multi location publication

8/3/2019 Multi Location Publication

1/20

CHILDREN INBRICK KILNSA multi- location study in five states

Conducted and published by:

Migration Information & Resource Centre (MiRC)House No:3, Subhadra Vill a, Jagamara, Bhubaneswar-751030, Orissa, India

www.aea-southasia.org

Join us on :

www.aea-southasia.org

contact us at [email protected]

Aide et Action International- South Asia16/20, Gilchrist Avenue, Harrington Road,Chetpet, Chennai 600031, Tamil Nadu, IndiaPh: 044 28365516

Year : 2011


2/20

Contents

For futher information, write to us at: Migration Information & Resource Centre (MiRC)

Aide et Action International South Asia, House No-3, Subhadra Villa, Jagamara, Khandagiri

Bhubaneswar-751030, Odisha, India

+91 674 2350503 / www.aea-southasia.org

Aide et Action International (AEAI), a developmental organisation, works in 26 countries across South

Asia, South East Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. AEAI envision a world where dignity is

ensured for all men, women and children through education a lever for human development.

AEAI-South Asia works in three countries: India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Our projects impact the mostdisadvantaged groups and are spread across nineteen states and one union territory in India, three

regions in Nepal, and three locations in Sri Lanka. We work to ensure education for all, specially the

disadvantaged and marginalised, by addressing the inadequacies of the education system. Migrationbeing one of the themes, our plan is to engage with migrant population to promote safe migration,

reduce distress migration and ensure continued education for migrant children.

MiRC functions under Aide et Action International South Asia to facilitate thematic work on migrant

children's rights to education and protection. It addresses issues related to internal migration and its

impact on children both at source and destination locations in India. Our migration initiative is spread

across 3 states in India- Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, and is soon going to expand to other

states and neighboring South Asian countries where migration figure is predominately high.

MiRC works closely with academic institutions and government departments, dealing with

labour and rural development to engage in research and advocacy on social, economic,

child rights and education i ssues surrounding migration.

MiRC is involved in educating, facilitating agencies, civil society organisations, andgovernment and donor agencies to understand, plan and manage migration intervention,

focusing on child rights and education, labour entitlement and rights

With the growing mobility of migrants, MiRC is instrumental in coordinating and

collaborating with various stakeholders for facilitating inter-state management andcoordination on migration.

MiRC engages with various media electronic and print to provide a voice to migrants

and document successful cases on child education, migration reduction, safe practice andprotection of labour rights.

Migration Information & Resource Centre (MiRC):

Key Initiatives of MiRC:

About us:

Preface 1

Executive Summary 2

Chapter 1

Introduction 5

Magnitude of seasonal migration 6

Contextualising seasonal migration 7

Migration - children and the law 9

Inter-state Migrant Workmen Act gaps in design 10

Loopholes in implementation of the law 12

Unorganised Workers Social Security Act, 2008 13

Chapter 2

Rationale of the study 14

Methodology 15

Sampling 15

Data collection and analysis 16

Chapter 3

Findings from the study 17

Demographic and socio-economic profile 17

Status and rights of child migrants 26

Recommended areas of intervention:

a) Recommendations for policy 29

b) Recommendations for source area 29

c) Recommendations for destination area 30

d) Recommendations for NGO/ civil society organisations 31

Chapter 4

Conclusion 32

Reference 35


3/20

Indian Brick kilns industry is the second largest

brick producer in the world, second to China, and

having more than 100,00 operating units

producing about 14 billion bricks annually. Brick

kilns in India employ migrant families from

poorer region who primarily belongs to dalit,

tribal and other backward communities. Brickmaking being seasonal in nature and function,

operates during the dry seasons of the year and

prior to the onset of the monsoons (usually during

the end of May and the first week of June), the

furnace in the brick Kilns close down production.

Generally brick kiln requires manual labour for

molding, stacking, head loading, firing and

transporting. A large number of migrant families

including women and children are recruited by

labour agent and are employed in the brick kilns

through a system of advance. Child labour is an

integral part of the brick making labour unit.

There are works specially designated for children

in the brick kiln. The debt or the advance which the people borrow from the middleman also has a small component of

wage for a child to work in brick kiln. Poor families due to abject poverty and distress, move with their families and live asbonded labourers for 6-8 months to produce brick. They receive a meager income and work under testing conditions.

Aide et Action International South Asia has been working in brick kilns in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to ensure

education to the children of migrant families. It is also focusing on the nutrition and issues related to child protection.

The present study is an attempt to document the condition of children living in a number of worksites located in Bihar,

Orissa, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

The study illustrates the harsh condition of children who live with their parents in work sites for 6-8 months and struggle

to access bare minimum facilities for human survival. The study reveals as how the children are being forced to work in

the brick kiln as part of non paid family labour, and subjected to abuse and human exploitation. The children in brick kiln

are far away from the ambit of accessing nutritious food, school, drinking water, sanitation and other social security in

the worksites.

With the enactment of Right to Education, Child protection and nutritional security of children being given a priority in a

welfare state, the excluded children, women and workers in the brick kiln are yet to catch the attention of the policy

makers to access and benefit from such schemes and programmes.

We at Aide et Action International are quite optimistic, that, this study will definitely help make the children in brick kilnvisible and their issues are heard for a meaningful policy and programme intervention, both by policy makers,

Government and the Civil Society Organissations.

We owe our special thanks t o AEAI-SA's regional office in Tamil Nadu (Chennai), Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad), Bihar

(Patna) for facilitating the study in their respective area. We thank Prayas Centre for Labour in Ahmedabad for the

support in facilitating the study in the brick kilns in Gandhi Nagar. Last but not the least, I thank Mr. Pradeep Baisakh our

former colleague in MiRC who coordinated the study. I sincerely thank Arpan who has done the editing, and AEAI-SA's

Communication unit for their support in bringing out the final layout of the study.

Umi Daniel

Head, Migration Information Resource Centre (MiRC)

Aide et Action International South Asia

Preface

1


4/20

The significance of children's education and the detrimental effects of child labour (not just for the child, but for the

society as a whole) can never be over-estimated. These issues have been discussed extensively and policies have been

formulated since the time of independence. So have the issues of rural poverty, caste discrimination, seasonal

migrations and labour exploitation. However, these problems have persisted, partly because of lack of political will, and

partly because of their sheer magnitude and the complexity involved. And in recent times, some of these problems have

become intertwined in a more hideous form.

The present report discusses how seasonal migration, which has become an ever-growing stream due to widespread

rural distress, encourages child labour and creates school drop-outs among children in India. Hitherto, migration has

been considered as a male domain and this view has been supported by policy. However, in the last two decades, there

has been an increasing trend of household migration, which includes women and children. Also, seasonal migration has

now become a routine livelihood strategy of the rural poor due to lack of any alternatives, including the failure of

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guaratee Act (MNREGA) to create any reliable livelihood option. With a

well-entrenched system of contractors and the complete lack of official registration (of workers, contractors or the

worksites), this kind of migration is known to be marred by a series of processes which are out rightly illegal and

exploitative. Therefore, this study tries to investigate the profile of migrants, their status, and conditions, with a special1focus on children who migrate with families and eventually get socialised into a 'circle of migration' , thus making

2intergenerational mobility next to impossible. The study was made in five destination areas of seasonal migrants, in one

such industry of brick kilns.

Executive summary

The report is divided into four broad sections

Section 1-The first section introduces the study and goes on to do a complete literature review and policy analysis of the

issue. It notes the increase in magnitude and changes in the nature of migration, and concludes that there is lack of

authentic data to comprehensively capture this complex and dynamic phenomenon. It argues that children are the most

unrecognised and vulnerable group among migrants, especially since they have little control over the decisions that

directly affect their life. Migration does not only drive them out of school, but also puts them at health and security risks.

Since the payment at most brick kilns is on piece-rate basis, children become the unpaid hands and work for long hours in

dire circumstances. Despite the SSA and the RTE, child migrants remain deprived and out of school. Adding to this is the

powerlessness of their families who, in absence of help from the policies, laws or schemes, cannot provide them with any

support. Government provisions do not reach seasonal migrants since they are neither acknowledged nor perceived

positively by the policy makers who continue to deny them or consider them as a menace.

