Authored By Nandini C. & Siri K.
Rural India has witnessed the worst of the times, with stagnating incomes, and climate events, people have been pushed to endure crises like no other. The past decade, accelerated by the devils of the pandemic, have caused havoc in the lives of lower and middle-income migrants in urban centres, with loss and change of homes, livelihood and poor social security measures.
A recent incident of an auto-driver harassing a Rapido bike rider, at a signal raised alarms for the safety and treatment of migrant workers in Bengaluru Urban. The auto driver consistently passed racial slurs to the North East Indian rider and statements stating how ‘outsiders’ come to the city for jobs like this and indeed harm the livelihood of locals or steal the opportunity for locals to sustain in the city. ‘As you can see, this man is from another country.
He happily operates illegally run bike taxi services here. He is an outsider’, iterated the auto driver, which was captured on tape. However, the problem is not just about employment in this regard, the focus is to be done on the conditions that have caused the #LeaveBengaluru protests on Social Media, with several locals, protesting against migrants to flee the city, as they believe the inherent population pressure has led to the devastation of the city infrastructure, opportunities and climate.
Similar contingencies contesting the rights of Kannadigas, and the outburst against migrants in the city, have been common, and an outcry that is inflated with instances of climate change, unemployment and other dimensions.
Benoy Peter, the executive director of the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development mentioned in a statement, ‘If migrants returned to their hometowns, almost every sector would shut down’. The question is where do inter and intra state migrants find a sense of security and safety, where the access to basic amenities stand questionable.
A report from the Times of India in 2019 stated that nearly 50% of the urban population in Bengaluru are migrants. Considering which, in the recent years, the population of Bengaluru is considered fleeting, the population pressure has led to the city expanding considerably.
During the unprecedented flooding and waterlogging in the city, that caused hardships for thousands of migrant city dwellers, some of whom were forced to displace, revealed the deeper causes to the understanding. Additionally, the poorly planned nature of the city imposes a larger concern to people trying to catch up with rising prices of rents, commute worries and uncertainties that have caused many to worry.
The incentive towards hatred or demonisation of migrant communities have been politicised significantly by Governments too, with the Karnataka Government sorting higher share of central tax revenues as a reward for the intake of economic migrants. This instance amplified the narrative of development being centred around the core and periphery and how in the Indian context, Eastern and Northern states’ dependency for employment and sustenance on western and southern states.
The question of migration in Bengaluru, is not just restricted to inter-state, it is intra-state and also among intra rural centres to Bengaluru Urban for daily wage jobs, like under the MGNREGA scheme and so forth. Benoy Peter also emphasised in an article on the Deccan Herald that interstate migrants are often subject to precarious working conditions that are usually not preferred by local populations, and in some manner is reserved for migrants, who are also not paid the same as local workers. Rising costs of living, and the impact of the pandemic has caused deep distress to migrants in the city, where spaces lack ventilation, proper and timely water supply, adequate sewage connections and more.
Migrant population as labour is crucial for the infrastructural development in cities, but in fact the unplanned nature of Bengaluru Urban has complicated the phases of industrialisation. Despite this, it is crucial to note that migration to Bengaluru is not a decade or a century old phenomenon.
The history of migration to the city is quite intriguing, with three waves of migration particularly shaping the modern outlook of Bengaluru. Historian Suresh Moona iterated how it was not surprising, since the migration to Bengaluru was as ancient as Kempegowda’s times, where mostly traders and craftsmen migrated, and that is how certain areas of the city are named today.
For example, Akkipete, was named after Akki or Rice traders. Speaking of modern day Bengaluru, Janaki Nair, a Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, mentioned that although migration before the Indian Independence was limited largely to the Tamil-speaking population, the emergence of public sector undertakings and industries changed the city’s demography forever. Two major public undertakings, Bharat Electronics and Hindustan Aeronautics in the 1950s and 60s had a considerable impact.
The emergence of these industries now attracted workers from different parts of the country to come work in the city. Thereby, an influx of workers around the time from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha, occurred. It was in no-time that Bengaluru became a centre for learning, trade and industry, and soon to be the silicon valley of India. As Bengaluru took to its name of the Silicon Valley of India, the industrial expansion attracted workers from North-East and other states as well, changing the pre-independence dynamic.
In the later years, Bengaluru would also take stage for its educational institutions, both technical and non-technical, which would attract students as Bengaluru would look more promising as a stabilising force and a land of opportunities within the industrial conflux.
We spoke to migrant workers in Bengaluru Urban to understand and interpret the challenges they face in the city as migrants for survival, and tallied their responses with the interpretation from policies and recent developments that have stirred this debate.
The Need to Migrate
Migration often occurs for access to opportunities outside of the land where one is born and raised. Migration however is not restricted to just the lower strata, but all kinds, as opportunities bloom, especially when a city like Bengaluru evolved. The need to migrate however is multifold, and not just restricted to the migrants’ needs. A report from the International Labour Organisation iterated how migrants make up for 10% of India’s GDP (2011).
‘I came to the city 7 years ago, and have lived and worked across different jobs, some in transportation, some in hospitality, and some as a security guard and even as a caregiver. The city has provided me with everything, I earn more than I would back in Lucknow. The owner of the shop where I work pays for my living, I have money to spend on my kids’ education so they can come here, study well but not fall in the same loopend as their father’
–Male, 40, Migrant from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Working Conditions
The imposition of safety is mostly absent for migrant workers, catering to schemes like uncertain daily wage work from MNREGA, which attracts a lot of inter and intra state workers; men and women find themselves on the edge often, due to the overbearing costs of citylife.
