Relevance: GS-2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Key Phrases: Return Migration, Census Towns, Denied Urbanization, deprived households, National Food Security Act, Statutory Town, Urban Local Bodies, Special Community-Connect Campaigns, Svanidhi Scheme, Governance Reforms

Context:

• Numerous migrants who returned to their homes in villages have come back to cities in search of work after the Covid pandemic.
• To make rapid economic progress, India needs to improve the well-being of the workforce that migrates to cities in the hope of a better life.

Key Highlights:

• With mechanisation resulting in the greater displacement of people dependent on farms, the trail of migrants in search of livelihoods is going to increase.
• Social protection-related registration of informal workers has increased but the nature of opportunities continues to be insecure.
• Half of India is expected to urbanise by 2030 and at least half of that population could be such migrants.

How to make the lives of the urban poor better in the short to medium term?

1. Elected leadership in urban local bodies at the basti or slum cluster level:
   • The population of an urban ward varies from 1,500-6,000 in smaller towns to 30,000 to 2,00,000 in the metros.
   • Such a large population is not susceptible to community-level connections and access to public services for the poor is often determined by the local strongmen.
   • Article 243S (5) of the Constitution states: “Nothing in this article shall be deemed to prevent the Legislature of a State from making any provision for the Constitution of Committees in addition to the Ward Committees.”
   • The Constitution, therefore, does not come in the way of this much-needed reform.
2. Access to public services:
   • Nearly half of the urban population does have access to cheap food grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
   • With the portability of names and cards, access to grains has also improved.
   • There is a need to establish identity markers based on the NFSA list as well as record the deprived households who may have been left out of this list.
   • Through a participatory identification of the poor by a community connect process, it should be possible to delete the non-entitled beneficiaries of NFSA as well.
3. Special Community-Connect Campaigns:
   • Once the deprived households are identified, special community connect campaigns to ensure access to social welfare schemes should be started.
   • Such campaigns should cover schemes related to LPG connection, bank accounts, life and accident insurance, EPFO and ESI facilities, and healthcare programmes like Ayushman Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), employment schemes and drinking water, electricity, sanitation and other projects.
4. Coverage of deprived households by SHG:
   • Nearly 70 lakh women in seven lakh self-help groups are under the National Urban Livelihood Mission.
   • Complete coverage of deprived households by SHGs should be attempted in a mission mode.
   • This process should be accompanied by access to credit for all groups for diversification of livelihoods.
   • Creating basti-level women’s collectives will address several difficult challenges.
   • Loan for street vendors under Svanidhi Scheme is a good step in that direction.
5. Establishment of Migration Support Centres:
   • The arrival process of migrants to cities in search of work has to be made less troublesome.
   • Migration Support Centres need to be established
   • The expansion of rental housing and property titles to settlers who fulfil the basic requirements will ease access to credit.
   • Support for the destitute and the homeless must be made a priority.
6. Skill Upgradation:
   • Skilling, upskilling, and reskilling opportunities must be readily available for poor households in ways that enable them to combine work with skill upgradation.
   • Apprenticeships to the eligible will also help.
7. Governance Reforms:
   • Specially designated teams for the poor are needed.
   • Municipal bodies have lost revenues after the introduction of GST as entry tax and octroi are no longer with them.
   • While an increase in property tax is an option, this alone will not suffice.
   • Stamp duty is a big revenue source in urban areas, but it’s not directly available to local bodies.
   • All this requires governance reforms.
   • The financing of local bodies requires professionals with specialised skill sets.
8. Emergence of Census Towns as Rural Growth Clusters:
   • Census towns (rural gram panchayat but urban in character) and many rural growth clusters have been identified by the Ministry of Rural Development as part of the Rurban Mission.
   • Some meaningful work has happened both on infrastructure and livelihoods in 300 clusters across the country.
   • Some are tourism clusters, some specific economic activity clusters, and yet others are farm and non-farm clusters.
   • Their emergence as robust growth centres is the need of the hour.
9. Boosting Social Infrastructure:
   • Improvement of schools, health facility expansion, and anganwadis will go a long way in connecting deprived households to human development requirements.
   • The Atmanirbhar Health Infrastructure Yojana has prioritised strengthening urban health centres and the creation of frontline health teams.
10. Enforcement of Minimum Wages:
    • The time has come to enforce minimum wages.
    • Labour contractors very often disburse lower than the minimum wages, though they do not show that on paper.
    • Domestic helps need support for wages as oversupply leads to distressed employment.
    • With a section of the population ageing and life expectancy increasing, there should be employment opportunities for people with caregiving skills.

Conclusion:

• Contrary to B R Ambedkar’s hope that urbanisation will break caste hierarchies, our large cities are among the most segregated.
• Master Plans must factor in the housing and welfare needs of the working class.
• The well-being of the urban poor cannot be an afterthought.
• Governments must pay proper attention to these census towns if they want an inclusive, developed and urbanized society as well as to mitigate the ills of present-day urbanisation in the metros.

Source: Live-Mint

Mains Question:

Q. With mechanisation resulting in the greater displacement of people dependent on farms, the trail of migrants in search of livelihoods is going to increase. In this respect, discuss how can the lives of the urban poor be made better in the short to medium term? (250 words).