Section 2 - This section discusses the objectives, methodology, and sampling of the study. Five Indian cities, namely

Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Patna, and Bhubaneswar and Cuttack (clubbed together as twin cities) were covered by

the study, based on purposive sampling. Data collection was done using both quantitative and qualitative methods to bringout their relative merit.

Section 3 -This is the core of the report since it presents the findings of the study. These findings have been categorised

under three headings demographic and socio-economic profile, worksite facilities, and children specific findings. The

study provides explicit evidence for significant migration of women and children; and within children, a major proportion

belong to the age group of 6-18 years, an age where formal education is critical for growth and development. Caste-wise

analysis once again helps us conclude that a majority of those who migrate belong to SC or ST communities, and therefore

suffer from multiple layers of exclusion. A high population of historically disadvantaged castes also points to rural

distress, where depleting forests and other natural resources, and consequent failure of government schemes, have

induced large-scale migration among the poor.

Worse still, it was found that under the MGNREGS, almost half of the migrants do not have job cards, which means that

they remain outside the purview of the scheme, despite the need. Second, almost half the people who migrate seasonally

do have job cards, yet, due to delay and uncertainty in the system; they too are choosing to migrate. Thus, the three major

reasons for migration, as reported, are better wages, debts, and lack of work at the native place all which are

interrelated and cannot be analysed in isolation from one another. A significant majority of seasonal migration happens

from the BIMARU (Bihar, Maharashra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) states, with a high proportion of tribal states such as

Orissa, Chhattisgarh or Jharkhand. Almost all migrants come through contractors after incurring a debt, which may

range from a couple of thousand rupees to tens of thousands of rupees. Since a substantial part of their earnings are

deducted against the advance, most workers are paid less than Rs 500 per week or between Rs 500-1,000 per week. This

is the weekly wage of the daily toil of a whole family (about 3-4 members), for more than eight hours a day, under minimal

worksite facilities.

It was found that the migrant workers live a life of absolute deprivation, with dismal conditions of worksite facilities. Most

of the houses were kuccha, with a variety that includes thatched, tin, plastic, and asbestos houses. Most houses reported

having the facility of electricity, however this is usually provided by contractors to enable work even after dusk and does

not actually light up little camps of migrant houses. It is clear that a significant majority of houses use firewood as a

cooking medium. This is because firewood is a cheaper option as compared to kerosene and is mainly collected free from

the trees and plants in and around the brick kilns, by the women and/or children. Open defecation, lack of reasonable

health facilities, and unavailability of clean drinking water pose a great threat to the health and wellbeing of the children.

Although, it is a relief that almost all migrants have access to water in somewhat nearby places, despite the quality issues

which remain.

Children-specific findings show that morbidity rates among children are high, although the frequency of a child falling ill

depends on various factors, including the age and immunity of child. Types of morbidity too range across multiple

diseases and include cold/fever, allergy, infections, and diarrhoea. The causes of these diseases are mainly traced to

impure water, lack of proper food, and lack of accommodation, clothing or medical support.

Child labour seems to go unchecked in the brick kilns despite the existence of laws against it. Children help their parents

in the brick kilns and parents also allow it since it earns them extra income. The division of labour in the brick kiln is such

that there is a very clear demarcation of work for children. It may be kept in mind that many parents are aware of the risk

of revealing the fact that their child works in the kilns, therefore the figures cited from the research may actually be an

underestimation due to non-reporting by t he families. It is also evident from the data that most children eventually drop

out of school because of migration. Only some, who migrate to nearby places, which may be within the state, are able to go

back to the native village to appear for their exams. However, in the absence of regular classes, their performance and

learning remains at dismal levels.

While analysing the access to government food-security and livelihood schemes amongmigrants, it was found that the number of Antodaya card holders among brick kiln workers is

low. Majority of the families belong to the BPL category, while non-card-holders, although

low, are a significant percentage of the total. This can mean two important things one, thatthe errors of exclusion and inclusion are so huge, that many families do not have access to

ration cards, or Antodaya/BPL ration cards, despite fitting into the category; or two, that it is

not only the poor people who migrate to the brick kilns to work but some from the above

poverty line who go out when there is not enough work at the home place.

1AIF, 2007

2Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Patna, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack

2 3


5/20

Introduction

The brick kiln in dustry is a source of livelihood for many thousands of unskilled labourers from across states.

Since brick-making is seasonal in nature, the work attracts an influx of migrant labourers, many of whom are

landless farmers, also belonging to disadvantaged social communities. While the freedom to migrate within the

country is an enshrined right under the Constitution of India, the nature of this seasonal migration is a result of

intermittent drought, unequal distribution of land, lack of adequate irrigation facilities, low livelihood

opportunities, and half-hearted execution of government schemes. All this is accompanied by an organised

system of middlemen, facilitating the labour movement. Thus, this migration is not for accumulation but is

marked by powerlessness and compulsions of bare survival.

In most of this migration, children accompany parents, but are not classified as child labourers or child

seasonal migrants. Seasonal migration often overlaps with the school calendar and deprives children of t he

most basic right of education, among many other rights. The present research is an attempt to capture migrant

life in brick kilns, focussing on the child within the migrant community, seeking to investigate the rights and

risks around seasonal migration to brick kilns.

1

1

54

The two most important reasons for school drop-outs are: lack of schools in the destination

areas and; most of children are involved in work to support their parents. It must be noted that

gender plays a very important role, wherein a girl child is more likely to drop out to take care

of the household chores or to take care of the younger siblings, while freeing the mother to

contribute to brick-making.

Section 4 - The last section constitutes recommendations drawn out from the findings. This section has been divided into

recommendations related to policy, for source areas, for destination areas, and those for civil society or NGOs to takeinitiatives in. Through the findings and the recommendations, this study hopes to create the knowledge and awareness on

the issues of seasonal migrants and their children; and to provide direction to policy makers so that urgent steps can be

taken in the right direction.


6/20

A lack of alternatives in sending areas, which force entire families, including children to migrate in search of work and

pushes children into hazardous labour and the vicious migration cycle.

Work which is based on debt bondage, generates little or no surplus for the labourer at the end of the season, and is

merely for survival, and

Work which involves large scale violation of labour laws and child rights.

Magnitude of seasonal migration

The Census and NSSO both provide data for migration. However, they do not adequately capture seasonal migration since

their definition is not employment related; they list 'change from birthplace' and 'change in last usual place of residence'.3The NCRL estimates that there are 10 million rural migrants who migrate seasonally, among whom 4.5 million are inter-

4state migrants . According to the NSSO 55th round (1999-2000), there were nearly 10.87 million short-term migrants. Of5these, 8.45 million were residents of rural areas, of which 3.06 million were females and 5.39 million males . However,

both these are likely to be underestimated. The World Migration Report 2008 puts the number of internal migrants in6India at 42 million .

7Usually, poorer villages are the sending areas and urban centres or richer villages are the receiving areas of migrants .

The trend of ruralurban migration is increasing and fast becoming most common, due to the rise of a class of

contractors, who provide advance money and connections to migrate. Eastern states such as Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand,

etc. are the major sending states from where seasonal labourers go out t o different parts of the country to work. It is

known that villagers from Orissa mostly migrate to brick-kilns of Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam, in Andhra Pradesh, as

well as to some parts of Gujarat (such as Surat) to do various odd jobs, and in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack within Orissa.

A study of brick kilns around Hyderabad suggests that 35 per cent of migrants are children, of which 22 per cent are in8school going age of 6-14 years . In Balangir, a study found 38 per cent of the migrants to be OBCs, 20 per cent as STs and 40

9per cent as SCs . It is estimated that children (0-14 years) accompanying migrant families are one-third of the total

migrant population, while children in the elementary school age group (0-6 years) are 20 per cent, i.e. a total of 6 million.

An estimate by the Migration Information and Resource Centre (MiRC), made in 2009 based

on the migration register, suggests that from Balangir alone about 1.5 lakh people migrate

out to other states to work. These are mostly semi-skilled workers who are unorganised

and exploited in industries such as brick kilns.

Many significant changes have occurred in the nature of

seasonal migration since last two decades. From a

phenomenon of years marred by natural calamity, it has

become a routine strategy for coping with crisis in

livelihood and food security in the village. It is no longer

limited to overcoming seasonal shortages, but has

become a primary s ource of income for many.

The trend of increasing migration of children and women

creates newer policy questions and challenges; given

their greater vulnerability.

