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“The 2015 edition provides a collection of case studies on migration

and gender, exploring themes of huge current significance, such as
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the wellbeing impacts of feminised migration streams into precarious

occupations. It is a unique resource for anyone with an interest in
migration in India.”
Priya Deshingkar, University of Sussex, UK

“A much needed scholarly analysis of Indian migration dynamics

addressing some of the key research and policy questions in the field.
Highly recommended to experts, researchers and also policymakers.”
Anna Triandafyllidou, European University
Institute, Florence, Italy

“The 2015 India Migration Report draws our attention to the femini-
zation of migration in the Indian context. By highlighting both the
historical and contemporary trends, this volume provides a compre-
hensive understanding of [a] complex phenomenon.”
Usha George, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada

“[This] is a seminal work that will contribute immensely to the build-

ing of knowledge on the contribution of international female migrant
workers to their family, community as well as local and national
economies.”
Tasneem Siddiqui, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 08:24 20 April 2017

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 India Migration Report 2015
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India Migration Report 2015 explores migration and its crucial link-
ages with gender. This volume:

• studies important issues such as irregular migration, marriage

migration and domestic labour migration, as well as the inter-
connections of migration, gender and caste;
• highlights the relationship between economics and changing
gender dynamics brought about by migration; and
• documents first-hand experiences of migrants from across
India.

Being part of the prestigious annual series, this work will be use-
ful to scholars and researchers of development studies, economics,
migration and diaspora studies, and sociology. It will also interest to
policymakers and government institutions working in the area.

S. Irudaya Rajan is Chair Professor, Ministry of Overseas Indian

Affairs Research Unit on International Migration at the Centre for
Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
 India Migration Report
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Editor: S. Irudaya Rajan, Centre for Development Studies,

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

This annual series strives to bring together international networks of

migration scholars and policymakers to document and discuss research on
various facets of migration. It encourages interdisciplinary commentaries
on diverse aspects of the migration experience and continues to focus on
the economic, social, cultural, ethical, security, and policy ramifications
of international movements of people.

Also available:
India Migration Report 2010: Governance and Labour Migration
978-0-415-57018-3
India Migration Report 2011: Migration, Identity and Conflict
978-0-415-66499-8
India Migration Report 2012: Global Financial Crisis, Migration and
Remittances
978-0-415-63405-2
India Migration Report 2013: Social Costs of Migration
978-0-415-82853-6
India Migration Report 2014: Diaspora and Development
978-1-138-78819-0

Forthcoming
India Migration Report 2016: Gulf Migration
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Edited by
S. Irudaya Rajan
Gender and migration
India Migration Report 2015
 First published 2016
by Routledge
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1 Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110001, India

by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2016 S. Irudaya Rajan

The right of S. Irudaya Rajan to be identified as the author of the editorial

material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted
in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or

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out intent to infringe.

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ISBN: 978-1-138-92653-0 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-68323-2 (ebk)

Typeset in Charter
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
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Dedicated to

Professor Graeme Hugo

the inspiring memory of
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 Contents
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List of figures xi
List of tables xiii
Preface xvii
Acknowledgements xxi
List of contributors xxiii

1 Gender-based immigration visa? On rationality of

a legislative innovation 1
Binod Khadria
2 Migrant women at the discourse–policy nexus: Indian
domestic workers in Saudi Arabia 9
S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph
3 Stepping into the man’s shoes: emigrant domestic
workers as breadwinners and the gender norm in Kerala 26
Praveena Kodoth
4 Economic migration of women: challenges and policy with
reference to Indian emigration to the Gulf 44
Basant Potnuru
5 Addressing the missing link: women domestic workers
migrating from South Asia to the Gulf 62
Smita Mitra
6 Vulnerability of women in international marriage migration 73
Renuka Mishra
7 International mobility of skilled women: overview of
trends and issues 80
Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda
8 Indian international students: a gender perspective 104
Gunjan Sondhi
9 Gendered mobilities: negotiating educational strategies
in Kerala 120
Sara Lång
 x  Contents

10 Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’:

cross-border migration experience within South Asia 137
Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur
11 Adivasi women in India’s migration story 157
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Indrani Mazumdar
12 Gender dimensions of migration in urban India 176
Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and R. B. Bhagat
13 Confined to the margins: female migrant workers in
urban areas 191
Neetha N
14 Understanding female migration pattern in India:
exploring the driving forces 206
Sandhya Rani Mahapatro and K. S. James
15 The missing men: sex ratios and migration 221
Chinmay Tumbe
16 Survival, struggle and the promise of a new future: living
and working conditions of migrant workers in Kerala 240
S. Irudaya Rajan and Sumeetha M.
17 Health-seeking behaviour among the interstate
migrant labourers 256
Sreejini Jaya and Ravi Prasad Varma
18 From Kerala to Kerala via the Gulf: emigration experiences
of return emigrants 269
K. C. Zachariah and S. Irudaya Rajan
19 Transnational flows: extent, patterns and implications
for Gujarat 281
Biplab Dhak
20 Wage differentials between Indian migrant workers in the
Gulf and non-migrant workers in India 297
S. Irudaya Rajan, B. A. Prakash and Arya Suresh
21 The disposable people: irregular and undocumented
migrants 311
Bernard D’ Sami

Index 319
 Figures
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4.1 ECR clearance granted to women migrant workers by

Protector of Emigrants (POE) Office, 2008–2009 46
4.2 ECR clearances granted to women migrant workers
by major destinations, 2008–2010 47
4.3 Average monthly wage of housemaids by destination
country and sex, 2010 48
7.1 Overqualification rate (%) of employed population
aged 25–54, EU-27, 2008 90
10.1 Types of violence and perpetrators at Indo–Nepal
route 151
10.2 Types of violence and perpetrators on the
Indo–Bangladesh route 153
12.1 Percentage of migrants, India, 1999–2000 and
2007–2008 179
13.1 Distribution of migrant workers across broad
industrial sectors 195
13.2 Proportion of migrant and non-migrant women across
status of employment 196
14.1 Labour force participation of female migrants by
migration status (less than five years) 209
14.2 Labour force participation status of female reporting
marriage and family moved as reason for migration 210
15.1 Sex ratios across age groups, global scenario 222
15.2 Sex ratios across age groups, India and Kerala 222
15.3 Out migration for work in India 224
15.4 Correlations between migration variables and age
group sex ratios across districts 226
15.5 Sex ratio of child mortality rates and juvenile sex ratios 229
15.6 Migration and sex ratios in Kerala’s districts 230
15.7 Migration and sex ratios in Kerala’s taluks 230
15.8 Migration and sex ratios in Tamil Nadu districts, 2001 232
15.9 Migration and sex ratios in Tamil Nadu districts, 1901 232
15.10 Sex ratios for India and selected districts, 1901–2011 233
15.11 Sex ratios for Italy, 1861–2009 234
17.1 ROC curve predicting pattern of health care seeking
using duration of stay 264
 xii  Figures

19.1 Rate of immigration by districts in Gujarat 285

19.2 Emigration rate by rural–urban in Gujarat 285
19.3 Emigration rate by regions in Gujarat 286
19.4 Rate of sending remittance by duration of emigration 290
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19.5 Average amount of remittance (in rupees) an emigrant

sends by duration (in years) of emigration 291
20.1 Monthly salaries of UAE emigrants 304
20.2 Monthly salaries of Saudi Arabian emigrants 305
 Tables
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3.1 Women’s overseas migration from Indonesia, the

Philippines and Sri Lanka, 1980s to 2000s 30
3.2 Estimates of the scale of migrant domestic workers
in the GCC by gender and scale of Indian domestic
workers 31
4.1 ECR clearances granted to women migrant workers by
occupation and major destinations, 2010 47
5.1 Migrant domestic workers in Gulf Cooperation
Council countries 64
6.1 Summary of findings from the Primary Survey Among
Married Women, 2014 76
7.1 Female migrants as percentage of international migrants 86
7.2 Occupation of employed foreign-born civilian workers
aged 16+, 2011 87
7.3 Key employment sectors for women aged 25–54,
EU-27, 2010 88
7.4 Percentage of women in highly skilled occupations
aged 15–64, selected OECD countries, 2004 89
7.5 Highly educated migrants by gender 89
7.6 Foreign-born high skilled female professionals with
tertiary education, 2000: physical, mathematical and
engineering science professionals 91
7.7 Foreign-born high skilled female professionals with
tertiary education, 2000: life science and health
professionals 93
7.8 Foreign-born high skilled female professionals with
tertiary education, 2000: teaching professionals 94
7.9 Migration profile, India 95
7.10 Occupations of Indian migrants in the USA and Canada
by gender, 2006 97
7.11 Percentage of principal female applicants from India to
New Zealand 98
10.1 Locations across two mobility routes 138
10.2 Percentage of female and total number of respondents 140
10.3 Percentage currently married 141
 xiv  Tables

10.4 Percentage of married respondents not living

with spouse 142
10.5 Education: destination and source countries 142
10.6 Entitlements at place of work comparison
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between impact and control strata 144

10.7 Working conditions at destination: comparison
by gender 145
10.8 Creating an enabling environment: source 147
10.9 Number of individuals whose experiences were
documented 148
10.10 Percentage of cases addressed 154
11.1 Distribution of women migrant workers by type
of migration 166
12.1 Distribution of migrants in urban India by age group,
1999–2000 and 2007–2008 179
12.2 Distribution of migrants in India by streams of
migration, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 180
12.3 Distribution of migrants in urban India by reasons for
migration, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 180
12.4 Percentage of migrants in urban India by social groups,
1999–2000 and 2007–2008 181
12.5 Percentage of migrants in urban India by education
level, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 182
12.6 Percentage of migrants in urban India by MPCE,
1999–2000 and 2007–2008 182
12.7a Percentage of male migrants in India by MPCE
according to current work status, 1999–2000 and
2007–2008 183
12.7b Percentage of female migrants in India by MPCE
according to current work status, 1999–2000 and
2007–2008 183
12.8 Changes in work status of migrants in pre- and
post-migration period in urban India, 1999–2000 and
2007–2008 184
12.9 Odds ratios of factors influencing the migration in
urban India for age group of 15–59, 1999–2000 and
2007–2008 186
13.1 Proportion of migrants across status of employment 193
13.2 Profile of migrant workers 197
14.1 Percentage of female migrants across level
of education 211
14.2 Percentage of female migrants across MPCE classes 212
14.3 Results of multivariate analysis for female migrated
 Tables  xv

in the last five years and for life time migrants,

2007–2008 213
15.1 Migration variables descriptive statistics 226
15.2 Pairwise correlation coefficients of key variables 228
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16.1 Sample distribution across sectors and districts, 2012 243

16.2 Caste profile of migrant workers, 2012 244
16.3 Family size of the migrant workers, 2012 245
16.4 Educational profile of the migrant workers, 2012 245
16.5 Language skills of migrant workers, 2012 247
16.6 Mode of recruitment 248
16.7 Accommodation facilities of the migrant workers, 2012 248
16.8 Housing arrangements of the migrant workers, 2012 249
16.9 Frequency of visits home by migrants, 2012 250
16.10 Monthly income of migrants across sectors, 2012 251
16.11 Mode of remittances used by migrants, 2012 252
16.12 Benefits at work reported by migrants, 2012 252
16.13 Migrants with health insurance, 2012 253
16.14 Communication with local population by
migrants, 2012 253
17.1 Association of independent variables with poor pattern
of health care seeking 263
17.2 Multivariate model on poor pattern of health care
seeking 265
19.1 Distribution of emigrants by destination countries
and religion 287
19.2 Percentage of households of emigrants receiving
remittances and the corresponding average amount
received in the last year 289
20.1 Average weekly wages 301
20.2 Weekly earnings of the intending migrants 303
20.3 Annual household savings in Kerala 303
20.4 Savings of emigrants per month 305
20.5 Remittances sent by emigrants 307
20.6 Wage rates for Indian labour in the Gulf, 2012 308
20.7 Cost migration to and living in the UAE 308
20.8 Monthly remittances and annual household savings 310
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 Preface
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It is time to present the sixth report in the annual series of India

