This is a powerpoint presentation which summarises the key points of our study on migrant labour from Bihar, India

1. Why I Left My Village:
A Study on Migration from Rural
Bihar, India
Institute of Social Sciences
Supported by:
European Union Delegation to India

2. Study Team:
Sachindra Narayan
Debraj Bhattacharya
Research Assistants:
Ajay Kumar Singh, Satyendra Prasad, Archana Kumari,
Usha Kumari Deo, Naresh Kumar, Birendra Sharma,
Manju Sharan Kumari, Koushalendra Kumar, Ranjan Kumar,
Janardan Thakur, Anil Kumar Singh, Kumari Kumkum,
Rajesh Kumar Singh, Sanju Kumari, Kumar Jitendra Kishor,
Sushil Kumar and Sunil

3. OBJECTIVES
The study concentrated on a particular form of migration from
rural Bihar – migration to urban areas in search of livelihood.
Thus we are not considering migration due to marriage and
migration within the state. More specifically the study seeks to
understand the following:
• The vulnerabilities at the source region that compels rural
population to migrate to the urban centres in search of work.
• The socio-economic profile of the migrants.
• The destination points of migrant population.
• The process of migration.
• The benefits and the problems associated with migration.
• The gender dimension of migration.
• The role of local government in the process of migration.
• The impact on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme in stopping migration in the study area.

4. METHODOLOGY
• In the absence of any readily available data-base on migration
prone districts the study districts were chosen purposively in
consultation with the state officials of Bihar. The three chosen
districts were not covered in earlier study by Girish Kumar and
Pranab Banerji.
• Similarly, the study Blocks/GPs were chosen in consultation with
district and sub-district functionaries.
• In each district two Blocks, and in each Block three Gram
Panchayats and in each Gram Panchayat a minimum of three
villages were chosen. In some cases more than three villages were
chosen as per requirement. In each study village every third
household was covered under the survey, hence the sampling
method at the village level was systematic random.

5. METHODOLOGY (CONT…)
• Districts: Gaya, Bhojpur, Aurangabad
• Blocks: 2 Blocks from each district; total 6 Blocks
• Gram Panchayats: 3 GPs from each Block; total 18 GPs
• Villages: At least 3 villages from each GP; total 57 villages
• Household: Every third household in the village
• Sample Size for Household Survey:
District Sample Size
Gaya 1037
Bhojpur 1000
Aurangabad 1000
Total 3037
Household Survey was supplemented by Qualitative Research
Methods like FGD, Semi-structured interviews, etc.

6. KEY FINDINGS

7. Occupation
1. In all three districts the overwhelming majority of the
respondents live as daily wage earners or as agricultural
labourers/marginal farmers.

8. Caste Status
2. Majority of the migrant households are from Scheduled
Castes and Other Backward Castes.

9. BPL Status
3. Fifty Eight per cent of the families are located below the
official poverty line.

10. Type of House
4. Only 9 per cent live in concrete houses and nearly 60 per
cent live in kutccha houses, i.e. houses made of mud, straw
and tin.

11. Possession of Land
5. Sixty five per cent of the households do not possess any
cultivable land.

12. Size of Land holding
6. Eighty One per cent of those who have land, have less than one
acre of land.

13. Sources of Income
7. In the absence of land or substantial amount of land, the two
most important sources of income for the households are
remittances from migration and daily wage labour at the local
level. Income from agriculture forms the third most important
source of income in all three districts.

14. Access to Credit
8. Only about 10 per cent of the households have access to credit
from a bank. The majority rely on informal sources such as
moneylenders and neighbours for their loans.

15. Access to Subsidised Essential Commodities
9. PDS shops are functional but not adequately. Forty per cent of
the respondents have said that they do not get rice and wheat from
the PDS shops.

16. Reasons for Migration
10. The two most important reasons cited by the respondents as
causes of migration are inadequate fulfillment of livelihood and
inadequate employment opportunity. 95 and 97 per cent of the
respondents have cited these as reasons.

17. Sources of Information
11. Migration is still predominantly based on caste and family
based networks. The source of information related to migration in
38 per cent cases is from another migrant of the same caste while
in 41 per cent cases the informer is a member of the family. In only
12 per cent cases the source of information is a member of another
caste. The role of middle men or agent is negligible. It can also be
seen that migration hardly ever takes place without any prior
information. Only in 2 per cent cases migrants have moved on the
basis of information that is not directly from some source

18. Gender
12. The migrant is almost without exception a single male. In 81
per cent cases one person from the household migrates. In 15 per
cent cases the number of migrants is two. Thus the dominant
trend is for one person per household to migrate to urban areas
in search of work. It is very rare to migrate with family. Ninety
nine per cent of the respondents have said that women do not
migrate.

19. Destination Points
13. The migrants are moving to almost all parts of India. The capital
of India, New Delhi, is the most favoured destination point with
18.3 per cent of the respondents choosing the city as their
destination point. Gujarat and Maharashtra, understandably comes
next as these are important industrial bases of India at present.

20. Remittances:
14. It is rare (6%) to remit more than INR 50,000 in a year. Fifteen
per cent remit less than INR 12000 in a year or less than INR 1000 in
a month. Another 10 per cent sends between 12001 and 20,000
INR. Thus about one-fourth of the total sends less than INR 2000
per month.

