The Mumbai (Maharashtra) based research non-profit India Migration Now has released “Interstate Migrant Policy Index (IMPEX) 2019” stating integration of interstate migrants. In accordance to this, the states of Kerala, Goa, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh (AP) have been most successful in integrating migrant workers.
- India’s average IMPEX 2019 score for 28 states and the Union Territory (UT) of National Capital Territory (NCT) Delhi is 37 out of 100. This score reflects a lack of focus towards migrant’s integration and the laws for migrants are not implemented to the full extent.
Central Government Policies for Migrant’s Welfare:
Migration within the country is a fundamental right for every citizen. In this regard, our legislation has the following laws for the welfare of the migrants:
- Interstate Migrant Workmen (Regulation and Conditions of Service) Act 1979
- Minimum Wages Act 1948, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970
- Equal Remuneration Act 1976
- Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 1996.
Key Points:
–Kerala (57), Goa (51) and Rajasthan (51) are the only three states to score over 50 in the index. Further in these three, Kerala leads on three indicators–child rights, education, and health and sanitation.
–Notably, the seven states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala attract 51% of India’s inter-state migrants, according to an IMN analysis of Census 2011 data. Only two of these states, Kerala and Maharashtra, feature in the top 10 on IMPEX.
–The index will help bureaucrats and stakeholders in evolving policy for India’s 455 million internal migrants. This figure is from Census 2011.
–As per census 2011, 54 million migrants crossed state borders for work.
Parameters of IMPEX:
IMPEX examines state’s performance on 8 policy areas viz. child rights, education, health and sanitation, housing, identity and registration, labour market, social benefits and political inclusion with more than 60 indicators.
- Scores are assigned from a total value of 100 to states based on existing schemes/rights for migrant workers.
Recent Related News:
i.India has been ranked 129 out of 158 countries in the Third Edition of Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index or CRI Index 2020 released by Oxfam and Development Finance International (DFI). According to the report, India has spent only 4% of its budget on health during the Pandemic, which is the Fourth Lowest in the world.
ii.According to Arton Capital’s Passport Index 2020, India has been ranked 58th in the list of World’s Most Powerful Passports. New Zealand topped the list followed by Japan, and Germany.
About IMPEX:
–The IMPEX is a regional adaptation of the international Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX), conceptualised by the Migration Policy Group and the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, both nonprofit policy think-tanks based in Europe.
–India Migration Now is a venture of the South East Migration Foundation.