Migration Reports (IMRs), which focuses on the gender aspects of
migration. With contributions by noted academics, policymakers,
scholars, and activists, the IMRs have compiled studies from diverse
perspectives on specific themes for a holistic understanding of com-
plex phenomena. Devoting each report to a specific topic related to
migration, the IMRs have been instrumental in disseminating find-
ings critical to informing policy.
The first report, namely, IMR 2010, critically analysed the insti-
tutional and policy framework, specifically deriving the linkages
between policy measures and migration trends while providing a his-
tory of emigration and mapping both skilled and unskilled labour
flows. It also highlighted the importance of remittances and the
impact of workers’ remittances on consumption, investment and
growth. The second volume in the annual series, IMR 2011, focused
on the implications of internal migration, livelihood strategies and
recruitment processes and also provided a district-level analysis of
the various facets of migration, highlighting employment networks
and migration development linkages. The IMR 2012 consisted of a
collection of articles dealing with various dimensions of the global
financial crisis and its economic and social impacts in terms of gover-
nance, emigration, remittances, return migration, and re-integration.
It analysed the impact on the outflow of emigrants from the countries
of origin and inflow of remittances to the countries of destination.
The fourth report, IMR 2013, underscored an often-neglected space
in migration research – the social costs of migration – social, psycho-
logical and human costs for both migrants and their families, based
on both quantitative and qualitative research. The fifth report in the
series, IMR 2015, systematically analysed the contribution of dias-
poras in development, both in the countries of origin as well as des-
tination, emphasizing how diasporic human and financial resources
can be utilized for economic growth and sustainable development,
especially in education and health. It offered critical insights on
migrant experiences, transnationalism and philanthropic networks,
indigenization and diaspora policies as well as return of diasporas.
The sixth IMR, organized in 21 chapters, examines the various
facets of migration and gender. Chapter 1 discusses issues related
 xviii  Preface

to gender-based immigration visa, the consequent chapters examine

the problems of domestic workers, based on our field work in Saudi
Arabia, at the destination country against their role as breadwinners
and (Chapter 2) prevailing gender norms in the country of origin or,
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in this case, in the context of Kerala. (Chapter 3) considers the chal-

lenges faced by women migrants and Chapter 4 the policy regime in
the context of Gulf, where domestic workers are supposed to leave
for work only after emigration clearance is provided by the protector
of emigrants functioning at the nine offices throughout India work-
ing directly under the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA),
Government of India. Chapter 5 extends the policy issues further in
the context of South Asian countries as one block as the sending
region against Gulf as the receiving region.
Vulnerability related to the international marriage migration is an
emerging topic, and the MOIA through its handbook cautions prospec-
tive parents about international marriages. At the countries of desti-
nation, they also provide legal support (Chapter 6) to guide spouses
of migrants. Chapter 7 examines the migration of skilled women
workers, international student migration and how female students
navigate their future educational plans. Cross-border mobility and
its vulnerability is the focus of the (Chapters 8 and 9) based on the
field work done between India and Nepal and India and Bangladesh.
Migration of adivasi women in India is the theme of the subsequent
(Chapter 10), followed by three chapters examining the patterns and
Chapter 11 characteristics of female migration in urban India. The
last chapter in the theme deals with missing women (Chapters 12, 13
and 14) using both historical and contemporary data (Chapter 15).
Two subsequent chapters discuss the health-seeking behaviour
and working conditions of the interstate migrant workers based on a
large-scale survey conducted by the Centre for Development Studies
(CDS) as well as a smaller survey conducted among migrants. The next
chapter is based on the work done by the CDS on return ­(Chapters
16 and 17) migrants funded by the MOIA, Government of India,
which is followed by a chapter on emigration in Gujarat, funded by
the MOIA and Government of Gujarat and conducted at the Gujarat
Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad. Yet another study
sponsored by the MOIA carried out by the CDS (Chapters 18 and 19)
on wage differentials between Indian migration workers in the Gulf
and non-migrant workers in India based on the field work done in
Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia is
also included in this report (Chapter 20). Finally, we have included
 Preface  xix

a chapter on a neglected area in the migration research, focusing on

undocumented migrants.
Before signing off, I would like to inform the readers that the IMR
2016 will focus on issues facing Gulf migrants based on field work
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done both in Gulf and India and the IMR 2017 is expected to exam-
ine the problems of Indian migrants in Europe.

S. Irudaya Rajan
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 Acknowledgements
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The annual migration reports have received overwhelming accep-

tance from readers, including development practitioners, policymak-
ers, researchers, and activists. I wish to thank all the contributors in
making each report in the series a must read and in particular, the
IMR 2015, a valuable collection of important and thought-provoking
articles on the gender aspects related to migration.
I would like to acknowledge the continued support received
from the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), in particular,
Mr Sunil Soni, Secretary, MOIA; T. K. Manoj Kumar, Joint Secretary,
MOIA, Renuka Mishra, Joint director, MOIA; and Roulkhumlien
Buhril, Protector General of Emigrants. I would also like to thank
three former secretaries of the MOIA whose unwavering help was
indispensable to the running of the migration unit at the Centre for
Development Studies (CDS) – S. Krishna Kumar, K. Mohandas and
A. Didar Singh.
At CDS, Bimal Jalan, Chairman; Amit Shovon Ray, Director; P.
Suresh Babu, Registrar; V. Sriram, Librarian; and S. Suresh, Finance
Officer as well as my colleagues, administrative and library staff have
encouraged, guided and supported me in all academic endeavours.
My own research team members, Sreeja K., Sunitha Shyam, Mini,
and Lini, have also put in a lot of effort to bring out this report.
I also gratefully cherish the emotional support, patience and
understanding provided by my wife, Hema, and our children, Rahul,
Rohit and Catherine.
I would also like to record my appreciation for the hard work done
by the editorial and sales teams of Routledge, New Delhi, in bringing
out this report on time.

S Irudaya Rajan
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 Contributors
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R. B. Bhagat, Professor and Head, Department of Migration and

Urban Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences,
­
­Mumbai.
Nabesh Bohidar, Regional Monitoring and Knowledge Manager,
based at CARE India in Delhi.
Rupa Chanda, Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Manage-
ment, Bangalore.
Bernard D’ Sami, Professor, Loyola College, Chennai.
Biplab Dhak, Assistant Professor, A. N. Sinha Institute of Social
Studies, Patna.
Sudeshna Ghosh, Research Associate, Indian Institute of Manage-
ment, Bangalore.
K. S. James, Professor and Head, Population Research Centre, Insti-
tute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.
Sreejini Jaya, Doctoral Fellow, Achutha Menon Centre for Health
Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences
and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram.
Jolin Joseph, Doctoral candidate, York University, Canada.
Navneet Kaur, Team Leader in the EMPHASIS project of CARE In-
dia in Delhi.
Kunal Keshri, Assistant Professor, G. B. Pant Social Science Insti-
tute, University of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.
Binod Khadria, Professor of Economics, Zakir Husain Centre for
Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi.
Praveena Kodoth, Associate Professor, Centre for Development
Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.
Sara Lång, Doctoral candidate, Department of Social and Economic
Geography, Uppsala University, Sweden.
 xxiv  Contributors

Sumeetha M., Doctoral Fellow, Centre for Development Studies,

Thiruvananthapuram.
Sandhya Rani Mahapatro, Senior Research Officer, International
Institution for Population Sciences, Mumbai.
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Indrani Mazumdar, Senior Fellow, Centre for Women’s Develop-

ment Studies, New Delhi.
Renuka Mishra, Joint Director, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs,
Akbar Bhavan, New Delhi.
Smita Mitra is with the UN Women Office for India, Bhutan, the
Maldives, and Sri Lanka, located in New Delhi.
Neetha N Professor, Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New
Delhi.
Basant Potnuru, Head of Projects Division, India Centre for Migra-
tion, New Delhi.
B. A. Prakash, Professor, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development
Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.
S. Irudaya Rajan, Chair Professor, Ministry of Overseas Indian Af-
fairs Research Unit on International Migration, Centre for Develop-
ment Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.
Nishikant Singh, Research Scholar, Centre for the Study of Re-
gional Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi.
Gunjan Sondhi, Post-doctoral Fellow, York Centre for Asian Re-
search, York University, Canada.
Arya Suresh, Research Associate, Ministry of Overseas Indian Af-
fairs Research Unit on International Migration, Centre for Develop-
ment Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.
Chinmay Tumbe, Assistant Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sci-
ences, Hyderabad.
Ravi Prasad Varma, Department of Community Medicine, Achutha
Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Insti-
tute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram.
K. C. Zachariah, Honorary Professor, Centre for Development Stud-
ies, Thiruvananthapuram.
 1
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Gender-based immigration visa?

On rationality of a legislative innovation
Binod Khadria

The context
A lot has already been written towards establishing the gender-
migration relationship, whether in general or particularly in Indian
context. It is not my purpose, in this chapter, to contribute anything
further in consolidating the state of this relationship, involving the
cross-border mobility of women whether predominantly as domes-
tic workers, nurses, care givers, entertainers, brides, wives, and so
on, or also in other professions and occupations that primarily com-
prise men. Instead, assuming this relationship as already established
and given, let me propose a small but far-reaching innovation in
the domain of immigration legislation that ought to have followed.
Before I do so, let me, however, introduce the context by quoting two
observations on the gender-migration relationship itself:

While men once formed the majority of migrants, with women remaining
at the place of origin or accompanying spouses as secondary migrants,
women from developing countries such as . . . India now engage in migra-
tion for work purposes. Gender permeates every aspect of migration, from
the decision to migrate to the process of migration and its eventual con-
sequences. A gender perspective is essential for understanding both the
causes and consequences of international migration.
(Centre for Social Research, [Link]
gender-dimensions-of-migration).

