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Journalism of Courage
That Chinese nationals employed in India on business visas performing unskilled or semi-skilled jobs is an issue that needs to be addressed is obvious. Statements from the government that future unskilled or semi-skilled migration would be checked by the labour ministry are therefore welcome.
The most obvious objection to contracting foreign unskilled and semi-skilled labourers stems from the simple reality that there exists an abundant supply of unskilled and semi-skilled workers in India. Further,this reserve pool of labour needs to be given incentives for employment. Thus the migration that should be encouraged is domestic. On the other hand,migration of labour is based on impulse that migration will only take place when there exists a demand for labourers. It could be that the Chinese labourers are productive,and that their presence would help many infrastructure projects to be completed faster. However,to obtain a full idea of the context in which this employment is taking place,it is equally important to understand that Indias unskilled and semi-skilled labour suffers immensely on account of this countrys inability to reform its labour laws.
This is not to say that the movement of labour does not need to be liberalised. Indeed,this has been Indias position,for reasons of principle as well as of pragmatism,given the huge number of semi-skilled Indians who find employment overseas,filling needs in their countries of employment and sustaining families back home with remittances. A larger debate will remain about how liberal India should be on issues of migration. But it would be short-sighted to see the Chinese case simply as a reason for strengthening barriers,without inquiring into the larger need for labour reform.
