Title: Living conditions of internal labour migrants: a nationwide study in 13 Indian cities

Authors: Bontha Veerraju Babu; Yadlapalli Sriparvati Kusuma; Muthusamy Sivakami; Dharmesh Kumar Lal; Palaniappan Marimuthu; Jagjeevan Babu Geddam; Anoop Khanna; Monika Agarwal; Godi Sudhakar; Paramita Sengupta; Anjali Borhade; Zulfia Khan; Anna Salomi Kerketta; Brogen Singh Akoijam

Addresses: Division of Health Systems Research, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, 110 029, India ' Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, 110 029, India ' Centre for Health and Social Sciences, School of Health Systems Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, 400 088, India ' International Institute of Health Management Research, New Delhi, 110 075, India ' Department of Biostatistics, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences, Bangalore, 560029, India ' National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, Hyderabad, 500 007, India ' Indian Institute of Health Management Research, Jaipur, 302 029, India ' Department of Community Medicine & Public Health, KG Medical University, Lucknow, 226 003, India ' Department of Human Genetics, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, 530 003, India ' Department of Community Medicine, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, 141 008, India ' Indian Institute of Public Health, Public Health Foundation of India, Gurgaon, 122 002, India ' Department of Community Medicine, JN Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202 002, India ' Regional Medical Research Centre, Indian Council of Medical Research, Bhubaneswar, 751 023, India ' Department of Community Medicine, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, 795 004, India

Abstract: In India, rural impoverishment and livelihood opportunities in cities result in rural-urban migration. However, migrants face myriad of challenges at destination. This paper reports living conditions of internal labour migrants living in 13 Indian cities. Quantitative data were collected from migrants, who have migrated to the city within the last ten years but not less than 30 days. Majority of migrants live in non-notified slums in katcha or semi-pucca or squatter houses. About 38% of migrants do not have access to sanitary latrine and depend on open defecation. Only 59% of households had metered electricity connection. Only 23% possess ration card while 57% have voter identification cards. Thus, migrants are deprived of basic amenities and are marginalised to access several social entitlements. Since migrants are an inalienable part of the cities, the governments should recognise them as a vulnerable group that needs targeted interventions.

Keywords: internal migration; migrant labourers; living conditions; slums; urban; living conditions; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMBS.2017.086963

International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 2017 Vol.3 No.4, pp.328 - 351

Received: 11 Jun 2016
Accepted: 03 Oct 2016
Published online: 03 Oct 2017 *

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