Political change or policies may affect men and women differently, result-
ing in gendered patterns of migration; laws regarding both emigration
and immigration often have gendered outcomes; and policies that affect
the integration, or re-integration, of migrants into societies may also
affect men and women differently. This has implications for male and
female migrants’ livelihoods, rights and entitlements.
(Piper, 2008, p.1).
 2  Binod Khadria

Both these observations testify that lately scholars have paid

greater attention to gender in migration analysis than earlier. Policy-
makers too have started recognizing the issues of gender involved in
international migration. However, the policy measures have remained
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limited to either being protective against exploitation and discrimi-

nation, or at best welfare enhancing for women migrants. Neither
has any scholar vouched for nor have the policymakers cared to con-
sciously introduce any follow-up measures in immigration legislation
to accommodate these dimensions in a proactive way. Reflecting on
the rationality of introducing gender-based positive discrimination
in immigration – say, in terms of introducing quotas or numbers set
for giving a different kind or class of visa to women workers and
students, i.e. as human capital and ‘semi-finished human capital’
(Majumdar 1994). I have, in this chapter, proposed the introduction
of such gender-based quotas of visa over and above all other clas-
sifications of immigrant admissions in various destination countries
where Indian migrants go. Two questions would arise here: 1. What
are the rationales for introducing this, from the point of view of India
and from the point of view of the destination country? 2. What fur-
ther data and research are required to strengthen the case?
Usually, most destination countries have immigration quotas for
issuing visas based on the requirements of the labour market. These
are based on points system about which I need not elaborate here. In
the affirmative-action debate, one does not come across an adequate
or intellectually satisfying defence of positive discrimination favour-
ing women over men even in education or employment (Khadria
2000); immigration quotas for women in that context would perhaps
be a far cry. Nevertheless, the underlying rationale for introducing
gender-based quotas in immigration for women is that it would yield
unique results when compared with visa quotas based on occupa-
tional groupings. There is a unique justification in accessing even
the family unification target through positive discrimination aimed
at women rather than generally through general family relationships
like parents, children, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, and so on.

Turning points in the OECD

and Indian perspectives
The focus of gender studies in the field of international migra-
tion and diaspora has generally been on the downside – highlight-
ing marginalization, discrimination and exploitation of women in
the low-paying unskilled and semi-skilled jobs in the non-OECD
 Gender-based immigration visa  3

(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) coun-

tries. There is, however, likelihood of a role reversal coming up
between the high-skill attracting and low-skill absorbing countries:
the discourse with respect to Indian emigration to the OECD coun-
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tries, in contrast to that directed towards the Gulf and South-east

Asia has of late provided a new connotation to the term ‘3D’. In the
past, these were jobs not in demand from the native population.
From being engaged in these ‘dirty, difficult and dangerous’ jobs, the
Indian migrants in the OECD countries are expected to demand –
over the next two decades – other jobs which would be more likely to
be called, ‘demanding, desirable and diasporic’. This would happen
not because these jobs are not in demand from the native citizens but
because the indigenous supply of skilled labour or human capital –
whether high-skilled ‘knowledge workers’ or low-skilled ‘service
workers’ – would not be adequate to meet the requirements in the
OECD countries.
At the same time, contrary to the distinguished futurologist
Peter Drucker’s forecast, the divide between the high mobility of
high-skilled ‘knowledge workers’ and low mobility of the low-skilled
‘service workers’ may not sustain because, with jobs even in agricul-
ture and recycling becoming more and more ‘demanding, desirable
and diasporic’, the OECD would attract large number of low-skilled
immigrants. These will be the sectors where – in the wake of the
ongoing climate change, which is leading to the emergence of a
global ‘green economy’ – too few green jobs would be created, as
an International Labour Organization (ILO) report of 2008 has pre-
dicted (ILO 2008). The report said that the global market for environ-
mental products and services is projected to double from the present
US$1,370 billion per year to US$2,740 billion by 2020. Half of this
burgeoning market would be in the energy efficiency sector and the
balance in sustainable transport, water supply, sanitation, and waste
management. By 2030, employment in alternative energy sector may
rise to 2.1 million in wind power and 6.3 million in solar power, as
renewable energy would generate more jobs than fossil fuels do. Pro-
jected investments of $630 billion by 2030 will translate into 20 mil-
lion additional jobs in the renewable energy sector, leading to newer
dimensions of migratory flows in directions so far unanticipated, it
has been predicted. Lately, therefore, India has emerged as the most
sought-after source country for the supply of all skill types of workers
in the developed OECD host economies.
Immigration trends are thus changing over time. While indi-
viduals and families once migrated permanently from one place to
 4  Binod Khadria

another, more and more of today’s migrants engage in temporary

or cyclical migration patterns. Let me take the OECD countries as
the destination for Indian migrants. While talking of international
migration from India to the OECD, it is important, however, to keep
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in mind that the OECD is neither a homogenous region nor limited

to the so-called traditional ‘north’ geographically. Based on the his-
torical and contemporary nature of this migration, the OECD can be
classified into six broad groups of countries: the United States and
Canada in North America; United Kingdom in Europe; Australia and
New Zealand in the Pacific; West European countries in the Euro-
pean Union (EU); Japan and Korea in East Asia; and East European
new members of the EU.
Almost 80 per cent of the highly qualified migrants from India
have continued to choose the United States as their ultimate destina-
tion for more than a decade. Canada is the second-best choice, and
also as a route to move to the United States. The United Kingdom
has always been a preferred destination, except that migration to the
United Kingdom was overtaken by the United States in the 1970s
because of downturn in the British economy followed by restrictive
immigration policies. Australia and New Zealand in the Pacific are
another group of destination that attracts Indians.
All the OECD countries in these three groups of destinations are
primarily English-speaking and that is one major factor behind these
flows being large, as compared to the other three groups of OECD
countries which are non-English speaking. Western Europe is still a
slight exception because of its historical links (Dutch, French and Por-
tuguese) with the Indian subcontinent, and also because of its con-
temporary initiative in starting tertiary-level education in the English
language to cater to (and to capture the clientele of) the overseas stu-
dents from India (and China). Japan and Korea have dominated in
attracting more of the semi-skilled and unskilled migrants from India
because of their Asian culture and Buddhist values. East European
countries (e.g. Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, and so on) have
themselves started experiencing emigration to the West-European
EU countries, and to fill the vacuum there labour is being imported
from India (and the other two South Asian countries, viz., Bangla-
desh and Pakistan).
Also, one has to keep in mind that although efforts are on within
the EU to harmonize policies, migration is one area where immigra-
tion in the EU from any third country or countries is still a sovereign
turf of the EU member states, and therefore guided more by bilateral
agreements with the source countries. There is also some amount
 Gender-based immigration visa  5

of competition among the EU countries to attract the highly skilled

workers and tertiary-level students from India, despite the introduc-
tion of a EU-wide ‘Blue Card’ along the lines of the American Green
Card, to attract an estimated 20 million high skilled workers by 2020,
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large proportions of them from India.

In the 1990s, the policy reform in India focused on removing the
barriers to the world markets. Around the same time, in the migra-
tion sphere too, the centre of focus showed signs of shifting from
source-country determinants of migration to destination-country
determinants. In the 21st century, as the trend shows today, it has
been speculated that in the years to come over the current decade
till 2020, migration flows would be driven by the global demand
for human capital – an excess demand for 54 million workers in the
developed countries, met mostly by a surplus supply of 47 million
workers in India (US Census Bureau, BCG 2002–2003, cited in GOI
2008). As migration has been largely looked at as a one-sided game
of loss or gain, there are talks about emergence of turning points in
Indian emigration – from ‘brain drain’ of the 20th century to that of
‘brain gain’ in the 21st century. These expectations are fired by the
Indian diaspora abroad remitting increasing volumes of money to
India and/or themselves returning home with enhanced skills and
huge investible savings that would help India’s stride towards becom-
ing a ‘super power’. The expectations are high because remittances
and return migration are ‘seen’ to be growing on a linear trajectory
with increasing degree of transnationalism that the diaspora acquires
through formal and/or informal memberships of more than one
nation – i.e. either through naturalized citizenship/dual citizenship
of destination and source countries, and/or through legal permanent
residency and acculturation in the destination country. However,
there are ‘unseen’ caveats that make this linearity less predictable in
the future than meets the eye.

Two social implications of temporization

of migration
OECD had observed a decade ago that while growth of permanent
settler admissions in the developed northern countries from Asia
grew slowly, temporary worker entrants grew rapidly in the initial
years of the 21st century (OECD 2004). This temporization of immi-
gration has promoted return migration of workers to homeland or a
third country after a stay of, say, 5–7 years in that country of desti-
nation. In 2010, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
 6  Binod Khadria

observed that in recent years return migration had acquired the

thrust of policy by many northern governments (IOM 2010). Most
of this happens under the new name of ‘circular migration’ rather
than return migration. This has its own social implications that I had
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pointed out elsewhere (Khadria 1999, 2009, 2012). Let me mention

just two of these – one in the OECD destination countries and the
other in a developing origin country like India.
The implication in the destination country arises from a corol-
lary that although the size of a diaspora in the labour market of
a destination country can keep rising with temporary or circular
immigration, because the individual human faces that comprise it
keep changing with the continuous return of some of them to their
homeland, the element of racial conflict in the destination society
could be expected to come down to a low level of equilibrium. An
explicitly stated policy of promoting return migration, involving only
temporary stay rights for foreigners would thus allay the fears, in
the minds of the native citizens, of being competed out by them. If
so, it could naturally be a welcome preference for the strife-prone
destination countries. Socio-psychologically speaking, this acts like a
‘safety valve’ that would suit the interest of those OECD host coun-
tries where racial xenophobia against the foreigners’ presence in the
labour market is often a political headache for the state, and would
be welfare-enhancing.
On the other hand, the social implications of temporary migration
on the migrants and their family members in a developing origin
country like India could be welfare-reducing as the benefits of return
migration would be pre-empted by the welfare loss taking place dur-
ing emigration. Not only India, but also other countries in South
Asia, like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka get overwhelmed by
the bandwagon of promoting return migration benefitting them at
the macrolevel. So far, these developing countries of origin have
been complacent about the microlevel interests of their people being
adversely affected by these key trends. For example, a natural cor-
ollary of any individual migrant’s decision to return home – when
inherent in the decision of onward migration itself – would be the
question of the spouse joining or not joining abroad in the first place:
Whether to resign when leave would not be commensurate with the
emigrating spouse’s engagement abroad?
Under the circumstances, temporary migration would entail a
compulsory separation among the members of the family, leading to
splitting of the family and its nomadization, so to say, and making
the return of the worker too a type of ‘forced migration’, although all
 Gender-based immigration visa  7

the decisions within the concerned migrant’s family would seemingly

remain ‘voluntary’. This would entail a loss of welfare in the country
of origin, because, for instance, the largest barrier to accepting an
international post is family consideration (62%) (Hindustan Times,
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Shine supplement, page 3, September 23, 2008). Other barriers

come far later, like language (13%), difficulties returning to country
of origin (8%), security (5%), cost (5%), and living standards (4%).
This is an issue, which despite being largely uncharted so far, would
perhaps be important enough to be included in the agenda of social
policy responses towards neutralizing the adverse effects of interna-
tional migration on the migrants.

