri Lanka’s Global Factory Workers (Un) Disciplined Desires and Sexual Struggles in a Post-Colonial Society Sandya Hewamanne 116 Migration of Labour in India The squatter settlements of Delhi Himmat Singh Ratnoo Migration of Labour in India The squatter settlements of Delhi Himmat Singh Ratnoo Foreword by Nigel Harris First published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 Himmat Singh Ratnoo The right of Himmat Singh Ratnoo to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Ratnoo, Himmat Singh, author. Title: Migration of labour in India : the squatter settlements of Delhi / Himmat Singh Ratnoo. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2016. | Series: Routledge contemporary South Asia series ; 116 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016004652 | ISBN 9781138962736 (hardback) | ISBN 9781315659220 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Migrant labor—India. | Labor mobility—India. | Rural-urban migration—India. | Urbanization—India. | Migration, Internal—India. Classification: LCC HD5856.I4 R37 2016 | DDC 331.5/440954—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016004652 ISBN: 978-1-138-96273-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-65922-0 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC For Balubai And in loving memory of Chandi Dan ji Karian Devi Deenu Dhanpati Devi Dr Mahadev Prasad Saha Professor Surajbhan Narpat Lal Bhati This page intentionally left blank Contents List of maps x List of figures xi List of tables xiii Foreword xvi Preface xvii Acknowledgments xviii Glossary xxii Abbreviations xxiii 1 Introduction: background and organisation of the case study 1 Introduction 1 Theoretical and analytical background of the case study 2 Problem 13 Empirical backdrop of the case study 13 Hypotheses 15 Choice of Delhi for the case study 15 Generalising nature of the present case study 15 Structure of the book 16 References 18 2 Method in the sample survey 23 Introduction 23 Why only the squatter settlements? 23 The process of sample selection 24 The survey 27 Retracing the criterion migrants after 17 years for a resurvey in 2009 27 References 28 viii Contents 3 Socio-economic status of migrants before migration 29 Introduction 29 A test on the area explanation of migration 30 Occupational status and employment 32 Assessment of economic position in the agricultural context 41 Socio-economic indicators of status 48 Migrants’ economic and social position 50 Qualitative analysis of the socioeconomic position 52 Conclusion 54 References 56 4 Channels of information, job expectation and the process of migration 57 Introduction 57 Pre-migration urban visits, contacts, information and advice 57 Pre-migration knowledge of vacancies and chances to get work in Delhi 62 Attitudinal patterns of families towards migration to Delhi: an evidence of family strategy 63 Patterns of job search, waiting and support in the urban labour market 65 Jobs in Delhi 72 Why not work in the village? 80 Additional observations on the process of migration 82 Conclusion 86 References 87 5 Retrospective on the process of migration two decades later 88 Introduction 88 Whereabouts in 2009 88 Occupational status and mobility of the respondents 91 What has changed in the jobs? 99 How are new jobs different from the old ones? 100 Change in skill 101 Regarding those who were nonworkers in 2009 102 A retrospective on the process of migration by those who stayed in Delhi 102 Conclusion 104 References 104 Contents ix 6 Discovering and characterising groups of migrants 105 Introduction 105 Clustering analysis 105 Groups emerging from the clustering exercise 106 Significance of differences between groups 106 Conclusion 110 References 110 7 Who stays and who returns? 111 Introduction 111 The concept and illustration of the decision-tree method 111 The decision-tree model with respect to the ‘stay or return’ dichotomy 113 Analysis of the dynamics of ‘stay or return’ on the basis of knowledge gained from the decision tree 114 Conclusion 116 References 117 8 Conclusion 118 References 127 Appendix A: Empirical backdrop of starting the present longitudinal study in the early 1990s: a detailed note on then-prevalent interpretation of inter-State rural to urban migration in India 131 Appendix B: Methodological details of the sample surveys and demographic profile of the criteria migrants 137 Appendix C: Ownership, leasing-in and leasing-out of land 147 Appendix D: Occupational moves at the sub-sectoral level 153 Appendix E: Methodological details relating to data-mining techniques applied in Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 156 Appendix F: Statistical tables 163 Appendix G: Details relating to the reduced dataset 193 Appendix H: The four questionnaires and a letter format used during different stages of the study 204 Index 231
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