Question
Highlight the condition of migrant workers in industries by giving suitable examples.
Solution
- Commercialization of agriculture has been responsible for the growth of migrant agricultural labour. Seasonal demand for agricultural labour increased in prosperous Green Revolution regions such as Punjab.
- Seasonal migration emerged in which thousands of workers circulate between their home villages and more prosperous areas where there is more demand for labour and higher wages.
- Labourers migrate also due to the increasing inequalities in rural areas from the mid-1990s, which have forced many households to combine multiple occupations to sustain themselves.
- Jan Breman has termed the migrant workers as 'Footloose labour' However, these landless workers do not have many rights and are also denied minimum wages.