Would immigrant quotas for women reduce

racial strife and unite the families?
Apart from the macrolevel engagement of the policymakers, migra-
tion researchers across the world ought to increasingly endeavour
observing and analysing the day-to-day life of the individual migrants
and communities because of the hope that migration would be recog-
nized as applied human discipline one day. An immediately relevant
space for collaboration between researchers and policymakers could
be in seeking answer to a question: Why should there be quotas for
women migrants within other quotas? Would more women immi-
grants reduce racial strife in destination countries and would they
unite the families in destination and/or home countries?
The answer may lie in seeking answers to a series of follow-up
questions: Are women more tolerant of strangers than men? Who
influences the migration and/or return decisions within families the
most – men or women? Who has a dominant vote in taking deci-
sions to stay on in the destination country – men or women among
the high-skill and low-skill migrants? We have the data of male and
female Indian students studying abroad; why are these not high-
lighted? What are the stay rates of Indian women students; are they
higher than those of boys? Why are spouses (read wives) of H1B visa
holders now being allowed to work in the United States? Is it because
of gender equality or is it because there is a shortage of workers that
is being met? Will a gender-based positive discrimination bring the
migrant’s family to centre stage of migration policy?
Lately, at different points of contemporary history, migrants and
diasporas have been looked at for their effects, allegorically, either
as bane or boon in the host countries, and either as traitors or angels
in the motherland (Lal 2006). How would women migrants figure
 8  Binod Khadria

in this – as bane or boon in the host country, and traitors or angels

in the home country? Gender-based quotas would perhaps provide
some clues to the answer.
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References
Centre for Social Research, [Link]
dimensions-of-migration (accessed 7 September 2014).
GOI. 2008. Eleventh Five Year Plan 2007–2012, vol. I. New Delhi: Planning
Commission, Government of India.
ILO. 2008. Green Jobs: Towards Decent Works in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon
World. Geneva: International Labour Organization.
IOM. 2010. World Migration Report 2010. Geneva: International Organisation
for Migration.
Khadria, Binod. 1999. The Migration of Knowledge Workers: Second-generation
Effects of India’s Brain Drain. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Khadria, Binod. 2000. ‘Gender-based Positive Discrimination: Is There
A Case?’, in Mary-Louise Kearney (ed.), Women, Power and the Academy:
From Rhetoric to Reality, pp. 21–27. New York: UNESCO and Berghahn
Books.
Khadria, Binod (ed.). 2009. India Migration Report 2009: Past, Present, and
the Future Outlook, International Migration and Diaspora Studies (IMDS)
Project, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi: Cambridge University
Press India.
Khadria, Binod (ed.). 2012. India Migration Report 2010–2011: The Americas.
India, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lal, Brij V. (ed.). 2006. Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora. Singapore:
Editions Didier Millet.
Majumdar, Tapas. 1994. ‘Old World is the New World’. The Telegraph, 8
August.
OECD. 2004. Trends in International Migration. Annual Report 2003 Edition.
Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Piper, Nicola. 2008. ‘International Migration and Gendered Axes of
Stratification: Introduction’, in N. Piper (ed.), New Perspectives on Gender
and Migration: Livelihood, Rights and Entitlements, pp.1–18. New York:
Routledge.
 2
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Migrant women at the

discourse–policy nexus
Indian domestic workers in Saudi Arabia
S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

Introduction
Migrant domestic workers (MDWs) comprise a highly unregulated,
largely female global workforce. This chapter examines intersections
of academic discourse and state policy as refracted in the trajecto-
ries, struggles and lived experience of Indian MDWs in Saudi Arabia.
The narrative is developed in three sections; in the first section, we
chart the definitional issues and discursive techniques that frame the
figure of the MDW, with a view to deroutinize dominant discourse.
Here, the dichotomous nature of mainstream knowledge production
that frame MDWs as either vulnerable ‘victims’ or selfless ‘heroes’ is
discussed. The second section follows the Indian MDW through the
migration cycle from India to Saudi Arabia. Based on testimonies and
secondary data, it compares domestic worker’s experiences at home
and abroad. The third section attends to the regulatory norms and
border technologies that limit the lives and opportunities of MDWs
in the region. We pay attention to the state apparatus in the send-
ing country India and policy climate in the receiving nation of Saudi
Arabia, and point towards the importance of responsible, responsive
state support for MDWs.
The chapter presents preliminary observations from surveys of 56
Indian domestic workers conducted as part of a broader study of
1,000 low- and semi-skilled Indian migrants in Saudi Arabia by the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Research Unit on International
Migration at the Centre for Development Studies, Kerala. Situated in
the broader systemic structures that govern the labour market and
their social lives, the development of MDWs is facilitated and/or con-
strained by myriad factors including the Kafala system, Nitaqat labour
policies, social networks, and labour laws. Despite recent workforce
 10  S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

nationalization policies in the region, the demand for overseas

domestic workers in Saudi Arabia is poised to increase (Zachariah et
al. 2014). Reasons for this include labour mobility agreements (Khan
2014), a rapidly ageing population, the insufficiency of state care
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provisions for children, elderly and disabled people in the Kingdom,

and the increasing percentage of local women entering the labour
market. Migrant women workers play an important role as drivers
of development both at home and at the destination and should not
be obscured from analysis. It is imperative to write women back into
the story of mobility and development and ensure that both women
and men are equally represented in overseas labour flows and poli-
cies. In this context, the study contributes to an emerging corpus of
studies on transnational women’s mobility and situates Indian MDWs
in Saudi Arabia on the long road from distress to development. The
central questions driving our inquiry are: what are the major chal-
lenges MDWs face in sending and destination country contexts? How
do state policies and academic literature co-constitute MDW vulner-
ability? How can socially attentive research and responsible state
intervention positively inflect migration policy and improve the lives
and experiences of MDWs?

Domestic service: devaluation, discourse

and definitional issues
Domestic service is a burgeoning informal sector activity, largely
occupied by women. However, the nature and place of work and lack
of policies and monitoring system for domestic work limits the ben-
efits received by women engaged in this sector. This service sector is
regularly devalued and not deemed fit for fair, or even any real wage.
Where domestic work was once unacknowledged as wage-work, it
has today captured academic and policy attention. Since a bulk of
domestic work entails home-based service in private households, a
large number of workers remain unrecorded. Ambiguities regard-
ing tasks performed, hours of work, remuneration, and part-time/
full-time, live-in/live-out status result in classification difficulties. In
the absence of a universally accepted statistical definition of domes-
tic service, researchers, activists and policymakers conceptualized
domestic workers in different ways, thereby affecting the quality of
data collected (Neetha 2009). The dearth of information on domestic
workers has proved a challenge in designing policies, programmes
and monitoring systems to ensure legislative and social entitlements
for MDWs.
 Migrant women at the discourse  11

Migration for domestic work is increasingly apparent on a global

scale and a topic of several academic and policy studies. Yet, domes-
tic service within private households of a country like Saudi Arabia,
continue to be among the most undocumented, unregulated and
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invisible forms of employment. Traditionally, theories and policies of

migration failed to account for the particular experiences and reali-
ties of female migrant workers who were largely cast as ­dependents –
mothers, daughters or wives. Migrant women, particularly marginal
domestic workers, were seen as lying outside the normative ­definition
of a migrant. Evicted from theory and absent from policy i­ ntervention,
the invisibility of migrant domestics in Saudi Arabia is further rein-
forced by gender inequalities, ethnic polarization and the severely
insulated nature of the country. Early academic discourse on labour
migration was decidedly uneven in its coverage, with a dispropor-
tionate representation of subjugated MDWs. Narrow development
objectives have hitherto been the predominant approach in construct-
ing migrant domestics’ lives. Media, international non-governmental
organizations’ and human rights groups’ investigative reports on
West Asia’s transient population place the displaced, disadvantaged
domestic workers at the heart of their study (Human Rights Watch
2010). These efforts, while fundamentally emancipatory, often con-
dense to a form of academic oppression themselves. The overwhelm-
ing focus has been on vulnerable domestic workers who drew the
short end of the straw when accepting an offer of work in Saudi
Arabia, allowing successful MDWs to fall through analytical gaps.
This mode of selective scanning and amplification highlights shock-
ing, sensationalist images of MDWs in the region, to mobilize affect
and buy in to reader’s sensibilities. It is important to note that dis-
advantaged and exploited MDWs are only a subsection of a vibrant,
distinctive diaspora. As such, we maintain that emphasizing MDW
vulnerabilities eclipses their capabilities. The second apparent aspect
is that the studies tend to align on a relatively negative standpoint
regarding the situation of expatriate women workers in the Gulf, col-
lectively calling for greater protections and regulation of these labour
movements. These studies frequently lay the responsibility of pro-
tecting overseas domestic workers on the host nations of the Gulf. An
overwhelming majority suggest that MDWs are either abject victims
of globalization, locked into a cycle of transient servitude and con-
temporary forms of indentured labour (ILO 2010). This liberatory
rhetoric is mired in trafficking debates and pushes for the ‘rescue and
repatriation’ of MDWs. The particularities of MDW lives are weeded
away in order to make ‘strong’, ‘neat’ theories that can be widely
 12  S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

wielded in the global economy. These approaches frame a discourse

that obscures and justifies absences in state action and fails to view
MDWs as complex social actors that straddle multiple identities of
race, class, religion, nationality, and legal status.
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Relying on employment agencies and brokers, migrant domestic workers

enter contractual bondage with employers whom they have never met
before, leaving themselves vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Due to
the seemingly voluntary nature of migrant labor, it is an unfortunate real-
ity that many of these women effectively enslave themselves abroad in
hopes of improving their economic situation at home. This is not to sug-
gest that migrants are to blame for their plights; once the choice has been
made and the contract signed, all future choices are restricted or non-
existent. (Halabi 2008)

Romina Halabi’s rights-based framework charges host countries

of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) with contract
enslavement and demonstrates her concern for MDWs bound to their
employer, for whom ‘all future choices are restricted or non-existent’.
While Halabi’s intentions are well placed, this approach marks a dis-
abling discursive technique that undermines MDW’s capabilities,
forecloses their agency, and possibilities of resistance and/or suc-
cess. Noticeably absent from these accounts of migrant marginality is
attention to the coping strategies employed by MDWs to emerge suc-
cessful. During our fieldwork among migrant workers in Saudi Arabia
and the UAE, many domestic workers reported enhanced life-chances
owing to their relocation. Quite often, migration for domestic work
presents opportunities for women from the Global South to improve
their lives, escape oppressive social relations and support those who
are left behind (Irudaya Rajan and Joseph 2013). If a priori assump-
tions about ‘eternally subjugated’ MDWs are allowed to circulate, this
will severely impoverish our understanding of labour dynamics.
There is growing consensus that the bulk of existing theories on
MDWs have limited explanatory capacity because they generally fail
to incorporate the unique social dynamic, political context and demo-
graphics of the region. The conventional narrative of MDWs is that
of powerless subjects caught between inexorable forces of globaliza-
tion that are beyond their capacity to mute or transcend. This allows
for textual and political tokenization of these transnational subjects.
Our fieldwork in Saudi Arabia tells a different story – that of social
actors purposefully weaving cross-border relationships and mitigat-
ing risk through social networks, situated knowledge and informal
collaboration. More recently, there have been several studies that
 Migrant women at the discourse  13

illustrate MDWs’ agency and positive contributions as they negoti-

ate economic, political and social constraints and emerge successful.
Such interventions depart from the typical story of sacrifice and suf-
fering and highlight MDWs socio-economic role within productive
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processes. This ‘turn to agency’ that underwrites much of the con-

temporary migration literature, signals the dissolution of the familiar
figure of the MDW ‘victim’ in favour of a resourceful, rational agent.
The importance of MDW remittances – both in terms of volume and
resilience (even during the most recent financial crisis) – underscores
the need to highlight their skills and faculties.

