CIRCULAR MIGRATION

1. Introduction

Recently, SBI released a report showing that internal migration in India has added Rs 15 lakh crore to states' gross domestic product (GDP). The report states that the increase in productivity due to the redistribution of human resources far outweighs the loss in GDP of states that are seeing people leave.

2. About Circular Migration

• Circular migration is a repetitive form of migration wherein people move to another place (the destination country) and back (country of origin) according to the availability of employment.
• This effectively means that instead of migrating permanently or temporarily (moving for some time to complete any contract-based labour) to another location, people move to different locations for a brief period when work is available.
• It is a phenomenon mostly among low-income groups who migrate to avail of seasonally available jobs in another country, city, place etc.

3. Public Policy

• With the increasingly fluid movement of people, policy around migration is one of the biggest debates in the world.
• The movement of citizens from the Global South to the West in search of more employment opportunities or a better standard of living creates a brain drain for their origin countries and competition for the citizens of the destination countries.
• Similarly, the flow of people moving from rural areas to more urban areas of the same country, results in the breakdown of infrastructure and agrarian stagnation. Therefore, migration of any kind has become a policy hazard.

4. Benefits of Circular Migration

• Circular migration is now seen as the best way forward, as the needs of development and individual economic advancement can be balanced out.
• It is seen as a balanced migration method which looks at migration not only from the point of view of the receiving country but also of the sending nation.
• For the country of origin, migration, especially international migration, is beneficial due to the flow of remittances which will boost and aid the domestic economy.
• The flow of foreign capital will enhance the economy ensuring more infrastructure, more jobs and by association, a better standard of living.
• However, large-scale transnational migration will also lead to brain drain, wherein the most talented people of the country will use their intellect and innovation for the advancement of another country.
• From the perspective of the host countries, especially those of the West, a lesser population and higher access to education has resulted in a large dearth of low-income low-skill jobs which migrants have been able to fill.
• However, the influx of migrants has caused a wide range of anxieties and cultural conflicts in the host populations with most of them now calling for restrictions and outright bans on migration.
• Circular migration aims to quell all these fears. The negative effects of brain drain will be reduced and a sort of brain circulation will be encouraged, wherein the individual can use his talents in both countries and still contribute to remittances.

Image Source: Research Gate

5. Circular Migration in India

• In India, internal migration, which is migration within a particular country or State, has almost always been circular.
• With the advent of jobs in the manufacturing, construction and services sectors, there has been a huge flow of migrants from rural areas to urban cities.
• Between 2004–2005 and 2011–2012, the construction sector witnessed one of the largest net increases in employment for all workers, specifically for rural males.
• This has led to rural populations and their economy dwindling and urban spaces, while booming, witnessing infrastructural collapse as they are unable to properly house incoming populations.
• In India, the uneven development post-liberalisation has led to a lot of inter-state migration, with States like West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar having some of the highest rates of out-migration.
• Initially, while most of the migration was to Delhi, nowadays it has increased to southern States as well.

6. Challenges of Circular Migration

• In such migration, especially to southern States where the language barrier is a big obstacle, rural circular migrants are often at the mercy of middlemen or brokers.
• They are made to work in unhygienic and unsafe conditions with little to no protective equipment.
• They are routinely exploited and suffer significant ‘unfreedoms’ in host States.
• Additionally, indigenous wage groups and unions resent these migrants as they are seen as taking away their jobs by agreeing to work for lower wages.
• The study also says that this kind of migration is merely subsistence migration it’s the bare minimum.
• The migrants can barely provide for themselves and their families, with no scope for further asset creation or savings.
• There is also a certain precarity associated with these jobs as they are seasonal and often irregular.
• A lack of jobs in the host States means that they will either have to go back home or look for work in other.