Economic Impact of Migration on Chronic Poor of Rural India: A Study of Construction Workers in Jammu

Internal migration has become a common feature of developing economies of the world. India is also experiencing free flow of internal migration which is popularly called as rural-urban labour migration. Migrant labourers generally after their arrival at the urban centres are absorbed in the odd job in roads and buildings, construction or other number of urban-informal activities. With respect to Jammu, the construction activities have increased a lot that has led to continuous increase in inmigration of labourers in Jammu. Therefore it becomes pertinent to ascertain the economic impact of migration on the migrant labourers engaged in the construction sector of Jammu. The study is mainly based on primary data collected through direct personal interview with the respondents. There are total 250 sample respondents, 50 from each of the five poorest states of India. Secondary data on labour migration is also collected from reports published by Census, NSSO, JDA and journals EPW and Kurkshetra. In order to facilitate comparisons the data has been tabulated, analysed and interpreted with the help of statistical tools. On the advantages of migration, migrants disclosed that they have positive impacts on the ‘economic’ aspect of life as well as they could change the life style because of increasing total man-days, monthly/annual income and savings. Similarly, families, which are living at hometowns, are also benefited as they receive regular “remittances” at hometowns.