Migration is no longer related to labour scarcity in one

area, and a corresponding labour surplus in another. For

instance, the city of Hyderabad is a sending as well as

receiving area. It has been argued that the employers and

contractors find labour from outside to discipline local11workforce and to control the cost of labour . The payment

is so low, that it is more profitable to transport large

numbers of labourers to long distances and pay a class of

intermediaries. This phenomenon is increasing complexity and the trends suggest that local labour is being displaced by

the migrant labour. Thus, ''the traditional causes of distress migration are getting interlocked with the employer's intent12of labour control .

Another important change is the growth of a class of contractors, who are employed by factory owners to 'provide'

families for work. These contractors go around in t he villages to identify disadvantaged families, extend loans in return of

Migration is now undertaken by the nuclear

family, including wife and children, and is

no longer a restricted male domain. The

key reason lies in the payment on piece-

rate basis, which allows women and

children to work as unregistered labour

and invisible labour.

Contextualising seasonal migrationSeasonal migration is a hideous symptom of rural distress, livelihood crisis, and chronic hunger. Much of the seasonalmigration from rural areas is undertaken by poor families in desperate situations, for bare survival. The three

10features listed by Smita to explain the differences between 'distress migration' and 'migration for accumulation' are:

3National Commission on Rural Labour

4Srivastava Ravi, 2005

5ibid

6The World Migration Report 2008, Chapter 7

7Dev and Evenson 2003, Kundu 2003

8From Hunger to suffering, Action Aid, 2005

9Survey of 7 blocks by CADMB (Community Action Against Drought Mitigation in Bolangir

10Smita (2007) Locked Homes, Empty Schools: the impact of seasonal migration on the rural poor, American Indian Foundation, ZubaanPublishers, New Delhi

11Srivastava and Sasikumar, 2003

12Locked Homes, Empty Schools, the impact of seasonal migration on the rural poor, American Indian Foundation, 2007

6 7


7/20

obligation to migrate and arrange for their travel to the

worksites. The presence of contactors has increased the

magnitude of rural-urban migration and the 'advance'

offered has enabled even the poorest of the families to

migrate. Previously, poorest of the poor could not migrate,

as this too required some resources and social capital.

Even in situations of seasonal shortages, life's exigencies

and lack of alternatives, migration is not an easy option. It

tears apart families and necessitates cruel choices.

Long working hours and no holidays are a rule. Migrant

workers live in sub-human conditions, often living in fragile,

makeshift houses. They are regularly overworked and eat

much less than what is required for heavy manual labour.Their diet is not only insufficient and monotonous, but also

unhealthy and lacking in nutrition. The reports of abuse and

exploitation of seasonal labour is easy to come by. Despite

braving hardships, the families return with little or no

surplus. Distress migration creates long-term indebtedness for families, fails to generate cash returns and perpetuates

below subsistence level livelihoods (Mosse, 2005).

Seasonal migrants, who are anyway the poorest and the most powerless, face reduced interaction with the rest of the

village and other communities, leading to a decline in their representation in the local institutions. Their needs and

aspirations are taken far less seriously, due to their sporadic presence in the village. Many find their homes or small plots

of land encroached upon and cattle, dead when they return. In a village, which has a large SC/ST population and migration

levels that can go up to 90 -100 per cent, villages remain empty for most of the year. There is no living activity; no13celebration of festivals, no active public institutions and the community assets fall into disuse .

Who goes and who stays back, how to take care of those left behind and the cattle are difficult questions, which the

families resolve after great deliberation. Often, when there are difficult choices to be made, a family has t o choose the

lesser evil. The elderly, who are almost always left behind, in the absence of their grown children, become more critically

dependent on the rudimentary social support network of the village; or are most often left to fend for themselves. On the

other hand, children, who mostly accompany their parents, drop out from the school and are invariably drawn to work in

the destination areas.

Interstate migrants are particularly

vulnerable, given that they are unfamiliar

with the local people, geography, language,

and systems. They have no address and are

unable to maintain minimum contact with

their homes. Almost always, they get less

than minimum wages and much of it is

anyway deducted against the advance.

In the village, their life is nearly uprooted

13

ibid

Distress in migrationLost childhood and torture

Sushila Deep (name changed) a Dalit girl fromBalangir, migrated along with 40 other migrants toHyderabad to work in a brick kiln. Among thesemigrants, 20 are children. They have to work for longhours in inhuman conditions. The owner and his alliesalways harass and abuse them. One day the brick kilnowner, Feroz Khan, his brother Ayub Khan, and a

labour agent Sanju Sagaria from Bolangir, kidnappedSushila and two other minor tribal girls. They wereraped under captivity for many days.

Finally they were rescued with the help of NGOs andgovernment representatives. When rescued, thechildren were severely malnourished. A person hadbecome disabled and a woman lost her mental balancedue to the inhuman abuse and torture unleashed onthem by the owners. With the help of Cyberabad PoliceCommissionerate, all the victims were rescued,criminal cases filed against the culprits and all thereleased workers were sent back to Balangir.

Finally, justice was delivered to the poor girl but twomore of the accused are still at large. We will try ourbest to pursue the other two girls to appear before thecourt, as per the request of the judge) to punish those

who are equal partners in the crime committed on thepoor, helpless tribal, and Dalit migrant labourers.

Source: Umi Daniel, http://orissamigration.blogspot.com

14

Smita, May 2008, Distress seasonal migration and its impact on children's education, CREATE PATHWAYS TO ACCESSResearch Monograph No. 28

A unit in brick makingThe work unit in brick kilns is knownas Pathuria and comprises of man,woman and child. The series of workis: mixing clay, making mud balls,moulding, carrying wet bricks fordrying, flipping them when dry,carrying head loads of dried bricks for

firing and finally loading ready bricksonto trucks for transport. This workrequires 14-16 hours a day, from awhole family, with meagre incomeand no labour law benefits. Childrenform an important part of theseoperations, many a times workingbeyond their strength. Manyoperations, such as walking oversemi-dried bricks to flip them, have tobe done specially by children.

Migration - children and the law

Pathuria,a labour unit in a brick kiln, comprises of man,woman and a child

India recognised the Right to Education as a fundamental right in 2009. The country is also striving to achieve the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), of which the second goal is to achieve universal primary education by 2015.

However, through the more ambitious Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme, the Indian government is working to

achieve Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) by 2010. India is also a signatory of the UN Convention on the

Rights of the Child (1989). Amidst this positive scenario, there is little attention to the plight of the children of migrant

labourers, although year after year t heir ranks are swelling. In India, the Ministry of Human Resource Development

(MHRD) and the State education departments do not even have data with respect to this category of children, let alone a

strategic plan in place to address related concerns. Urgent steps are thus needed for their education and development if14the UEE targets and the MDGs are to be achieved .

8 9


8/20

The Indian constitution lists basic provisions relating to the conditions

of employment, non-discrimination, and right to work (e.g. Articles

23(1), 39, 42, and 43). The country has ratified and is a signatory to a

number of UN and ILO declarations and conventions. Thus, there

exists a body of labour laws and policies, which theoretically protect

and regulate the employment conditions and rights of migrant

workers. However, large loopholes remain in both, the design of the

law and its actual implementation. This section will discuss two

important regulations - Migrant Workmen (Regulation and Conditions

of Service) Act, 1979 (ISMW) and the Unorganised Sector Workers Act,

2004. While the former deals specifically with malpractices

associated with the recruitment and employment of workers who

migrate across state boundaries, the later seeks to bring myriad

informal sector workers under the social security cover.

Inter-state Migrant Workmen Act gaps in design

The Inter State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of employment and conditions of service) Act, 1979, is the only legislation

for the safety and regulation of migration. A good percentage of migrant population is left out of its ambit as it applies onlyto people who cross state boundaries. Also, since the Act only provides for 'regulation of employment and conditions of

service'; a more comprehensive view of migration and its associated struggles are left unaddressed in the law. It takes no

note of people's dependence on migration for survival and their powerlessness vis--vis contractors and employers. The

implementation of the Act is more difficult to address due to poverty, illiteracy, powerlessness, and lack of collective

organisation of the labourers. Unfortunately, the Act takes no notice of these facts and t hat most of t he migrants actually

belong to the historically-disadvantaged communities. This, worsened by the seasonal and fluctuating nature of

employment, difference of language, customs, geography, and the unfamiliarity of court procedures, makes it almost

impossible for a migrant labourer to have any bargaining capacity. Neither does the Act acknowledge such issues and

provide guidelines for interstate cooperation, nor is t here any positive affirmation of the migrant's contribution to t he

economy.

No provision to monitor unregistered contractors

and establishments

No provision for transfer of entitlements such as

ration cards, pensions, etc. in the Act.

Another very significant shortcoming is t hat the Act covers only thosemigrants who have migrated through registered contractors.However, most of the contractors are neither registered, nor are theestablishments (factories or work sites). There is no provision tomonitor unregistered contractors and establishments. Moreover,many states have not yet appointed licensing, registering, andinspecting authorities.

Most of these schemes are based on population strength and

allocation of food grains or budgetary allowance depending on

population size. In a scenario where a significant proportion of the

population moves out of the village for several months, year on year,

without their entitlements being transferred, their share of allocation

for entitlements remain unaccounted for. This allows for a nexus of

corruption and malpractices to grow in all government schemes, in

the source area (AIF, 2007). The work load in many government

institutions such as anganwadis, PHCs, and schools is reduced (ibid).

Also,

Employment schemes such as the NREGA have failed to check

migration in the areas even where they have been successfully

implemented. This is because in cases of migration there is no limit to

the number of working days and more than one member of the family

can work.

The Act makes no provision for crches, literacy

classes for children and/or mobile medical units atthe establishment employing migrant labourers.

Victims of fateBilasini had migrated with her husband, astepson, and an infant daughter in the hopeof earning money and being able to repay olddebt. However, in just two months, shereturned widowed and without her son.After two months of toil, Khirasindhu, herhusband, was incapacitated with severe

stomach camps. He was taken to a hospitalby the kiln owner, the labour contractor, andthe munshi or accountant of the kiln,Suresh. On Bilasini's insistence, their sonSujan accompanied his father. Two dayslater, the labour contractor tersely informedher that her husband had died after anoperation. She saw two fresh long cuts inthe region of his stomach and his upperlimbs were swollen. Their son was nowhereto be found. She was told that he haddisappeared, and was lost in the teemingcity of Hyderabad.

Bilasini could not comprehend what hadhappened. Passers-by whispered to herabout the illegal trade in organs that thrivedin the city, suggesting that her husband's

kidneys had probably been stolen. The boymay have protested, therefore he was takenaway. Only God knew where, and what hadbecome of him. The body was forcefullytaken away from her for cremation a daylater and no case was registered despite hervisit to the police station.

Source: Mander Harsh, 2001, Unheardvoices

No special provisions for children and women workers, given their specific vulnerabilities.Children accompanying parents on migration

are not counted as child labourers. However, in

reality, especially when the payment is on piece-

rate basis, almost all children are invariably

pulled into working with adults (ibid). There is noprovision for schools near the brick kilns, and

even if there were, the language of instruction

would make it impossible for children migrating

from different states to access schooling. Thus,

most of these children eventually become

dropouts. Education is indispensable to break

this barrier of poverty and exploitation, and

therefore keeping children away from schools is

one of way of ensuring inter-generational

supply of powerless migrants.

10 11


9/20

Loopholes in implementation of the law

Despite the Act having been passed three decades ago, some crucial conceptual and implementation questions have still

been left unaddressed, which, unfortunately render the whole Act ineffective. These are:

The legislation of the Inter-state Migrants Act did not bring about any

change in the official perception of migration. Migration continues to be considered 'a problem', a negative phenomenon;

and is perceived as a threat to the social and economic stability of the destination state. In both, explicit and implicit ways,

many government programmes (particularly those of rural development) seek to control migration rather than regulate

it. Their contribution to the economy, both at source and destination, continues to be unacknowledged. Despite the

widespread prevalence of distress migration, migrants remain invisible as there is none to assume responsibility. Thesending villages and local functionaries write off the migrants, ignoring their entitlements, as they are not physically

present for much of the time. On the other hand, recipient villages see these seasonal migrants as visitors who do not

belong and will sooner or later return to their permanent home. They live dreadful lives in temporary tents near work

sites, put up by t he contractor or employer. Migrants' lives continue to be beyond the law, neglected by the state and

society.

As discussed above, the data on nature and extent of migration is not captured by the

NSSO and Census of India due to methodological hurdles. Besides numbers, government officials lack information and

sensitivity to violations of migrant workers' rights, nature, and places of violation, etc., resulting in heavy under-

recording of such violations. Government officials have no understanding of the working and living conditions of

migrants, their needs and vulnerabilities, and the importance of migration, as an indispensable means of survival for the

poor. Since the Act applies only to workers migrating through contractors and not to workers migrating out of their free

will, it is easy for contractors to be unregistered and show as if the labour migrated on their own volition. In a nutshell, the

government needs to record not only the statistical data on migrants and their profile, but also identify and list the

contractors and the establishments.

One of the major hurdles in the implementation of Inter-state Migrants Act is the lack of political

will. Seasonal migrants, though being most vulnerable and poor, do not find significant place in policy discourse or

planning and are largely ignored. Migrant labourers often do not cast votes and are left uncounted in census. They are

therefore, in a sense, invisible. Any effort to trace and register migrants and t herefore bring them under the purview of

law, is completely lacking. Some state governments have yet not framed or notified rules to implement the Act. Lack of

political will has led to a laxity in the appointment of authorities for licensing, registering, and inspecting. States at the

destination are reluctant to allow the inspecting authority of another state to make inspections in their state (despite a

ruling by Supreme Court in 1991). Moreover, any basic service to migrants would need better coordination among

departments located in different sectors and different areas. With marked regional differences in language and state

government regulations, such coordination may pose a great challenge which can only be managed by serious political

will.

1. Lack of positive perception related to migration:

2. Lack of information and data gap:

3. Lack of political will:

4. Non-enforcement of important regulations:such as minimum wages, displacement allowance, medical facilities, and

protective clothing fails to protect migrants from exploitation and vulnerability. The work hours are long, usually

consuming 12-14 hours a day, and involve heavy manual labour.

Unorganised Workers Social Security Act, 2008

The Unorganised Workers Social Security Act seeks to provide social security to 93-94 per cent of India's workforce,

which has so far remained outside the preview of any facilities enjoyed by the organised workers. It lists 11 schemes

relating to old age and disability cover, health, and maternity benefits; and insurance schemes. Besides these, it provides

setting up of 'Social Security Advisory Boards' at the central and state levels, which will have the powers of

recommendation, advice, review, and monitoring.

Although the Act has positive

features, it has been argued that it

extents only a few schemes to the

informal sector in the name of

social security and creates

advisory boards which have only

ornamental powers. Moreover,

with regards to the coverage of

migrant workers; implementing

this Act will be an enormous task,

since the migrant workers are

neither registered nor do they

have a regular employer or a place

of employment.

Although the impact of the Act is still to be seen, it can be said that the Act will require strong political will to reach migrant

labour.

The Act provides for biometric registration, with a unique identification number, and issue of

'smart cards' to about 400 million unorganised workers.

The coverage benefit of the Act has already been questioned by agricultural, construction,

and a host of other workers who seem to have been excluded by the law.

Behind the industryThe brick kiln industry is ruthlessly exploitative and highly evolved. It is profitable enough to get all relevant people to

turn a blind eye to its illegality. 'Officially', nearly 100 per cent of the brick kilns in Hyderabad are illegal. They simplydo not have the licenses to operate; or the necessary registration for migrant workers. None of the worker welfarerequirements within the 1967 Inter-state Migrants Act are met. Unofficially, a most influential web of landowners(who rent the land), politicians (who are often the l andowners), policemen, labour, and revenue officials (who all turna blind eye), Panchayat officials (who may own land, kilns, or be Sardars), and a host of other petty and not so pettyofficials, make lucrative 'bonuses' from the industry.

Source: - Thomson, Koy (2005) Critical S tories of Change, Action Aid International

12 13


10/20

Rationale of the study 2

Amidst this whole scenario of migration, the most vulnerable and unrecognised are the children. A child has very little

control over the decisions of his/her life and is usually governed by the decisions of elders. When a child accompanies

parents in migration, his/her education suffers the greatest in the process. Despite the recent policy focus on Right to

Education, and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), for universalisation of elementary education, thousands of children

continue to be deprived of learning due to seasonal migration.

Seasonal migration leads to school drop-outs since the child is

unable to attend school for at least 7-8 months in a year. Despite

attempts by local CSOs to provide some education, the same has

been difficult due to prevalence of child labour.

Besides these, nutritional and health aspects of children are

under severe threat since the food and living conditions at work

sites are sub-human and deny even the basic standards. The

violence both physical and psychological that accompanies

seasonal migration and work in brick kilns, leads to gross

violation of a child's fundamental rights and hinders growth and

Despite national policies and international

protocols being strongly against child labour, in

practice, not much has been done to ensure its

prevention. Moreover, where the family isindebted to the employer and wages are

calculated on piece-rate basis, child labourers

become invisible and unpaid.

This study was conducted in five locations where the brick kiln industry thrives on the labour of seasonal migrants. Themethodology adopted was based on mixed-method, employing both the approaches of quantitative and qualitativeresearch. Quantitative research helps in generalisations and policy advocacy, while qualitative study is important topresent holistic understanding and subjective experiences.

Objectives of the study:

Creating migration and labour profiles The studyaims to provide a socio-economic profile of thelabourers and seeks to understand the nature ofmigration while capturing the condition of workers inthe brick kiln sites.

Ascertaining the status of children in the work site The study aims to ascertain the role of children at

worksites and the availability of different facilitiesrelated to children's nutrition, education, and healthas well as protection/violation of various child rights.

To explore the possibility of providing elementaryeducationto migrant children in the brick kilns.

To share the study findings with the stategovernment and CSOs to engage policy makers byinitiating dialogue and sensitising them towards theeducation, health, and other rights of migrantchildren.

development of personality. With children who are largely uneducated and underdeveloped, intergenerational upward

mobility becomes difficult, and there are greater chances that the exploitative system continues unabated.

Therefore, the present study is an attempt to investigate and document the lives and challenges of seasonal migration,

with particular reference to children. Some of the important aspects of this are: why and how children migrate, what is

their subjective experience, how does it impact their growth and development, how they build their social networks, and

how they exercise their agency in the whole process. All of this will vary with the social and community setting, including

caste, age, and gender and its interplay with the characteristics of each individual child. An effort has been made to make

the findings useful for policy advocacy, particularly so in t he light of t he most recent Right to Education Act.

Methodology

Sampling

The sampling for the study was purposive, based on our prior experience, work areas, and judgment of local teams. Insuch a sampling, one must observe caution in generalisation; however, it is most effective in maintaining heterogeneity ofmajor social and spatial groups.

Five Indian cities were chosen for the study including two twin cities:

the city which has a serious concentration of brick kilns to cut-down the cost of transport of bricks to the cityconstruction sites from shorter distances. Most of the labour force in Hyderabad comes from depressed areas in Orissa,particularly districts such as Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, etc., which have strong push factors for people to migrate.

where above 1 lakh labourers, mostly inter-state migrants; work in about 300 brick kilns, spread in andaround the city.

one of the major cities in the state of Gujarat, which has witnessed very fast development over the last twodecades. Consequently, construction of roads, houses, and other infrastructural facilities has also taken place in a rapidmanner. In order to cope with the growing demand of bricks for these constructions, a number of brick kiln units havebeen developed in the city and outskirts. It has been estimated that above 1 lakh labourers, mostly inter-state migrants,work in about 300-400 brick kilns spread in and around Ahmedabad.

and Cuttack cities within Orissa. Districts of western Orissa such as Balangir, Nuapada, Bargarh,Kalahandi, etc., have witnessed distressed migration for the last three decades. While most of them go to work in brickkilns in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and other southern states, a significant number of people move to the brick kilns inareas around Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, and Berhampur. People from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand also

come to work in these brick kilns.

Within these cities, we randomly selected locations and brick kilns. To select a sampling unit which was a household, weagain used a purposive sampling method. Only those households, where a child had also migrated, were surveyed. Thetable below provides sampling details for the study. In Hyderabad, a sample size of 100 households (HH) with childmigrants was chosen randomly from 5 brick kilns. In Ahmedabad, a sample size of 80 households (HH) was covered from14 brick kilns. In Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, the two selected locations - Trisuliya (Cuttack district) and Hi Tech area(Bhubaneswar) - covered 8 households between them. Finally, 170 households were studied from 13 brick kilns in andaround Patna.

1.Hyderabad,

2.Chennai,

3. Ahmedabad,

4.Bhubaneswar

5.Patna The capital of developing Bihar attracts thousands of migrants from nearby districts to work in the brick kilns.These migrants are from ST & SC communities.

14 15


11/20

Findings from the study 3

Table 1 (below) shows at 2 critical trends:15.a) Despite city wise variations, the number of women and children migrating with men are significant

b) A significant proportion of children migrating along with families fall between 6-18 years, an age where formaleducation is critical for growth and development.

15It may be noted here that the sampling is done with the families havi ng children. Therefore, this figure of the percentage of thechildren may not necessarily reflect the child percentage of the total population in the brick kilns as there are some familieswithout children also, though their number is small.

Caste-wise analysis once again helps us conclude that a majority of those who migrate belong to the SC or STcommunities, and therefore suffer from multiple layers of exclusion. A high population of disadvantaged castes also

points to rural distress, where depleting forests and other natural resources, and consequent failure of governmentschemes have induced large-scale migration among poor. Particularly in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, the findings point t oa significant percentage of schedule tribes (STs) in the population migrating in search of livelihood from depresseddistricts such as Balangir and Mayurbhanj. Although a number of government projects are implemented in the tribal beltof Orissa, a large number of people still cannot secure their livelihood with seasonal migration.

Demographic and socio-economic profileThis section presents the demographic and socio-economic profile of migrant households in brick kiln industry acrossfive sample cities.

CityTotal

PopulationTotal ChildPopulation

Male FemaleChildren Eligible

for Education (6-18 years)

Hyderabad

Ahmedabad

Bhubaneswar and Cuttack

Chennai

Patna

429

387

374

848

327

231(54%)

214(55%)

247(66%)

511(60%)

210(64%)

198 (46%)

173 (45%)

127 (34%)

337 (40%)

117 (36%)

124 (23%)

193 (49.9%)

166 (44%)

238 (28%)

136 (41.6%)

90 (21%)

111 (28.7%)

104 (69%)

193 (23%)

124 (38%)

Table 1: Population details:

City

Hyderabad

Ahmedabad

Cuttack and Bhubaneswar

Chennai

Patna

45

2.5

20.1

40

ST

67.5

27

92.5

68.6

15

SC

25

28

5

10.7

45

OBC

6

0

0

0.6

0

GEN

1.2

Table 2: Caste of migrants (in percentage)

17

Data collection included gathering information on the socio- economic profile of labourers, recruitment system,payment mode, child health, education, and child labour, etc. The tools used were:

House hold survey of families at the worksites

Focus group discussion

Direct and indirect observation

Referrals to secondary sources

Findings from each of these tools were carefully recorded and analysed. The findings have been presented here in twosets. One, the demographic and socio-economic profile and general living conditions of migrants and two, conditionsof children who migrate.

Data collection and analysis

City

Hyderabad

Ahmedabad


Chennai

Patna

TOTAL

5

14

5

13

39

No.of locations

2

100

80

80

70

514

No. of households

84

City-wise sampling

16

Hyderabad

Ahmedabad

Cuttack

Bhubaneswar

Chennai

Patna

Map of India


12/20

The data on religion is almost as per the demographic profile of the area covered. It is important to note that majority ofthe migrant labourers are Hindus. In Ahmedabad and Patna, a small portion of the population at the worksites, is alsoMuslim. In Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, 67.9 per cent of the population is from tribal communities. They do not follow anyreligion. It is noteworthy that there were households who said they are Hindu by religion although they are tribals.

It must be noted that children belonging to all age groups are found in the brick kilns. There may be a slight increase innumbers between 6-14 years since more number of children are found in this category.

