The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Migrant workforce builds up city pulse

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Migrant workforce builds up city pulse

J. Malarvizhi

Thanks to the boom in construction activity in pubic, private sectors

Photo: K. Pichumani

On the job: Migrant labourers at a construction site in Padi on Thursday. —

CHENNAI: The city has seen an influx of construction workers from the northern States in the recent years. “The workforce has expanded by 10 to 15 per cent with workers from outside the State in the last three years,” estimates M.K. Sundaram of the Builders’ Association of India.

The principal reason cited by builders and observers of the industry is that there is a boom in construction activity, both in the private sector and in the development of public infrastructure. Mr. Sundaram estimates that over half of the workforce building the Kathipara flyover is from Bihar and Orissa.

A survey among labourers in various industries requiring migrant labour in the Thiruvallur district recently indicated that as many as 1,000 workers from Orissa were working in various sectors.

Construction as an industry has traditionally thrived on migrants. Builders point out that such migration comes down in the years that the rains are good and work plentiful in the villages where workers would otherwise temporarily migrate out of in search of employment. However, there is not much change in such migration patterns, they feel.

“A lot of workers from northern States first came for the implementation of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) network. Now, they are working on several sites, including government and private projects, sometimes being paid as little as half the minimum wage,” says R. Geetha of the Nirman Mazdoor Panchayat Sangh.

Workers and union representatives also allege that these workers are preferred as they are ‘easier to exploit.’

“For these workers, there is first the barrier of language. Second, they do not have an organised structure like a union to fall back in case of problems,” said Maria Sathya, national co-ordinator, International Labour Organisation.

These workers are provided rather weak protection by the Inter-State Migrants Act that requires registration of workers in their home States. Without registration, workers have no proof of employment.

Ms. Geetha finds that inter-state migrant construction workers are paid about Rs.60 to Rs.70 a day against the minimum of Rs.130 per day. Builders say that contractors are providing accommodation on or near site to workers from other states, besides transportation. These are perks that are not usually provided to Tamil-speaking workers, they say.

Corrections and clarifications

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu