rural plight
Rajan said most migrant workers are short-term, seasonal, needy, illiterate and informal workers, making it difficult to organize and fight for their rights.
He warned that without a voice in elections, exploitation could worsen and people could be excluded from important decision-making and limit their bargaining power.
“The problem is that immigrants, despite their huge contribution to the economy, are not treated as vote banks…This needs to be remedied,” he said, calling for the creation of a ministry in charge of immigration issues. sued.
With rural India, home to 60% of India’s 140 million people, experiencing an economic slowdown, internal migration will intensify in the world’s most populous country, immigration and economic experts say. It is said to be inevitable.
Many people, especially those under the age of 35, are trying to take any job they can, including as laborers, drivers, and shop and home helpers, to take advantage of the country’s impressive economic growth and urban prosperity. flocking to cities.
Benoy Peter, executive director of the Center for Migration and Inclusive Development in the coastal state of Kerala, said people in agriculture-based jobs face increasing pressures from climate change, negatively impacting crops and facing debt. It warned that this could lead to an increase in the number of people living in the country, forcing them to migrate.
He said if there were enough well-paying jobs in the country, most people would not choose to be “treated as second-class citizens in urban India.”
“Having decent-paying jobs in their hometowns would allow people to live with dignity and exercise their independence,” he said. “But that will be a distant dream.”
More than 30 billion people did not vote in the last general election in 2019, and migrant workers likely made up the majority of them, according to government data.
Data shows that in the first and largest stage of this year’s general election, turnout was down nearly 4 percentage points compared to 2019.
In an op-ed a few days later, the BJP’s Venkaiah Naidu warned that voter apathy could lead them to “automatically let others decide the direction of their lives.”
Remote voting?
It is not realistic for all migrant workers to leave everything and go back to their hometowns to vote, and most of them travel around for temporary jobs, so it is not practical to change their constituency to their place of work. He said it was possible.
The Election Commission of India is working on developing alternative voting mechanisms such as proxy voting, early voting at special centers and online voting.
It is also considering remote voting stations, which would mean migrant workers do not have to return to their home districts to vote.
However, these methods have not yet been implemented due to administrative, legal, and technical challenges such as ensuring the secrecy of voting.
The Election Commission of India did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the migrant worker voting solution.
Most residents, with the exception of two migrant workers, said they would not vote online or through smartphone apps even if given the option, citing the possibility of manipulation.
Vinita Ahirwal, who works at a Delhi-based carton factory, said, referring to the buttons on electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in India: “I don’t trust[the technology]. You have to press that button with your thumb.” There is,” he said.
Ahirwal, 32, said he would not go to vote in his home state of Madhya Pradesh, citing concerns about unemployment.
But not everyone chooses to leave it alone.
For Kaju Nath, a construction worker from Noida, voting is a responsibility, and to fulfill that responsibility, he planned to take a week’s vacation to travel some 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) to Bihar. He said he had informed his superiors.
“I will lose about 10,000 rupees… but at least I will vote for a better future. There is no industry, no factories, no jobs in my state. I need to vote to change that. “There is,” he said to applause. Cement dust fell into his hand.
“I have to do this for my kids so they can get a job there by the time they grow up. They don’t have to do what I’m doing. ”
