All-India Migrant Workers Survey to be conducted
Labour Bureau, an attached office of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, has been entrusted with the task of conducting the All India Survey on Migrant workers.
An Expert Group has been constituted by the Government of India on 09th September, 2020 to examine and finalize the schedules, sampling design and other technical details of the aforesaid survey being conducted by Labour Bureau. Given the high proportion of employment generated in professions like charted accountants, lawyers, and doctors, there’s a need to undertake a periodic estimation of the employment created in such professions. The survey aims at generating reliable and frequent database on employment which will serve as an input in overall employment planning and promotion,”
While the migrant workers’ survey will provide authentic estimates of the number of migrant workers in the country apart from assessing the issues they face, the survey of domestic workers, who constitute roughly 4% of India’s working population, is the first of-its-kind exercise that will identify concerns faced by them and help the government frame policies to improve their conditions.
According to the 2016 Economic Survey, the migrant workforce in India is over 10 crore. They are important contributors to the national economy. Yet, sadly, they are also invisible and denied the benefits of a welfare state. This is a much-delayed, much-needed census that will help the government frame suitable policies for them.
Labour Bureau is also in the process of finalising the All India Surveys of Professional Bodies and Transport workers and is expected to launch them shortly after the migrant and domestic workers survey.
The total number of internal migrants in India, as per the 2011 census, is 45.36 crore or 37% of the country’s population. This includes inter-state migrants as well as migrants within each state, while the recent exodus is largely due to the movement of inter-state migrants.
As per Census 2011, the size of the workforce was 48.2 crore people. This figure is estimated to have exceeded 50 crore in 2016 — the Economic Survey pegged the size of the migrant workforce at roughly 20 per cent or over 10 crore in 2016.