Multiple exclusions, marginal struggles

Women in South Asia are frequently excluded from the labour mar-
ket, absent from state intervention and statutory coverage. They
are also more likely to engage in precarious work. Transformations
in India’s agrarian economy coupled with rapid urbanization have
spurred the demand for and delivery of care. These twin forces
­produce a new class of employers, an affordable workforce and a
surplus of unskilled workers from rural regions. Estimates from the
2009–2010 National Sample Survey suggest that there were roughly
2.52 million workers engaged in domestic work as their principal
activity, up from 1.62 million in 1999–2000 – a decadal surge of over
150 per cent. In the same period, the number of domestic workers in
urban areas increased by 68 per cent. This makes it a major, grow-
ing source of employment in the country. The significant increase in
domestic work in India can be attributed to two factors. Firstly, high
rates of economic growth that have not translated into an adequate
increase in employment in the formal sector and rising inequalities
that allow for lower wages for domestic work (Ghosh 2013).
Regardless of the proliferation of domestic work in India, it con-
tinues to be sidelined in policy and practise. Paid domestic work is
not covered under the Payment of Wages Act (1936), the Workmen’s
Compensation Act (1923), the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abo-
lition) Act (1970), or the Maternity Benefit Act (1961). Recent cen-
tral government interventions have brought domestic workers under
the purview of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Pre-
vention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (2013), Unorganised Work-
ers Social Security Act (2008), the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act
(1976), and the Minimum Wages Act (1948) (Ministry of Labour and
Employment 2013). Attempts were made to extend the Rashtriya
Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), (Ministry of Labour and Employment
 14  S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

2011) to domestic workers but they have fallen short of implementa-

tion (Trivedi 2013). While these instruments appear to indicate prog-
ress, in the absence of mechanisms for inspection and enforcement,
they make little impact. India’s questionable commitment to local
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and MDWs in the country is evidenced by the apathetic response to

national and international legislation. In 2010, the National Com-
mission for Women (NCW) drafted a ‘Domestic Workers Welfare
and Social Security Act, 2010’ Bill. This is yet to come into force.
Similarly, India became a signatory to the 2011 International Labour
Organisation’s (ILO) Convention 189, which mandates decent work-
ing conditions for domestic workers, but has not yet ratified it. As
long as domestic worker rights remain ill-defined and unprotected,
their human rights will continue to be violated. Given the structural
and social constraints to women’s employment in India, and the lack
of more remunerative and decent work opportunities, the Gulf rep-
resents an important avenue for these workers (Irudaya Rajan and
Joseph 2013).
For many years, Saudi Arabia has been excluded from compre-
hensive research on migration; however, it was never excluded
from migration processes. The scale and significance of networks
of care, the considerable breadth of its migrant populace, and the
depth of migrant experiences in the Kingdom, necessitate inquiry
and examination. While accurate data on the quantum and nature
of female labour flows into Saudi Arabia are unavailable, an esti-
mated 1.5–2 million MDWs currently live and work in Saudi Ara-
bia (Human Rights Watch 2008a). Domestic service represents the
leading occupation of South Asian women in the Gulf (Timothy
and Sasikumar 2012), accounting for 47.1 per cent of total female
employment in the Kingdom (ILO 2010). Of this, non-Saudis are esti-
mated at 99.87 per cent of the female domestic workforce (CDSI
Manpower Survey 2013). This concentration is due, in part, to low
female- employment-to-population ratio and the highly segmented
labour market, stratified along gender, race and class hierarchies.
Despite ongoing interventions at the origin and receiving states,
domestic service within private households of Saudi Arabia remains
among the world’s most undocumented, unregulated and invisible
forms of employment. At the same time, these flows represent an
important livelihood option for Indian women that otherwise remain
unemployed and unprotected.
Interviews were conducted through a combination of purposive
sampling and snowball technique. Respondents were first selected
based on access and approachability and subsequent respondents
 Migrant women at the discourse  15

were identified from among their social networks. According to data

collected, the average hours of work per day were 16.5 and fewer
than 15 per cent of the respondents were given a weekly day of rest.
Further, 70 per cent of the respondents reported repeated wage
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violations while upwards of 40 per cent of the respondents remit-

ted between 50 and 90 per cent of their earnings. All respondents
lived with their employer since single women in the Kingdom are not
allowed to live by themselves. The live-in nature of household work
in Saudi Arabia further accentuates MDW vulnerability. Live-in work-
ers undertake a more diverse range of duties and work longer hours
than casual or part-time domestic workers. The terms of employment
were ill-defined and lines between work and rest regularly crossed.
The hidden, privatized and, at times, illegal nature of the work further
aggravates their situation. Yet, two respondents were deeply attached
and grateful to their employer and the family. Given a choice, 11
respondents would choose to continue in Saudi Arabia while 45
MDWs were either awaiting repatriation or contemplating return.
Among the respondent pool, 29 were ‘runaways’ or ‘absconders’ and
27 were currently employed. MDWs were seen to make autonomous
migration decisions, and were often the primary income earners send-
ing contributions to sustain livelihoods back home. Although these
figures facilitate a nuanced understanding of MDW experiences in the
country, due to the limited and selective nature of the sample, data
cannot be deemed representative. Nonetheless, the findings reveal
that migration for domestic work in the Kingdom is not inherently
repressive or emancipatory. It is at once complex and contradictory.
There are multiple interlocking factors that determine the quality
of life, social positioning and job satisfaction of MDWs in the King-
dom. MDWs in Saudi Arabia inhabit liminal, transnational spaces
that are highly gendered, racialized and mediated by class. Women’s
labour market participation in the region is further constrained by a
matrix of factors – including social and cultural norms – occupational
segregation, educational attainment and unequal compensation. The
working environment female domestic workers find themselves in
easily lends itself to exploitation, especially in situations where they
are not organized or unionized, including vulnerability to human
trafficking. The social policy context of Saudi Arabia is especially dif-
ficult for MDWs to negotiate. In the absence of a family, many MDWs
were cloistered in the employer’s household and cut-off from outside
interaction. The freedom of association is denied, and MDWs cannot
form or engage in trade unions, collective bargaining or social inter-
actions with other expatriates. Unlike construction workers – who
 16  S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

congregate in large numbers, or taxi drivers who are visible on the

street – nannies, servants and maids are often ‘hidden away’ behind
closed doors in private homes. This in turn can manifest in the form
of physical, mental, and emotional abuse at the hands of employ-
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ers who wield totalitarian control over the women they employ as
domestic workers.
Gender discriminatory processes that shape migration policy and
labour laws in Saudi Arabia are intrinsic to the problem (Kofman and
Raghuram 2012). The Kafala system creates structural dependency as
the sponsor/employer assumes all their legal and economic responsi-
bilities during the contract period, leaving little scope for mobility and
flexibility. This includes the worker’s recruitment fee, medical exami-
nation and issuance of national identity card, or the iqama, upon
arrival in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Women are
neither allowed to drive nor travel alone, making it the only country
in the world that denies its women this basic right. They are required
to be accompanied by a mahrem (male guardian) under whose aegis
they may travel or reside within the country. This imposed guardian-
ship extends to all facets of a migrant woman’s life in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia and leave them perpetual minors (Human Rights Watch
2008b). This is especially true in the case of MDWs whose work binds
them to the whims of their sponsor and places them at the margins
of labour laws. Employers may even refuse to grant them transfer
letters or exit visas, making it impossible for them to return home.
The legal framework and social practices in Saudi Arabia provide
employers with a great deal of control over the living and working
conditions of MDWs. Non-inclusion in labour laws is another grave
concern of MDWs in the Kingdom. The insufficient coverage is tied
to nature of the workplace and public policies do not apply to the
private, domestic space. Access to courts and redressal mechanism
is severely restricted leaving MDWs with few options when it comes
to demanding their rights or seeking protection from and compen-
sation for abuse. Respondents narrated physical, symbolic, sexual,
and psychological abuses ranging from insults to rape or burning;
other observed forms of violence include overwork, denial of food,
clothing, and water, forced employment in multiple households than
one household, refusal of days off, non-payment, or reduced salary.
Several interviewed MDWs appeared severely traumatized by the
experience and it will, presumably, negatively affect their ability to
reintegrate into society upon returning to India.
With over 2.8 million workers (CDSI Manpower Survey 2013)
currently engaged in the Kingdom, Indians form the biggest foreign
 Migrant women at the discourse  17

contingent in Saudi Arabia, accounting for 23 per cent of the total

foreign workforce in the country. They also top in the number of
expatriates who took advantage of the amnesty announced by Cus-
todian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to correct the resi-
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dency and labour status of illegal foreigners in the Kingdom. Saudi

Arabia hosted upwards of 9 million foreign residents in 2013, but
began a campaign to arrest and deport unauthorized foreigners in
November 2013. Under this programme, fines and penalties are
imposed on companies that do not employ the prescribed number
of nationals. During the first five months of the campaign, 370,000
foreigners a month were deported, and another 18,000 unauthor-
ized migrants were in detention centres in March 2014. A total of
1.4 million Indians availed the concessions while 141,000 others
returned home without penalties. The aftermath of nitaqat poli-
cies point towards the importance of strengthening legal channels
of migration. The Saudi state retains monopoly over the attribution
of legal status and has the capacity to blur the line between legal/
illegal, wanted/unwanted. The unique legal status and diminished
citizenship of the female MDWs fosters rampant criminalization of
domestic worker-related labour disputes. Domestic workers must
often settle for unfair financial settlements, suffer harsh penalties
and wait for months in overcrowded shelters with little information
about the progress of their cases. Respondents indicated the conse-
quences of illegal recruitment and employer practices, fear of arrest
and deportation, (lack of) access to medical care and social entitle-
ments, long working hours without overtime pay, unpaid salaries,
summary dismissals, forced confinement, sexual abuse, and escape
attempts. At first blush, the Saudization programmes hit street clean-
ing, gardening and cleaning service workers, as these sectors were
almost exclusively ‘manned’ by foreigners. Moreover, these sectors
suffer from unstable job conditions, low wages and expendability,
thus making it difficult to draw native workers to take on entry level
and menial jobs. Saudi Ministry officials have realized that the per-
centage of mandatory employment of Saudi nationals in critical ser-
vice industries cannot be enforced and will have to remain open to
foreign workers. Likewise, the sweeping nationalization policies have
not affected domestic workers, since for all intents and purposes they
are considered part of the household.
In January 2014, India and Saudi Arabia entered into a landmark
agreement on protection of the rights of domestic Indian work-
ers in the Kingdom. The new arrangement guarantees that Indian
women working in Saudi homes will be able to keep their passports,
 18  S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

communicate with their families, get regular monthly pay, and have
time off. The new pact comes in the wake of years of numerous hor-
rific cases of abuse against the MDWs who migrate to Saudi Ara-
bia in the hopes of financing a better life for their families at home.
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Saudi has signed similar treaties with the Philippines, Sri Lanka and
Indonesia. Earlier in July 2013, the Saudi government made some
much-awaited efforts to reform; Labour Minister Adel Fakeih issued
regulations to protect the interests and safety of all domestic work-
ers in the Kingdom. However, the regulation guaranteeing monthly
payment of wages, paid vacation at the end of two years and 9 hours
of rest, still left much to be desired (Varia 2014). Overall, the labour
regulations and new agreements are definite moves in the right direc-
tion and signal a shift in Saudi Arabia’s cognizance of the domestic
service sector. Still, neither have clear enforcement mechanisms for
a particularly powerless group of workers isolated in private homes,
unaware of their rights and unable to speak Arabic. These reforms
do not guarantee security and protection unless there are explicit
counter balances to ensure that MDWs coming forward with com-
plaints will not be criminalized under pretext of theft, witchcraft or
adultery by their far more influential, well-connected and wealthy
employers. Towards this end, Saudi has imposed a two-way policy
dispute settlement mechanism that affects employers and employ-
ees. Employers who break the new law will be fined $533 and face a
one-year ban on recruiting domestic help. Three instances of break-
ing the law will result in a lifetime ban on the employer and a cor-
responding fine of $2,600. On the flip side, workers violating the
contract would be fined $533, banned from working in the Kingdom,
and be obliged to bear the cost of repatriation to their home countries
(Aneja 2013). For Indian domestics in Saudi Arabia to work in dig-
nity and safety, such legislative measures need to be supplemented
with a concerted movement to transform the attitudes of employers
and ensure the fairness and effectiveness of the judicial system.

(Im)migration policy and the gendered

politics of movement
Regulations of human mobility are another key factor impacting female
migrant labour (Shah 2005). Immigration controls and practises work
with (and against) migratory processes and migrant subjectivities.
Migrant women workers are seen as a source of cheap labour in a con-
text where immigration regulations ensure that neither the receiving
state nor the employing country is responsible for the well-being of the
 Migrant women at the discourse  19

migrant labour force. MDWs are co-opted into systems of control that
allow them to be devalued and devalorized. Foucauldian analysis treats
borders as discursive landscapes of power, control and surveillance
and centres the functions of migration controls in terms of ‘ordering’
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and ‘othering’ (Foucault 2010). This has already been acknowledged

as an important terrain for investigating global care chains (Kofman
and Raghuram 2012). With the increasing feminization of migration,
there has not been concurrent feminization of policy approach; policy
climate remains paternalistic and often misogynistic. In 1998, Bangla-
desh imposed a four-year moratorium on the outmigration of women
domestic workers. This blanket ban was too blunt an instrument
and further drove women’s migration underground. ‘State-imposed
restrictions enjoy fairly strong public support in India, disregarding
not only the compelling reasons that women may have to seek work
overseas, but also their inviolable right to pursue a livelihood’ (Kodoth
and Varghese 2012: 57). The Indian (2007) and Sri Lankan (2011)
states restrict the emigration of domestic workers through a prohibi-
tion on women below 30 years and designation of emigration clear-
ance required/not required (ECR/ECNR) status on passports. This
approach belies a paternalistic, patriarchal structuring of migration
from the subcontinent. State rationale behind the arbitrary selection
of ‘30’ as the appropriate migration age is premised on the assumption
that women over this age are ‘mature and experienced’ with housework
and child-rearing (Kodoth and Varghese 2012: 60). Behind the ban is
a patriarchal State asserting itself to ‘protect’ its ‘helpless’ and ‘ignorant’
young female citizens. Furthermore, the assertion that women over 30
‘can better protect themselves’ yet again deflects government’s account-
ability. The rhetoric that domestic workers will be subject to less abuse
if they do not anger their employers by virtue of their ‘inexperience’,
justifies the abuse of domestic workers who are perceived as ‘incompe-
tent’ or ‘lazy’ by their employers and fails to address the principal cause
of migrant worker exploitation – primarily, the lack of enforced regu-
lation and coordinated action. In effect, restriction of right to move-
ment, distorts the access to other rights such as right to life, livelihood
and other basic amenities, that allow people to lead a life of dignity.
Such policies that curtail women’s mobility, in fact, channel them into
undocumented flows that render MDWs increasingly vulnerable to
trafficking. Furthermore, much of the migration for domestic work is
routed through agents and recruiters, leaving potential migrants vul-
nerable to contract substitution, fake visas and exorbitant service fees.
Within the context of Saudi Arabia, MDWs are situated in the
broader systemic structures that govern the labour market and their
 20  S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

social lives. In Saudi Arabia, MDWs are explicitly constructed as ‘tem-

porary guest workers’ (as are all other expatriates in the GCC) and
given non-transferable work permits under which they cannot reside
in the region upon expiry of their contract. This process of distancing
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and control highlights the violent erasures of the identities, subjectiv-

ities and attachments of MDWs. Their agency is further constrained
by the Kafala migrant management system and labour nationaliza-
tion policies that create ‘structural dependency’. A majority of Gulf
host nations, including the Saudi government have, so far, refused to
ratify the ILO Convention C189 concerning decent pay and working
conditions for domestic workers adopted in June 2011. Regulations
and regional arrangements that operate to (purportedly) facilitate
intraregional mobility often differ in the degrees to which they offer
or curtail freedom of movement, settlement or residence. During
fieldwork in Dammam (Saudi Arabia), many domestic workers were
found to have ‘circumvented’ the ban on Indian women under 30
migrating for work. Often paying exorbitant sums to take perilous
routes, they risk their lives in a desperate attempt to secure a bet-
ter future. One domestic worker revealed that she was confined in
a cramped apartment for weeks, along with dozens of other poten-
tial migrants, waiting for the chance when their agent could evade
immigration and get them on-board a flight. This practise of ‘push-
ing’ was widely apparent in the journeys of low-skilled migrants (Iru-
daya Rajan and Joseph 2013). Others had been given new identities
and fake passports, or smuggled in from Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, or
Yemen. Unfortunately, a majority of interviewed Indian MDWs were
ill-equipped to understand the socio-legal implications of migrating
to Saudi Arabia. Even those who entered the country in full compli-
ance of the country’s immigration mandates sometimes found them-
selves on the wrong side of the law. A legal safeguard for West Asian
sponsors allows them to report migrant workers that have absconded
from work and avail a supplementary permit to bring in another
worker in lieu of the runaway. Fieldwork revealed the wide misuse
of this loophole, rendering thousands of workers wrongfully labelled
huroob (absconder), and currently living in legal limbo – facing
detention, expulsion and flogging. Against a backdrop of structural
sexism in home and host countries, MDWs are situated in the broader
systemic structures that govern the labour market and their social
lives. These socio-legal policy frameworks present the migrant send-
ing and receiving states ‘as either disinterested bystanders or com-
plicit in corruption, in either case as having abdicated responsibility
for these migrant women workers’ (Kodoth and Varghese 2012: 56).
 Migrant women at the discourse  21

The undercutting of migrant domestic work and worth is tangential

to the real contribution of these women workers to the economies of
the Gulf. Increasing care deficits, growth of women’s entry into the paid
workforce, lack of male engagement in care work, and declining wel-
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fare states, all generate growing care demand in the region. Drawing
on various resources in the process of earning their livelihood, Indian
MDWs have made themselves indispensable to Gulf states. With these
dynamics in mind, it is essential that host economies wake up to the
primacy of the reproductive economy and guarantee the upliftment
of this key workforce. The eradication of abuse and mistreatment of
overseas domestics will only occur when host and origin governments
simultaneously strengthen their commitment to human rights and for-
malize their labour markets. In place of temporary, regressive poli-
cies and indiscriminate bans, sending countries should work with the
receiving nations for stronger protection and legitimization of their
migrant citizens and receiving nations must be more accountable to
the rights and claims of MDWs within their jurisdiction.

Recommendations – Promoting productive

capacity, employment and decent work
MDWs are critical resources in both labour-sending and
labour-receiving countries. Yet the confluence of several factors,
notably gaps in labour laws and restrictive immigration policies, have
left these workers at high risk of exploitative and a wide array of abu-
sive practices, akin to trafficking or forced labour. From this vantage
point, it is clear that global exploitative forces are co-constituted by
the ambivalence of sending countries and the capitalistic interests of
receiving countries. Concrete and feasible measures are required to
improve the living and working conditions of Indian domestic work-
ers in Saudi Arabia and achieve a model of inclusive growth where
women are economically empowered to participate in and benefit
from growth. Before taking the conversation further, it is essential
that both Saudi Arabia and India bring their labour laws in line with
the protections outlined in the International Labour Organization’s
Domestic Worker Convention 189 and the International Trade Union
Confederation’s 12 × 12 campaign (International Trade Union Con-
federation 2013). Ratifying international instruments is a vital step
in ensuring continued compliance to global norms and standards of
worker dignity and safety.
Let us first consider what India needs to do to streamline the pro-
cess of domestic work migration, to make it successful and risk-free.
 22  S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

Caught in a balancing act between protectionist agendas and eco-

nomic imperatives, South Asian countries like India have resorted to
narrow, protectionist measures that further produce precariousness
(Kodoth and Varghese 2011: 45). Within these dynamics, we contend
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that it is not enough to acknowledge MDWs as providers of foreign

income, push for more MDWs and further revenues, rather, India must
take accountability for the rights of its overseas citizens and work dili-
gently with receiving nations to formulate solutions that are produc-
tive to both parties. A critical area of intervention – given the surge
in the numbers of Indian domestic workers is the need for regulation
of employment conditions and circumstances under which informal,
home-based work is carried out in the Kingdom. Regular diplomatic
visits, consular checks on MDW employers and monitoring of recent
agreements are a gateway to ensuring MDW protection. Increasing
emphasis on enhancing productive capacity and skill development are
sustainable means to raise employability and facilitating decent work
for MDWs. It is common to throw the blanket of blame on exploitative
employers, nefarious recruitment agents and host countries. But fol-
lowing our inquiry, a central question that arose was whether each
individual was equipped to understand the socio-legal implications
of migrating to and working in Saudi Arabia. A telling observation
from the surveys was that over 30 MDWs had no formal skill train-
ing, 29 had no previous work history, only 5 MDWs had a working
knowledge of Arabic, and just 3 had attended pre-departure sessions.
We recommend that India pursue community-based interventions
such as pre-departure programmes, returnees’ association and spouse
programmes. These undertakings need to be destination specific, and
part of an ongoing process to equip potential migrants. In addition,
there needs to be more clarity on the definition of domestic labour.
Domestic workers are among the most socially productive labour
classes and the government should take a position in defining them
and their wages. There is also a need to create greater social con-
sciousness regarding domestic work, which will ultimately ease the
antagonism against them (Menon 2013). Furthermore, public aware-
ness campaigns, programmes for intensive and effective HIV/AIDS
prevention and control and educational opportunities must be made
available so that domestic workers can migrate based on informed
choice. In order to tap the full potential of overseas MDWS, India
should amend restrictive emigration policies that leave such workers
in the recesses of the economy. At the destination, India should also
provide adequate diplomatic and consular assistance, access to safe
houses for distressed and funds for repatriation of destitute MDWs.
 Migrant women at the discourse  23

At the receiving end, Saudi Arabia can and should improve upon its
recent efforts to encourage MDW safety and retention. Accessible com-
plaint mechanisms, enforcement of standards for and monitoring of
transnational labour recruitment systems and sustained international
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cooperation with sending countries can greatly enhance the migration

experience of the multitudes of overseas domestic workers within the
Kingdom. Primarily, domestic workers must be made visible. An impor-
tant policy area is to develop and improve the use of sex-disaggregated
data and gender statistics through more gender-sensitive data col-
lection instruments. Such measures can be used to inform a gender
inclusive policy that attends to the particular vulnerabilities of migrant
women in the region. Following this, institutional capacities need to be
strengthened to formulate and implement policies enhancing women’s
access to employment and decent work. To truly empower migrant
women in Saudi Arabia, both governments and societies need to
address how gender norms constrain women’s roles – whether they are
citizens or non-citizens – as well as the link between the status Saudi
Arabian women and that of MDWs. Protective safeguards and laws are
also necessary to afford migrant women domestic workers adequate
legal protection. Regulations that uphold the employers’ sole author-
ity over his/her employee need to be revoked. This encompasses the
sponsorship system that leaves domestic workers as dependents of their
employers. Bahrain and UAE have already made strides to revise the
sponsorship system. Saudi Arabia too has recommended the formation
of a few ‘mega associations’ to facilitate visas and documents for foreign
employees. The 10 mega associations formed as of 2014 are expected to
hire staff that speak the languages of migrant workers and deal impar-
tially with their concerns and complaints. The move from recruitment
agencies and single-sponsor system has the potential to reduce cases of
sponsor-employers holding worker documents and forbidding workers
to leave the country (University of California 2014). A thorough over-
haul of today’s poorly managed, exploitative system can be effected by
including MDWs themselves in the process of reform through collective
bargaining and collaborative action. This will allow MDWs to deter-
mine their working and living chances and author their destiny.

