Opinion Lessons from Jharkhand: Migrants’ database for targeted welfare delivery

The migrant labour crisis during the Covid-induced lockdown in 2020 exposed the shortcomings of the country’s social security architecture. The absence of credible information on people who migrate in search of livelihoods meant that support extended to these workers during the period of economic distress was patchy at best. The crisis forced the Centre to undertake two data-related exercises. An all-India migrants survey is underway. A portal has also been developed to register unorganised sector employees — it has a provision to determine if a worker has migrated in search of better opportunities. But for effective delivery of welfare schemes, policymakers require granular data — information on migration routes, social security needs of the workers and their health-related vulnerabilities. The Jharkhand government’s initiative, launched this month, to collate such information and build a database of migrant workers from the state, is an important step in this direction.

The enumeration is part of the state’s Safe and Responsible Migration Initiative that was launched in 2021. One of the early findings was that women migrant labourers are amongst the most vulnerable. There is also anecdotal evidence that people from tribal communities, about 27 per cent of Jharkhand’s population, constitute a significant part of the migrant outflow. Their difficult economic condition places these workers at the mercy of their employers. For instance, it’s been almost two years that the Jharkhand government has been embroiled in a dispute with the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). It has accused the defence agency of failing to comply with mutually agreed terms for employing labour from the state during the pandemic period. But the state’s efforts have been hobbled by the lack of information — it has been forced to rely on figures provided by the BRO. A database will place it on a surer footing in such standoffs.

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The survey will reportedly be a bottom-up affair. The enumerators will speak to community leaders to understand the reasons that push people to migrate. Information on health, education, remittances and the uses they are put to can help policymakers devise targeted interventions — these are increasingly seen as more effective methods of welfare delivery compared to subsidies meant for a larger population. In the long-run, such information can help frame policies to check distress migration. That’s why Jharkhand’s survey has lessons for other states. The exercise should, however, not be a one-off affair. Linking the database with policy could throw up the need for more in-depth information. Updating it regularly will help the state to frame a robust social security architecture.