Higher labor cost attracting most migrant workers to return to cities

Faisal Ahmed, a daily wage earner from West Bengal who had returned to his native village in May amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, is set to return to Gurgaon and resume work. Along with Ahmed, about 45 more workers are returning to Gurgaon to join back work.

In fact, as most economic activities open up along with an increased cost of labor, thousands of daily wage earners, who had fled the cities, are gradually coming back. Besides, lack of employment opportunities in the rural areas is also driving the workers back to the cities.

An unskilled laborer earning about Rs 150 a day during pre-Covid times is now getting anything between Rs 300 and Rs 450. Skilled laborers, who were earning Rs 700 to Rs 1,000 earlier, could well get paid about 30 per cent more.

Deepak Sood, secretary general, Assocham, said that the cost of labor in cities has risen significantly due to non-availability. “A daily wage earner today is earning more than double. The cost of labor has gone up substantially and this is driving the laborers to come back,” Sood told IN, adding that the migrant laborers enjoy a better quality of life in cities.

According to the State Bank of India’s Ecowrap research, 90 per cent of the country’s migrant laborers hail from five states—Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. The report has suggested that about 60 lakh migrants had gone back to their home states when the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 25.

Sood pointed out that the partial lockdown, which is continuing with several restrictions even after over four months, must be lifted at the earliest to boost the economy. “The need of the hour is to completely open up offices and factories must resume and people must get back to the normal work culture,” he said.

“Many are returning due to lack of job opportunity in the villages. Though overall economic activities have shrunk with lesser opportunities, a large number of workers are returning to the cities,” Sharad Sharad Kumar Saraf, president, Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO), said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier had also announced an additional Rs 40,000 crore to boost the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to support additional livelihoods in the wake of the migrants’ exodus from the cities. In the Union budget, the Minister had allocated Rs 61,000 crore towards MGNREGA..