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 3
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Stepping into the man’s shoes

Emigrant domestic workers as breadwinners and
the gender norm in Kerala
Praveena Kodoth

Emigrant women domestic workers are usually recognized as the

breadwinners, i.e. the principal earners and providers of their fami-
lies. However, unlike the male who is expected to don the mantle
of the breadwinner in the normal course of social life in Kerala, the
female breadwinner is constituted as an aberration. Women are
thrust into the position usually in the event of the breakdown of mar-
riage. The women whose narratives I analyse here turned to emigrant
domestic work to improve their lives; however, even when they were
married, most of them lacked its putative ‘protection’ and their mobil-
ity removed them from the everyday regulatory scope of the local
community. The gender norm is elaborated in Kerala through marital
control over women’s sexuality, which is weakened by their mobility.
Thus, in the normal course, Kerala’s cultural milieu does not enable
women to exercise agency to go overseas as domestic workers.
The norm of the male breadwinner was ushered into the
socio-cultural landscape of Kerala through colonial intervention
and the modernizing reforms that came in its wake. It was among
the norms that cut the ground for a new form of patriarchy in the
state – conjugal patriarchy, which institutionalized the need for mari-
tal protection of women within a monogamous framework.1 Previ-
ously, marriage was neither considered mandatory for women nor
confined to the monogamous form, matrilineal institutions being a
case in point. Reforms served to construct women’s employment as
secondary to conjugal domesticity,2 and privileged specific forms of
employment for women such as care sector work in education or
health care, as extensions of domesticity, or organized sector work
especially in the public sector because of the protected nature of this
employment.3 These gender constructions mobilized women into
 Stepping into the man’s shoes  27

informed domesticity and served as the bedrock of development in

the state.4 As Robin Jeffery (1992: 228) acknowledges, ‘[d]emocratic
politics, involving large sections of a population can be made to pro-
vide services that people need and consequently use. Literate confi-
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dent women will as domestic managers turn such services into better
health for men and women alike’ (emphasis added). The trade-off
between efficient domesticity and paid employment is advanced as
one of the reasons for the low work participation rates of women in
Kerala despite the advances that women have made in education
(Kodoth and Eapen 2005). Full time wage labourers could ill afford
such efficient discharge of domesticity. Not surprisingly, emigrant
domestic workers are drawn mostly from social and economic groups
on the fringes of social development, yet groups with sufficient con-
nections to raise the resources that overseas migration required.
Albeit important, the cultural milieu in Kerala along with the eco-
nomic context (which determines the supply of workers) is only one of
at least three contexts that have structured the movement of women
workers from Kerala to the Middle East. The legal (state policy and
law) and economic (demand for workers) contexts in the Middle
East and the legal context in India too have shaped this movement.
The legal context in the Middle East defined by the Kafala system of
sponsorship and the exclusion of women domestic workers from the
labour laws is highly skewed in favour of the sponsor-employers. It
would render domestic work unattractive to foreign workers if not
for the aspirations that fuel migration from developing countries. In
practice, it brings huge pressure on foreign workers to tolerate even
severe violations of their rights for fear of losing their employment
status in that country. Since the 1980s the Indian state has resorted
increasingly to barriers against the movement of less skilled women
workers to the Middle East.
Thus, the major structuring contexts of international migration
from Kerala render women’s agency oppositional, at once defiant
and compromised. For the women themselves their agency acquires
ambivalence arising from their hopes of a better life on the one
hand and the ‘social costs’ of their migration especially for their
children and for their reputations on the other. In the context of
male-dominated migration from India and the absence of conditions
that facilitate women’s migration, it has been assumed that restric-
tions have curtailed the flow of domestic workers significantly (Oishi
2005). Recent work suggests, on the contrary, that they may be a
significant presence in the Middle East because women violate state
 28  Praveena Kodoth

regulation through easily accessible parallel channels (Pattadath

and Moors 2012). This work assumes that women are able to go
because of pressing need. However, in a cultural milieu that is hostile
to women’s migration alone, it is important to ask how less skilled
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women overcome cultural barriers at home i.e. who goes and what
negotiations underpin their movement? This chapter focuses on the
source context in Kerala to understand the household dynamics of
decision-making with respect to women’s migration. I argue that the
marginality of emigrant domestic workers in Kerala – as ­breadwinners –
narrows the material base from which they are drawn and renders
their agency suspect but women engender the conditions to migrate
through complex negotiation of family patriarchy.
The chapter draws upon the narratives of over 150 women work-
ers from Trivandrum district currently working overseas or who had
returned in 2008 or later. Interviews were conducted with women
from the coast, the midlands and the eastern highlands between Feb-
ruary 2013 and November 2013. The snowballing sample technique
was used and emigrant workers identified with the help of local
community networks of the government, the Catholic Church and
non-governmental organizations. Names of respondents have been
changed to protect their identity. The objective of the study was to
understand the political economy of less skilled women’s migration, but
this chapter analyses the responses of emigrant women to the condi-
tions in which they decided to take up overseas employment including
the decision-making process. Narratives were chosen to highlight the
range of responses to a question rather than to reflect preponderance,
unless otherwise stated. In the following section, I situate the migration
of less skilled women from India in the context of women’s migration
from Asia. Section three is an overview of the material contexts that
shape less skilled women’s migration from Kerala. It lays the ground to
ask who goes in the following section, where I draw attention to how
women negotiate family patriarchy in creating the space to go overseas.
The conclusion draws attention to the marginalization of less skilled
women workers voiced by women through the particular ways in which
they frame their own agency and which must be understood in terms
of the regressive influence of state policy acting in accordance with a
conservative cultural politics of gender.

India as a sending country of less skilled

women workers
According to a recent estimate, 2.1 million workers in the Middle
East were employed as domestic workers in 2010, nearly double the
 Stepping into the man’s shoes  29

1.1 million in 1995 (ILO 2013: 29). Within the Gulf region, domestic
work accounts for 5.6 per cent of total employment, but this share
was 12.8% in Bahrain (in 2009) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
(in 2008) and a considerable 21.9% in Kuwait (in 2005). More than
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one-third of domestic workers employed in the Middle East are men.

However, owing to the low employment rates of women in the Middle
East, nearly one-third of all female workers in the region are domestic
workers. Several scholars have noted that the employment of domes-
tic workers – which was restricted largely to the wealthy families
in the Middle East before the oil boom – has become a symbol of
social status and is now resorted to widely. The bulk of the work-
ers are sourced from Asia. ‘The Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia
are major sending countries of female migrant workers. The share of
women among outward migrant workers from the region has been
rising over time, and is estimated to be between 60 and 80 per cent in
all three countries’ (ILO 2013: 29). Indeed, these countries are known
for policies that have promoted women’s migration intensely since
the 1980s (Oishi 2005). Though the Philippines is among the major
sources of women domestic workers, only about half of the Filipina
women migrants are in this category as against over 85 per cent of Sri
Lankan women workers. The proportion of women among Sri Lankan
migrants peaked in 2000 at 75 per cent in 1997 but has declined
thereafter owing to a deliberate policy by the government to promote
male migration Korea (Conversation with a Sri Lankan Bureau of For-
eign employment official in February 2013). However, the number
of women migrants from Sri Lanka has been increasing. Since 2000,
Indonesia has outgrown the Philippines and Sri Lanka as the largest
source of overseas women migrants (Tables 3.1 and 3.2). Migration of
African women domestic workers to the Middle East is a more recent
but growing trend. The top two destinations for Ethiopian domestic
workers in 2008/09 were Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (Fernandez 2010).
Indian women were among the first to take up employment as
domestic workers in the countries of the Persian Gulf, going from
Kerala since at least the 1960s (Sabban 2004, Weiner 2007, our field-
work).5 According to estimates from the destination, including those
of the Indian embassies, India continues to be among the largest
sending countries of domestic workers to Kuwait and an important
supplier of domestic workers to Oman, Qatar and UAE. Literature
on Asian domestic workers in Oman and Qatar is sparse but scholars
based in Kuwait and the UAE consistently mention India as a major
sending country. In our fieldwork too in both Kerala and Andhra
Pradesh, Kuwait was the most prominent destination of emigrant
domestic workers.
 30  Praveena Kodoth

Migration of less skilled women workers from India is poorly

documented at the source. The tendency in the social science lit-
erature on overseas migration from Kerala to naturalize the male
breadwinner norm, viewing women’s migration mostly as part of
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families rather than as workers, has only exacerbated this. Zachariah

and Rajan (2012, 180) note that between 1998 and 2008, ‘normally’
the proportion of women among emigrants should have increased
‘as recent emigrations included more and more well educated work-
ers who could afford taking their families with them’ and conclude
that the decline in the proportion of women migrants could be on
account of ‘the large increase in the emigration of workers [and not
their families] to the Gulf in recent years’ (emphasis added).
Anthropologists too have focused on male migration but have
demonstrated its influence in reconfiguring gender identities, by
privileging the flaunting of wealth by men, the payment of large
dowries and bringing in new curbs on the mobility and interactions
of women especially young wives of Gulf migrants (Osella and Osella
2000). The limited work on emigrant domestic workers belies the
impression that they are a negligible number and focuses on their
responses to state regulation and their perspectives on overseas
employment (Pattadath and Moors 2012, Kodoth and Varghese
2011). The impression that less skilled women’s migration is negli-
gible is mainly from two sources of data – the statistics on Emigra-
tion Granted to women Emigration Check Required (ECR) passport
holders by the Protector of Emigrants (POE) offices and the sample
surveys on migration from Kerala and return migration. There are

Table 3.1 Women’s overseas migration from Indonesia, the Philippines and
Sri Lanka, 1980s to 2000s

Females Females Females

Country Year Total (in %) Year Total (in %) Year Total (in %)
Indonesia 1983 12,018 48 1997 5,02,739 66 2004 3,82,514 72
The 1980 38,628 18 2000 2,53,030 70 2010 3,40,279 54.5
Philippines (38.2) (51.1)
Sri Lanka 1986 5,150 33 1997 1,59,816 75 2010 2,66,445 49.1
(88.2) (86)
Figures in parenthesis refer to the proportion of housemaids (Sri Lanka)/domestic
help and related household workers among female workers.
Table compiled from Gloria Moreno-Fontes Chammartin, 2004, POEA Statistics;
Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment, 2010; Indonesia Department of Labor,
unpublished data; Departemen Tengara Kerja, Republic of Indonesia, 1998:14.
 Stepping into the man’s shoes  31

Table 3.2 Estimates of the scale of migrant domestic workers in the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) by gender and scale of Indian
domestic workers

Total in GCC India

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Country Year DW Women DW DW Women DW