Daily wages tend to be integral to pay for food on the plate. Housing is at times taken care of, but mostly for men where they are able to share accommodation with other males. However, cramped up rooms, ventilation and limited access to resources like drinking water pose an alarming caution to the wellbeing and safety of migrant workers.
Migrant workers are often considered within informal work and thereby do not get to enjoy the benefits of formal work, therefore, health and other amenities are often kept at bay as they struggle to live up to rising costs and battling the challenges of citylife.
‘I live in a room at the end of the road, often we face difficulties with water. Earlier I lived alone, but I had to bring my wife and son here because my son fell terribly ill. I have asked for fair compensation or better housing, or at least an increase in my pay so I would be able to pay for my place but my owner declined. He would have accepted if I was living alone. But, I also have to accept that I have a family.’
Male, 27, Migrant from West Bengal
‘I once burnt my hand while cooking at my employer’s place. They refused to offer me treatment because they claimed it was my fault. I had to pay nearly two-month worth of my salary for that treatment.’
Female. 24, Migrant from Nepal
Food & Social Security
Most migrants have the overbearing load of sending some remuneration home. Being paid lower wages, impose greater challenges to secure food and nutrition adequate. The One Nation One Card Plan on paper, allows inter and intra state migrants to fend food grains across fair price shops in the country.
Adding to the complexity of the city’s transport, most migrants we spoke to claimed that they spent nearly 50 – 65% of their income on food and transport alone, whatever was left was mostly sent home or spent on their family with little to no savings. The Ayushmann Bharat Pradhan mantri Jan Yojana, after many years of implementation has still left nearly 58% of the target population without health insurance protection (Deccan Herald, 2023).
‘I mostly get food at my workplace, but for my family, I have to really figure out where to find grains like rice, and wheat for cheap in the city. I am not certain of navigating the city much, or clear about fair prices yet, I am still new here and it has been quite challenging to afford meals outside of my workplace towards the later end of the month.’
–Female, 33, Migrant from Bihar
‘It gets tiring to go back home after painting everyday only to cook and clean all by myself. Back home, I have my wife to support me but here? I need to do all the work by myself. When one becomes a father, his responsibilities increase. Even if he does not have a proper pair of shoes to wear, even if his clothes are soiled, even if he struggles to afford food, he cannot see his children suffer the same fate as him. He needs to give them shelter, food and clothes first, even if he himself is struggling.’
–Male, 40, Migrant from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh
‘Savings? With the money I earn, how can I? I need this money to pay for my food, my rent, electricity and water bills, while also sending a portion of it to my family back home.’
–Male, 35+, Migrant from Uttar Pradesh
Battling Social Stigma
However, Bengaluru also became a centre that attracted both skilled and unskilled workers. Rural to urban migration in most cases happens due to the eagerness for opportunities, primarily because of the lack of it in rural centres. The ease of it in present day Bengaluru is due to the multiplication of cultures in the city. The 2011 census mentioned that only 46% of the population in Bengaluru, spoke Kannada, meanwhile other languages like Tamil, Malayalam, Urdu and Hindi had significant weightages.
‘The city has been kind to me and my family. It is not difficult to find our own community here, but the social divide is equally prevalent – in housing, accessibility, recreation, everything. The city is very expensive and as an uneducated woman I am not paid enough. It takes a lot for me ’
– Female, 26, Migrant from Nepal
While migrants from different regions of India face several challenges in Bangalore, North Indians tend to face more hostility and this is a two-fold issue caused by language barriers and social stigma. It is often claimed that outsiders who don’t know the language, are not even bothered to know the language either – people who disrespect the city and its culture by imposing theirs, and get away with saying ‘Kannad Gothilla’.
In a video that went viral with 2 million views on twitter alone, a non-Kannada passenger is heard saying “No, we will not speak in Kannada, why should we speak in Kannada?” to a Bengaluru auto driver. He responded to her saying,
‘This is Karnataka and you people should speak in Kannada. You people are north Indian beggars. This is our land and not your land. Why should I speak in Hindi?’
The video has garnered mixed responses from people all over the internet, most of whom support the auto driver.
Cry for Fair Compensation
Migrants are often underpaid, than local counterparts. This applies usually across social strata but is more prevalent in the lower socio-economic segment. Daily wage workers on the other hand struggle to make ends meet, as work becomes scantier and unpredictable. Speaking on inclusion in policies also, the recent Shakthi Scheme debate stirred chaos among female migrants most of whom do not own a Government approved ID card with a Karnataka address. A lot of migrants also tend to give into cheaper labour, especially if they are secondary earners, to make ends meet. The debate around fair compensation has also been met with sheer distance, and discrimination from both ends.
‘Locals would not work the jobs we do, they would want higher pay. For us, this is enough, we settle for this for a better life, and the employers feel better because they save money.’
–Male, 40, Migrant from Lucknow
‘I work a lot of households to make ends meet. The city is brutal, there is no safety or conversations around equal or minimum pay. In June, I had to take up a job because I had no other option, everything is so expensive.’
–Female, 22, Migrant from Nepal
‘I was kicked out of my job, and was jobless for nearly 45 days. It is very difficult to imagine how I survived here alone during the pandemic and also fend for my family back home. There was never any compensation or repayment for that period.’
–Male, 40, Migrant from Gorakhpur
As much as Bengaluru evolved as a land for cultures to mix, mingle and interact, it has also fostered growth and industrial development. However, the loopholes within the treatment of migrant workers are not restricted to the core concern of migration, but the lack of acknowledgement about the issue. As the city thrives, so do the challenges of citylife become more prominent, so we pose the question, ‘What safety is provided to migrant workers across social strata in inter and intra-state migration?’