The age between 0-6 years is crucial for the cognitive development of children; without proper parenting and in the harshconditions of living at a factory worksite, it can only be assumed that seasonal migration causes lifelong damage insteadof building stronger, healthier children among poor. These children do not get anganwadi facilities at the worksites. Itmay also be noted that the children in the age group of 6-14 years are supposed to be mandatorily covered under the SSA.But these age groups are not covered as there is a lack of school facilities near the worksites. Further, it is observed thatin some of the worksites there are schools in adjacent areas but these children do not have access to them. Children

above 14 years and within 18 years generally work with theirfamilies as a unit and do not go to the school. However, since it isnormal in rural areas that children of slightly higher ages tend tostudy in lower classes, we can well consider the children above 14years to be included as those covered in SSA. Although findingsfrom Chennai show that most of the children are continuing theirstudy at their migration place, the quality of education issomething to question.

The above graph shows the availability and nature of ration cards among seasonal migrants in the brick kiln industry.Although ration cards become dysfunctional in the destination area, the card holding and card type reflects the economicstatus of the family and their access to the Public Distribution System. Across cities, it was found that the number ofAntodaya card holders, meant for poorest of the poor, among brick kiln workers is low. Majority of the families belong tothe BPL category, while non-card holders, although low, are a significant percentage of the total. This can mean twoimportant things one, that the errors of exclusion and inclusion are so huge that many families do not have access toration cards, or Antodaya/BPL ration cards, despite fitting into the category; or two, that it is not only the poor people whomigrate to the brick kilns to work but also people from the above poverty line who migrate when there is not enough workat the home place.

City

Hyderabad

Ahmedabad


Chennai

Patna

100

90

97.6

100

HINDU

32.1

7.5

2.4

MUSLIM

2.5

STs

67.9

Table 3: Religion (in percentage)

Table 4: Population of children in the migrated place (in percentage)

City

Hyderabad

Ahmedabad


Chennai

Patna

27 46 27

42 45 13

19 45 36

9 71 20

0-6 YEARS

31 59 10

6-14 YEARS 14-18 YEARS

27

46

27

42 45

13

31

59

4536

10 920

71

19

% of Children at the Worksite

Hyderabad Ahmedabad Bhubaneswarand Cuttack

Chennai Patna

0-6 YEARS

6-14 YEARS

14-18 YEARS

Graph 1: Percentage of children at the brick kiln sites

City

Hyderabad

Ahmedabad


Chennai

Patna

59 14 7 20

66.3 2.5 11.2 20

57.4 3.5 38.5 0.6

67.5 7.5 6.3 18.8

BPL

38.1 16.7 6 39.3

APL ANTODAYA NO CARD

Table 5: Status of ration card holders (in percentage)

% of Households having Ration Cards


Chennai Patna

NO CARDANTODAYABPL APL

27

54

14

7

20

66.3

2.5

11.2

20

38.1

16.7

6

39.3

57.4

3.5

38.5

0.6

67.5

7.5 6.3

18.8

Graph 2: Percentage of households having ration cards

18 19


13/20

A lot has been discussed about the potential of MGNREGS, particularly for generating employment and controllingmigration from rural areas. However, a cursory look at the data above (table 6) shows that almost half of the migrants donot have job cards issued under the scheme, which means that t hey remain outside the preview of the scheme despite theneed. Second, while nearly half the people who migrate seasonally do have job cards, they are still choosing to migratedue to some loophole in the system. The reason may lie in MGNREGS not generating enough work, or the earnings eitherbeing low or late. Qualitative discussions reveal that work under MGNREGS is scarce and uncertain and is therefore not adependable source of income for people who therefore prefer migration where some advance money is guaranteed alongwith some payment at the work place.

The three major reasons for migration better wage, debts, and lack of work at native place cannot be analysed inisolation from one another. In fact, these three reasons are different dimensions of the same phenomenon and thedifference is only of where the chain starts and how it is articulated and by the specific respondents. It is because of lackof work that people are forced into low paying exploitative jobs and therefore, left with no alternative but of incurringdebt for emergency or even day to day expenses. Here, the work available at the destination place is not different fromunskilled/semi-skilled manual labour and the wages (given below) are not anything much above the stipulatedminimum wages. Also, most of the families have migrated while incurring a debt through middlemen. Hence, reasonsfor migration reflect absolute collapse of rural livelihood, forcing poor to urban areas for bare survival.

The state-wise details of migrants show what could have been a good guess significant instances of seasonal migrationhappen in a high proportion of tribal states such as Orissa, Chhattisgarh or Jharkhand as well as in BIMARU states. Thebrick kilns of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack and Patna show that the brick kiln workers are from within the state (Jharkhand wasa part of undivided Bihar), while long distance migration is highest in Orissa. Within Orissa, most migrants constitutefrom the Balangir district. However, a part of the reason might lie in purposive sampling, which may have resulted in moremigrants being covered in destination areas for Orissa.

Payment under MGNREGSDetails of payment under MGNREGS have been received from three cities Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, Patna andChennai. Findings from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack show only about 18 families from the sample size benefited underthe scheme. Within that a payment of less than Rs 2000 was made to 10 families, followed by a payment between Rs20004000 to 6 persons and a payment scale between Rs 40006000 to only 2 families. In neither case is this sufficient toarrest migration. Moreover, other than the aforesaid figure, no other families, numbering 27 (61 per cent), got any

benefit from the scheme despite carrying a card. The story is not much different in Patna, where only 4 households outof the 69 having job cards, received a meagre sum amounting to less than Rs 2000. The rest simply did not get anybenefit under the scheme. Similarly in Chennai, only 1 (1.3 per cent) household out of 80 HH having job cards, received ameagre sum amounting to less than Rs 40000.

It is unfortunate that a high budgeted scheme such as the MGNREGS, which provides hundred days of employment andcreate durable livelihood alternatives for local communities, has failed to mitigate their problems.

City

Hyderabad

Ahmedabad


Chennai

Patna

57 43

51 49

40.8 59.2

41.3 58.7

CARDHOLDER

53.6 42.9 3.6

NO CARD NO ANSWER

Table 6: MGNREGS card (in percentage)

City

Hyderabad

Ahmedabad

Bhubaneswar and Cuttack

Chennai

Patna

BETTER WAGE DEBTS OtherForced byMiddlemen

Lack of Work atNative Place

17

25

51.2

51.1

5

55

2.5

1.2

18.9

23

1.3

22.5

26

70

46.4

30

45.7

2

1.3

1.2

3.8

Table 7: Reason for migration (in percentage)

Table 8: State-wise data of migrated families (in percentage)

City Orissa Maharashtra U.P. Rajasthan Bihar JharkhandA.P. Chhattisgarh

95

100

0

98.7

4

10

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

47.5

0

0

1.3

0 0 0 0

13.8 28.8 0 0

0 0 0 0

1.2 0 69.8 29

0 0 0 0

Table 9 shows that a significant majority of families migrate through contractors. It may be noted that a two-tier system

of labour contractors is in practice one is the local village contractor, and the other, is the big area contractor, also

known as 'sardar', who recruits people through local middlemen or directly.

Table 9: System of middlemen (in percentage)

City

92 2 6

92.5 0 7.3

98.2 0 1.8100 0 0

Contractor / Local Broker

98 2 0

Relatives Direct Contact

The table above shows that visits to the native place generated varied responses among respondents. Majority of families

leave for their native place only after the season is over. This in fact, is the character of seasonal migration where workers

come to the worksite and return home only after they complete work at the end of the season. The misery of these brick

kiln workers is such that they are not even allowed to visit their native places even if a death, personal issue or emergency

occurs in the village. They are also deprived of the right to cast their votes and end up being excluded from the census as

they are usually kept captive and watched by the brick kiln owners.

Table 10: Frequency of visit to native place (in percentage)

City

2 10 97

0 011.2 88.8

8.3 125.5 65

0 00 100

Very often

0 00 100

Once in aSeason

DuringFestivals

Whentarget is over

20 21


14/20

The above table shows that the amount of advance taken by different families varies to a great extent. Starting from lessthan Rs 5,000, it may go up to more than Rs 20,000. The higher the debt, the lesser are the weekly wages (due todeductions) and the higher is the target. In Patna around 61 per cent of the households take less than Rs 5,000 as advancemoney as most of the migrants are within the state. Where as in Chennai, 61.3 per cent of the households take more thanRs 20,000 as advance since the migrants work outside the state. In Hyderabad 40 per cent of households have taken anadvance of Rs 15,00020,000.

