The thrust of this report is to look at the architecture of laws and schemes at the federal and state levels to ensure that there are no barriers to free voluntary movement of people across the country, no restrictions on them to be fully able to take advantage of the opportunities, wherever they may be available in India. This Working Group report, though not necessarily organised along these lines, focuses on five major issues:
- Integration: On issues relating to work, the thrust is to ensure that migrant workers are treated like all other workers without discrimination rather than dispensations targeted specially for migrant workers. This focuses on existing legal frameworks. Portability: On issues relating to access to services, there are special problems created by mobility of migrants and the architecture of delivery needs to address these issues. The focus here is on the design of existing government schemes.
- Convergence: A number of schemes across ministries address issues of migrants. Much of the implementation is at the state level, e.g., Sarva Siksha Abhiyan's scope for EGS (Education Guarantee Scheme) and AIE (Alternative and Innovative Education) interventions that are focused on migrants. The intent here is to coordinate between different schemes as much as possible, with a focus on delivery.
- Public Access: This focuses on the key importance of information and dissemination to achieve all of the above. This is easier at the state level and may need institutions like Migrant Helplines and animators/ facilitators to assist in the process.
- Data: There are differences about the extent of migration in India, beyond what can be expected from normal variations in data methodology. It is important to address these carefully and institutionally, if the issue of migration is to be addressed in an evidence-informed manner
Migration