21. Impact of Remittances
15. Only in case of 15
per cent of the
respondents,
remittances have
resulted in construction
of a concrete house.
Nearly 50 per cent have
however said that it
leads to improvement of
the resource base of the
family. This means in
some cases buying land
and in some other cases
buying inputs for
agriculture and also
paying off family debts.

22. Benefits of Migration
16. In 90 per cent cases the respondents have said that migration has
resulted in an improvement of living conditions of the household and 85 per
cent have said that it has led increase in family’s income. More than 30 per
cent have said that it has led to improvement of their ability to repay loans
and 34 per cent of the respondents have said that it had helped to meet
medical expenses.

23. Problems due to Migration
17. The emotional loss due to separation from the family is considered to be
the most important negative aspect of migration by the households. 92 per
cent have said separation from the family is the most important negative
aspect while 71 per cent have said migrant’s absence is felt by the family
members.

24. Effectiveness of MGNREGS
18. Gram Panchayats are not able to play any effective role in the
lives of the migrant population. MGNREGS in the study districts is a
failure. Seventy nine per cent of the respondents have said that they
have received no work under MGNREGS. In case of Aurangabad
district the all the respondents have said that they have not received
any work under the scheme.

25. Child Labour and Child Trafficking
19. The study team has found evidence of child labour and child trafficking
in Gaya district.
Some children migrate locally or within the country to work in various small
restaurants popularly known as “Hotels”. These children are used for washing
dishes and as support staff for the cooks. Typically the children are paid less
than adult males but are given food and shelter. They are exploited as child
labourers.
However there is a more dangerous form of “migration” which takes place.
Some foreign tourists visiting Bodh Gaya also work as agents who lure poor
parents by giving them some money as advances to let their children go
abroad with them. Usually the parents do not see their children again. In
some cases the agent who recruited the children calls the parents and says
that their children have left and are missing or they have died. It is not clear
whether the parents willingly sells the children or not but there is no doubt
that this is a form of child trafficking.

26. RECOMMENDATIONS

27. SHORT TERM ( 0-2 YRS)
• Union Government may set up a committee to review the
implementation of “The Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of
Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979”.
• Central/State Government may give a block grant to the Gram
Panchayats to support migrants through awareness generation, for
helping migrants who have fallen seriously ill due to work at the
destination point and for helping families who have suddenly lost
their migrant earning member.
• Gram Panchayats may be given the authority to certify a migrant
worker before he leaves for the destination point. The migrant may
be issued a certificate and a card with necessary phone numbers
where he can call in case of any distress at the destination point.

28. • Gram Panchayats may also be encouraged to declare in a Gram
Sabha that migration of persons below the age of 14 for work is
illegal. The certificate from the Panchayat may only be given to
persons above the age of 14.
• Gram Panchayats may be encouraged to maintain a data-base of
migrant workers. This data may be shared with the District Labour
Officer.
• State Governments should identify which migration prone districts
are doing poorly in implementation of MGNREGS. The District
Magistrate should be issued directives to address the problem on a
war footing.
• District Administration needs to be issued directives to address the
issues of child labour and child trafficking in districts (such as Gaya)
where such incidents are taking place.

29. MEDIUM TERM ( 0-5 YRS)
• Union and State Governments need to develop a data-base of
migration so that appropriate planning interventions can be made
regarding the problem of distressed migration. The migration
prone districts need to be identified on the basis of that data-
base.
• Donor Agencies may consider distress migration as a priority
issue to allocate more funds for Civil Society Organisations to play
a greater role in the migration process. Civil Society Organisations
may be involved in awareness generation, providing information
to the migrants on good employers in different destinations,
provide hand-holding support to the migrants while migrating and
keeping in touch with them at the destination point in order to
ensure that they get the facilities that are their rights as workers.

30. • The migrant workers, although huge in number, are largely
unorganised. Trade Unions, Kisan Sabhas and appropriate
Ministries/Departments need to find ways of organizing the migrant
workers. There are several small-scale examples of organisations trying
to improve the lives of the migrant workers. These need to be
documented and replicated.

31. LONG TERM ( 0 – 10 YRS)
• More branches of rural banks need to be opened so that the rural
poor can have access to formal credit. A plan to improve coverage by
rural banks need to be developed. A push is required regarding
formation of Self Help Groups in the villages so that a lower rate of
interest is available to the rural poor. Support of NABARD and
distinguished Civil Society Organisations may be sought for this
purpose.
• The National Rural Livelihood Mission needs to be properly
implemented in the migration prone districts.

32. • A comprehensive district-level plan is required to boost irrigation
and power supply to the villages so that agriculture can be improved.
• Union and State Governments may consider providing some inputs
at a subsidized rate through the Gram Panchayats so that input cost
of agriculture is reduced.
• Union and State Governments need to develop a plan for giving
incentives to small-scale industries to develop in the region so that
more full-time/part time jobs are created in the locality.
• Union and State Governments need to start a process of re-thinking
about current agricultural practice in densely populated parts of
India. It is clear that some form of co-operative farming would have
to be evolved in areas where the individual farmers own very small
plots of land in order to achieve economies of scale and make
agriculture profitable.

33. THANK YOU