Table 12 brings out the plight of seasonal migrants in brick kiln, most strongly. A huge number of workers are paid lessthan Rs 500 per week or between Rs 5001,000 per week. Only in Ahmedabad the wages seem to be a little higher for a fewworkers. To lay further emphasis this is the weekly wage of the daily toil of a whole family (at least 3-4 members), formore than 8 hours a day under little facilities of work. In Patna, as in other cities, depending on the advance taken, theweekly payments labourers get just enough to cover their basic expenses which vary from Rs 500-1,000. Those who hadtaken less advance, receive a little more.

However paltry, this money, termed as 'kharchi', is utilised to meet the weekly food and other basic expenses of thefamily, leaving little or no surplus at the end of the week.

Worksite facilitiesThis section provides information on some basic facilities at the worksites. It is important that these facilities meet adecent standard to promote health and wellbeing of the migrant population, particularly children, since they are likelyto be the most vulnerable.

The above table clearly proves that almost all houses in the destination area are kuccha, with the exception of a few.Within kuccha houses, there is a variety that includes thatched, tin, plastic and asbestos houses. In Ahmedabad, datasuggests that workers are provided with mostly tinned or thatched houses for living. About 60 per cent of the people aregiven tin accommodation and 35 per cent are given thatched houses. The rest manage with polythene-covered make-shiftarrangements. The overall arrangement for accommodation is way below the decent level.

Similarly, in the t win cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, out of the total households surveyed, it was found that all ofthem had thatched roofs. This shows their dwelling to be semi-permanent to permanent (very rare) in nature. They havemade the brick kilns their home. It also indicated that owners of the brick kilns are not providing suitable living structureto their employees.

In Patna, the living conditions of the migrants are poor. 35 per cent (59) of the households live in houses with a thatchedroof out of the total of 169 responses. Tiled houses are only 40 per cent (64) while pucca and asbestos houses are 13 percent and 9 per cent respectively. The city of Chennai has all thatched houses.

In Hyderabad and Chennai, all t he households in the brick kilns normally have electricity, as can be seen from the tableabove. However, the study in Hyderabad makes a very crucial observation. The purpose for which t hese households have

been provided with electricity is hardly positive. It may be noted here that all the brick kilns are well electrified with tubelights so that workers can work in night. Most of the times the small dwelling cottages of t he workers are right near thebrick-making place. Given the size of the houses there is practically no scope for taking electricity inside the house as thatwould be dangerous. Here 100 per cent lighting therefore means not the lighting in the houses but outside. In fact many ofthe household chores are done outside the cottage and in the open. Cottages are used only to sleep.

In Patna, where almost half of the houses did not have electricity, the workers use kerosene for lighting purposes. InBhubaneswar-Cuttack and Ahmedabad, the households are not provided with electricity.

Table 11: Advance money taken (in percentage)

CityLess thanRs. 5,000

Rs 5,000 -Rs 10,000

Rs 10,000 -Rs 15,000

Rs 15,000 -Rs 20,000

More thanRs 20,000 Nil

2

14

60.9

8

24

23.7

2.5

17

20

5.9

13.8

40 27 6

23 18 1

0.6 8.9

22.5 61.3

Table 12: Money received on weekends (in percentage)

City

90 10 0

1.2 58.8 40

70 25 5

83.5 16.2 0

Less thanRs 500

100 0 0

Rs 500 -Rs 1,000

Rs 1,000 -Rs 1,500

City

99 1

100 0

87 13

100 0

Kuchha

100 0

Puccha

Table 13: Type of house (in percentage)

Graph 3: Type of house (in percentage)

% of Type of Housing


Chennai Patna

Pucca

Kucha

100

0001

100

10010099

Table 14: Availability of electricity

City

100

1.3 98.8

55.4 44.6

100

Yes

8 92

No

22 23


15/20

Table 15: Medium of cooking (in percentage)

It is clear that a significant majority of houses use firewood as a cooking medium. This is because firewood is a cheaper

option as compared to kerosene and is mainly collected free from the trees and plants in and around the brick kilns by the

women and/or children. In Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, the households use both kerosene and firewood as the medium of

cooking.

City

98 2

98.25 1.25

53.3 0.6 46.5

100

Firewood

44 56

Kerosene Coal

Table 16: Toilet facility (in percentage)

Unfortunately, a significant majority of migrant families continue to defecate in the open. This may be so since creating

their own infrastructure on a seasonal basis is nearly impractical and community options may either be absent or

chargeable. This creates the issue of sanitation and hygiene, leading to various health problems in the brick kilns, which

will also be seen in the next section of findings.

City

1 2 37

0 5 95

1.2 20.1 78.7

0 1.2 98.8

Own

0 0 100

Community Open Defecat ion

Table 17: Availability of water (in percentage)

Although drinking water is available to almost all houses, one can be somewhat sceptical about its quality, which in the

absence of filtering mechanisms, largely depends on the source (see table below).

City

100

100 0

0

100 0

1.298.8

Yes

100 0

No

Table 18: Source of water (in percentage)

Hand pumps are the most important source of drinking water across cities. However in Hyderabad, bore wells are the

chief source of drinking water, although in some cases it is obtained from tube wells as well.

City

10.5 24.5 65

3.8 12.5 83.8

0 13.6 86.4

1.3 0 98.8

Well

0 7.1 92.9

Bore Hand Pump

Table 19: Distance at which water is available (in percentage)

Since availability of drinking water is closely related to the illness index of the workers, the degree of its accessibility to

the target population assumes significance. The above table clearly suggests that the source of water is quite accessible

since it is provided by the contractor, along with the water that is used for the kilns.

City

15 85 0

78.8 11.3 10

16 84 0

66.3 33.8 0

Near

55.2 54.8 0

Very Near Far

Table 20: Who provides water (in percentage)

It is evident from the table above that the employer supplies water to all the workers in the brick kilns but the purity of

water is still a question to reckon with.

City

100

96.3 1.3

0

98 2

0100

Contractor

100 0

Panchayat /Municipality

Table 21: Health facility accessed

Although there is a diversity of sources from which health facility is accessed by the workers, 'private clinics' appears to

be the largest single option for many. This is also because private clinics are readily accessible and have lesser issues

such as long queues, poor treatment, unavailability of medicines, etc. However, visiting private clinics certainly puts extra

pressure on the already tight budgets of the workers.

City

60

1.2

55

30.2

58

25

94

40

39.1

22.8

5 10

3.6

5

1.2

0

28.4

10.5 9

2.4

Govt. Hospital Private C linic Quack Traditional Methods

24 25


16/20

From the above description and the data of previous sections, it is evident that life in brick kiln worksites is marred by thelack of proper toilet/sanitation facilities, health care access, and availability of nutritious food. This results in morbidityand health problems for the migrant children. The table below shows that a significant majority of children live withmorbidity during migration.

The frequency of a child falling ill depends on various factors, including the age and immunity of the child. However, itseems that all children fall ill at least once during a season, while some, particularly the younger ones, fall ill more thanthrice in a season.

As with the frequency of falling ill, types of morbidity too range across multiple diseases. Since these children are mostlyengaged in giving shape to the wet mud and spend all day working in water and mud, there is a high instance of cold/feveror allergies.

Self reporting on 'reason for diseases' shows that the living conditions in the brick kilns are a cause of serious concern.Inadequate and poor quality food as well as poor accommodation are the main reasons for the diseases. Lack of propermedical support also contributes to the children being ill.

Child labour seems to go unabated in the brick kilns despite the existence of laws against it. Children help their parents inthe brick kilns and parents also allow this since it earns them extra income. It may be kept in mind that many parents areaware about the risk of revealing the fact that their child works in the kilns. It may however be noted that the real figure ofchild labour may be higher than what the families admitted. It has also been observed that mostly the older children in theage group of 618 years work as child labourers. Irrespective of the age at which a child starts working in the brick kiln, itmust be stressed that the work involved is hazardous, involves long arduous hours close to fire, and amidst air pollution.Therefore, it is a serious cause of concern with respect to their education, safety, and protection of child rights.

Status and rights of child migrants

This section of the report discusses the status of children and the impact on their fundamental rights, particularly healthand education, due to migration. A brief on the status of children, divided as per age grips is given below:

Children between the ages of 0-5 years are the most vulnerable. At thebrick kilns, these children rarely get milk or other health care facilities (such as immunisation). Due to heavy work load,they suffer from a lack of careful parenting. Sometimes mothers tie the child with a rope around their waists and leavebricks on the other end of the rope to balance it. Many a times, small children hurt themselves with these bricks and due toimproper care it leads to infection. Sometimes the mothers just leaves the children (aged 2-5 years) in the dust and sand

ridden ground, which leads to various infections such as allergies and skin diseases.

The children in this age group are engaged in brick-making. Whilemost boys are engaged as patla ( brick-making ), the girlshelp in the house hold chores and take care of the youngersiblings. Naturally, they drop out of school and compromise ontheir present and future growth and development. Sometimes,these children suffer from serious illnesses due to overworkor lack of facilities, which results in families taking extra cashin advance from the contractor/owner, and in turn have to toilmore than the usual to repay it.

Thechildren in this age group are mainly drop-outs from school,after a particular period of study (Standards 3-5). They are nowfull-fledged workers in the brick kilns and many of them aremarried; and may be working with their wives.

1) Issues of children in the age group of 0-5 years:

2) Issues of children in the age group of 5-16 years:

4. Issues of children in the age group of 15-18 years:

Table 22: Morbidity among children (in percentage)

City

69

75

63.8

80.5

91.3

31

25

26.2

19.5

8.8

0

0

10

0

0

Children withMorbidity

Children withoutMorbidity No Answer

Table 23: Frequency of a child falling ill (in percentage)

City

5.8

28.6

22.5

4.7

18..2

36.3

34.5

16.3

10.1

10.4

19.7 830.2

15.5

18.8

17.93.6

37.55

27.8

45.3 620.1

038.5

Once duringa season Twice duringa season Thrice duringa season More thanthrice No answer

Table 24: Types of morbidity (in percentage)

City

48

42.9

41.3

40.8

50

22

10.7

20

4.1

5

0 27.72.3

13.1

7.5

258.3

37.51.3

8.3

30 150

19.627.2

Cold / Fever Allergy Infections Diarrhoea No answer

Table 25: Reason for diseases (in percentage)

City

48

26.3 73.7

52

30.2 66.9

27.572.5

Childrenworking

57.1 42.9

Children notWorking

Table 26: Child labour (in percentage)

City

5.9

3.6

1.3

5.3

2

32

2.4

5

39.1

28

48 12.1 02

72.7

31.2

6 15.50

20 37.55

32

40 30 00

1.2 18.83.6

Impurewater

Inadequate /poor quality food

Cold due to pooraccommodation

Insufficientclothing

Lack of propermedical support

N.A /No Answer

26 27


17/20

The above-mentioned data indicates that only a minority of children are able to continue with schooling, due to migration.Even those who go to school do not attend school while at brick kilns but rejoin their native village school after the seasonis over. In Ahmedabad, it was found that only in 2-3 per cent of the cases, the child is able to avail of education by going to aneighbourhood school. In rest of the cases, the children lose out on education at the destination areas and eventually dropout in the village school too.

In Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, it was found that the school-going children go home to attend the final exams in March-April and then return to join parents at work. This is slightly a different from thepractice in Hyderabad and Chennai brick kilns where the inter-state workers donot send their children to for the annual exams, eventually forcing them to dropout from the schools. Despite this, we still find a good percentage of children

16who drop out even in intra-state migration . The status of education in thesebrick kilns poses a serious concern and calls for immediate action. In Chennaiand Hyderabad, the percentage of school-going children is high only because ofthe worksite schools that are being run with the collaboration of SSA and Aide etAction.

As for school drop outs, the two most important causes are:

(1) Lack of school in the destination areas

(2) Most of children are involved in work to support their parents.

It must be noted that gender plays a very important role and a girl child is morelikely to drop out to take care of the household chores or to take care of heryounger siblings, thus freeing the mother to contribute to brick-making.

16It may be noted that while considering the eligible children for going to school, here the age group from 6-18 years is consideredinstead of 6-14 years. This is so because we feel that in villages children of even 17-18 years age group read in class 8, which is themandatory minimum education guarantee provided under RTEA.

Recommended areas of intervention:

Chapeswar Rana, 14 years, son of

Ugrasen Rana left school in class

six when he was only 12 years old.

In a close interaction with

Chapeswar, he expressed his

interest to study, but says How can

I continue my education, if I work

here? I have no interest to workhere. I want to study but there are

no schools nearby. I have no friends

here. I miss my school friends. If a

school is opened here, I will go to

school.

A) Recommendations for policy

B) Recommendations for source area

Children accompanying parents during seasonal migration should be counted as child migrants, and their labourshould be banned at all worksites. Independent labour

migration of the children (below 18 years) should be treatedas trafficking.

Since a large number of people are migrating for manymonths in a year, there must be a provision of transfer ofentitlements across states, based on accurate informationof migrants and worksites, and inter-state cooperation; andmust involve simple procedures, which can be followed bymigrants without much hassle.

Inter-state as well as intra-state communication andcoordination among different governments anddepartments should be strengthened to ensure compliancewith all the legal and constitutional provisions regardinglabour.

Child rights and income generation schemes must be integrated at the policy level to address these issues togethersince one affects the other and vice versa.

The budget allocation for proper implementation of the laws relating to protection of child rights should be madeadequate.

Since the issue at hand is huge and sensitive, the government needs to work systematically with NGOs and CBOs,which are already providing relief and services to migrant population, at both source and destination area.

A detailed mapping of migrant workers and their children should be done by the government throughout identifiedsignificant destination areas and in high concentration sending areas, particularly the tribal belt of Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand, and Orissa; and the BIMARU states of Bihar, Rajasthan and UP.

The government authorities should not miss to issue National Identity Cards to the migrant workers

Efforts by the government agencies to check seasonal migration by providing alternative options to farmers duringthe non-agricultural season such as livestock farming or pisciculture.

Easy and timely availability of bank loans at lower interest rates through cooperative credit societies or rural banks toavoid accumulation of debts.

Criminal charges should be filed against contractors exploiting migrant labourers by keeping them in bondage.

Sensitisation of labourers to make them aware of their rights and the alternative options of livelihood.

Systemic inadequacies of and implementation loopholes in the MGNREGS scheme at the source areas must beaddressed. Government should ensure that Job Card holders should be compulsorily provided with 100 days work,with no delay in payment.

Records of the migrant people from the state to be maintained by labour department in the district and finally at thestate level in the labour commission's office.

Table 27: Educational status of child migrants (in percentage)

27

35

49

24

9

28

60

41

70

25

55

5

14

6

66

Table 28: Assistance required for children's education (in percentage)

City

66

90.5

71.3

76.9

92.5

0

1.2

8.8

7.7

7.5

34 0

1.2 3.6

20 0

15.4 0

0 0

School Finance Any other No Answer

28 29


18/20

Skill development courses/training programmes, which will contribute to the employment potential of the poor mustbe undertaken by concerned government departments. These must be particularly targeted at t he youth.

Need for special attention for bringing in migrant children into the purview of the RTEA rule framing.

Transit schools, seasonal hostels, etc., to be established in the source area so that parents have a safe option forleaving children behind to continue their schooling.

Strict action against this form of child labour so as to deter children from this work and encourage the parents to sendthem to schools.

Set of rules and regulations to provide proper ration, education, shelter, and sanitation facilities. Regular supervisionby labour department of the host state to ensure that proper standards of health and hygiene.

Social security schemes for the migrant workers and especially children working in the brick kilns must beimplemented.

Registered and fully functional schools should be set up in the brick kilns, to instruct in the regional language of themigrant children.

ICDS facilities for children between 0-5 years are a necessity near the work sites.

A mechanism of inter-state acknowledgement, by both the host and the guest states, where education given atdestination areas should be made at the policy levels so that migrant children can be mainstreamed at the sourceschools after returning to their own village.

Registered health units or mobile health units to be set up for the migrant population.

Mandatory health insurance must be provided by the contractors for the labourers and their families.

C) Recommendations for destination area

30 31

D) Recommendations for NGO/civil society organisations

To equip migrants with information on their rights and entitlements; provide training and support with regards to marketand job availability; give them support and confidence to deal with contractors/employers and government officials;developing mechanisms so that they can keep in t ouch with their families and friends back in the village.

The whole agency of the contractors/dalals cannot be wished away. It is therefore necessary to work with them andsensitise them on the issue of migration in general and child migration in particular.

It is necessary is to

multi location publication

Documents