Kuwait 2012 6,00,000 Largest sending country
2010 5,69,536 3,10,402 after Sri Lanka
2001 1,13,000 49,000
1996 1,48,000 40,000
KSA 2013 5,00,000 50,000
2009 7,77,254 5,06,950 Relatively small proportion
but numbers maybe large
2001 About 10,000
Oman 2013 93,768 (India +
Indonesia)
2010 About 30,000
2009 94,592 69,256 Relatively large proportion
Bahrain 2011 83,198 51,811 Among the sources of DWs
2001 8,000 to 10,000
Qatar 2009 80,342 48,147 Among the sources of DWs
UAE (flows in) 1997–2001 1,26,350 55,818 20,307
2006 50 enter legally
every month
Table compiled from HRW, 2012; Thimothy and Sasikumar, 2012; Ministry of
Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), 2001; Deffner and Pfaffenbach, 2011; Sabban,
2004; Godfrey M et al., 2004; Esim and Smith eds., 2004; Shah and Menon,
Khaleej Times, 2013; and IRIN, 2006.

problems with both these sources. The ECR statistics is only broadly
indicative. The ECR category is applicable only to women who have
not completed secondary (class X) education. As the education levels
have risen in Kerala, it is likely that there is a section of women with
secondary or even higher secondary education will take up less skilled
jobs with relatively higher returns than in India.6 Women emigrants
who have spent a minimum of 3 years working overseas are granted
emigration check not required (ECNR) status on their passports and
thus they would no longer appear in the POE database.7 Further,
women emigrants not infrequently bypass emigration clearance by
resorting to ‘pushing’ – where the concerned official at the airport is
paid off by the agent to allow the woman to go through without the
emigration stamp – because they did not have the required documen-
tation for it for one reason or the other.
 32  Praveena Kodoth

Surveys undertaken at the state level or drawing upon samples

from regions with high intensity of migration underestimate the scale
of movement of less skilled women workers because the latter are geo-
graphically more clustered than migrants as a whole and because the
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high-intensity migration areas identified in smaller-scale surveys do

not necessarily correspond to the sending regions of less skilled women
workers. For instance, we learnt during fieldwork that there are sig-
nificant clusters of less skilled women emigrants on the coast, remote
interior areas and urban slums of Trivandrum district. Nair (1999)
found that one out of six return emigrants in a survey of Trivandrum
were women and that most of them were engaged in ‘menial’ tasks.
According to large-scale surveys conducted in Kerala the propor-
tion of female overseas migrants grew from 9.2 per cent to 14.6 per
cent between 1998 and 2008, but touched 17 per cent in 2003 (Zach-
ariah and Rajan 2009). Only about half the women migrate as work-
ers and women migrants are more clustered than men among those
with the least education and with the highest levels of education. It
seems more likely that the women who move as dependents have a
better educational profile than the least educated women, who are
more likely to move as workers. This is because of the income ceiling
that would prevent workers with less income such as construction
or agricultural labourers but even workers in skilled categories such
as plumbers, electricians or drivers from bringing their families to
the Middle Eastern countries and the likelihood that the men who
are able to take their families with them, being better educated also
have better educated wives. According to the 2008 survey, women
emigrants were concentrated in four southern districts – Idukki
(35%), Kottayam (33.5%), Ernakulam (25.4%), and Pathanamthitta
(25.2%) – and Palghat in the north. The Central Travancore region
comprising Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki districts correspond
to the major sending regions of not only skilled women migrants – in
particular nurses – but also other professionals going to the indus-
trialized countries and to the Middle East. During the fieldwork the
returnee and emigrant women we spoke to in Malappuram district
were of the impression that the emigrant women workers they met
in the Middle East were mostly from Trivandrum and Kollam districts
followed by Kozhikode and Wayanad districts.

Kerala: material contexts and

migration resources
The experience of Sri Lanka suggests that the absence of a supportive
policy framework could narrow the social base from which women
 Stepping into the man’s shoes  33

workers are drawn. Before the government embarked on a policy of

promoting women’s migration in the 1980s, the typical migrant from
Sri Lanka was ‘an older married woman with limited education and a
compelling need to support her family’ (Oishi 2005, 160). The steep
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increase in the numbers of women migrants from Sri Lanka between

1980 and 2000 diversified their social profile and reduced the stigma
they were subjected to. Emigrant domestic workers from Kerala are
drawn currently from a relatively thin geographical and social base. In
Trivandrum, they are concentrated in localities marked by uncertain
livelihoods – the coastal areas, urban slums, interior rural locations,
and highland villages. The density of women migrants is greatest in
some of the densely populated coastal areas, from where they have
been migrating since the 1960s. Elsewhere, migration of women
could be traced to the 1980s and 1990s. The social group composi-
tion of migrants is also distinct. Women emigrants are mostly from
social groups that have been subject to caste-based discrimination
historically and relegated to social and economic margins – Sched-
uled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), other backward classes
(OBC) including Latin Catholics (converts of European missionar-
ies from the coastal fishing communities), and Muslims and lower
caste Hindus. The ST women from the highlands started to migrate
overseas only in the 1990s but their numbers were growing. Migrant
women workers are rarely from the higher castes.
The people in the coastal areas are known to be outliers in terms
of education as are the SC and ST groups. A few older emigrant
women were illiterate but most had a few years of schooling. In the
coastal localities, a culture of migration shapes aspirations among
younger women. Strong kin, social and commercial networks ensure
a constant flow of information about migrant job opportunities and
provide easy access to visas. Though women have less access to over-
seas jobs than men even in the coastal areas, in times of need it is a
readily considered option.
Relatives and acquaintances, especially close kin, working over-
seas are often key figures in motivating aspiring women and persuad-
ing their families. They may also act as intermediaries, supplying visas
for a fee. Women’s narratives suggest that the assistance of commer-
cial agents is inescapable, even when the visa is sourced through a
relative because of the complicated emigration procedures. Returnee
women referred to the commercial intermediaries as simply ‘travels’
because travel agents doubled up as recruiting agents and sourced
visas for aspiring workers. Recruiting agents or subagents are proac-
tive in mobilizing women migrants, targeting wage labourers and
housewives whose financial needs are apparent and persuading
 34  Praveena Kodoth

them with offers. Once the decision is taken that a particular woman
will take up an overseas job, a visa may be obtained in two or three
months; however, sometimes it takes only a couple of weeks because
an agent is already in touch with a ready offer. The effects simultane-
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ously of social and commercial networks are evident in the clustering

of workers in specific destinations, most prominently Kuwait, and
their distribution across the Middle East with the exception of Jor-
dan. A segment of respondents had worked in Israel, Singapore and
Malaysia.
Reports of abuse circulate widely in the coastal localities but the
fears of aspirants are tempered by the diversity of the experiences
of migrants and their aspirations honed on the gains that previous
migrants have made. Agents have visas in hand or expect to receive
them. They look for new clients and follow-up on previous ones.
Annie who returned in February 2013 said her agent, who is from
Kochi, has taken her passport to ensure that she does not accept
an offer from another agent. She got her first job and visa in 1988
through a woman friend in Kuwait when she was only 21 years old.
‘I paid the money to the agent here. She [her friend in Kuwait] took
the money. She did not want me to know’. Annie is aware that her
considerable experience, knowledge of cooking and ability to speak
Arabic are a draw. Her husband is 20 years older than her and works
irregularly at best. The agent is persuading her to go back. ‘He says,
“Annie, you have to build a proper house”,’ she said pointing to the
coconut fronds that line the roof of her house.

He is asking me to go in December . . . I have done domestic work

here . . . After seeing this child, I don’t want to go [she is holding her first
grandson]. But he [the agent] keeps calling. I don’t have a house there is
another girl [to be married]. My girl [elder daughter], that boy married
her out of love, just like that without five paisa. We gave her a chain of
one and a quarter sovereigns. But whenever it is must give her the 10
sovereigns of ornaments due to her.
Annie, Return migrant, Trivandrum, June 2013

Where women’s migration is less established and information

more scarce, agents may need to allay the fears of potential migrants
arising from widespread reports of abuse of domestic workers in the
Middle East. Shanti’s agent was a man from her hometown who was
working in Oman at the time. He offered her a job there and told
her, ‘[i]t is not the way people here make it out to be. People say,
it’s like this, like that, they will kill you, chop off your head, cut off
 Stepping into the man’s shoes  35

your hands. In reality, it is not like that. But us who stay there, we
must stay there properly, with discipline. . .’. Shanti was able to count
the number of women who had gone from her locality before she
had – only four – in contrast to some of the coastal localities where
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every household had one or more women migrants. Migration was

initiated in interior villages and highland localities by agents, who
had gone to homes in search of potential emigrants. Once initiated,
social networks were developed and harnessed. In the highland vil-
lages, the use of networks produced clusters of extended kin groups,
the migration of a woman enabled her siblings, more distant kin and
the next generation of relatives to go. Still further in the tribal settle-
ments, agents are a more recent presence. Rani, an ST woman learnt
about the possibility of going overseas from an acquaintance in 2010
and then contacted an agent. She had spent two years in Kuwait.
According to her, agents were less interested in ST women as they
were perceived to be less creditworthy.
Agents are notorious for cheating women migrants. Shanti’s agent
used his acquaintance with her to make her employer believe that he
was her brother and siphoned off six month’s salary before Shanti
had learnt to communicate adequately in Arabic. The most frequent
complaint was that agents deceived women by promising higher sal-
aries than they actually received. However, aspiring women migrants
are greatly dependent on agents to facilitate their passage to the
destination because of the bureaucratic procedures involved. Many
of the women had gone through the parallel channel referred to as
‘pushing’ (without emigration clearance) with the help of the agents
often making a detour to Mumbai.
In the coastal areas, women from the older generation were known
to contribute significantly to the family income by vending fish but a
strong culture of masculinity associated with physically strenuous work
and with drinking subjects them to conjugal authority. Women’s ability
to mobilize resources to go overseas is limited by their lack of inde-
pendent access to finances. Women emigrants mostly use loans from
informal sources to finance their journey. Local moneylenders’ are usu-
ally aware of the circumstances of the borrower and unlikely to sup-
port those they believe are a risk. Thus, women may need to draw on
their family’s social capital. A woman from a coastal village was unable
to raise the 2 lakhs of rupees needed to go to Israel. She said nobody
would give her money because she had returned from Singapore before
finishing her contract and her family was already deep in debt.
Women depend on their extended families to take care of their
children and husband in their absence. Rarely do their husbands
 36  Praveena Kodoth

assume full responsibility for the care of their children. Emigrant

women had returned without completing their contract because their
children were not being cared for or their husbands had started to
create trouble, a euphemism for excessive drinking and infidelity.
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Thangamma had refused offers to go to Dubai and Israel respectively

after her tenure in Singapore, because she feared that her children
would want for care. She is currently in debt and is making plans to
go to Israel but said many well-wishers including her employers at
the local convent had cautioned her saying ‘the children you have
brought up so well and your husband will go out of control (kai vittu
pokum) but if all you want is to make money then go.’

Negotiating family patriarchy

Responses to migration opportunities ‘are often determined by what
happens in families and communities’; daughters or wives may be
denied permission and family resource (Hondagneu-Sotelo 2000,
115). The dynamics of household decision-making was altered in Sri
Lanka through state interventions that strongly incentivized wom-
en’s migration (Oishi 2005). In the absence of a supportive policy
environment, family patriarchy may become the key arbiter of who
goes. In seeking to gain legitimacy for their migration plans, women
make provisioning failures apparent. However, their narratives pro-
vide a considerably more differentiated picture of the circumstances
in which they take up overseas jobs than popular, policy or even
academic narratives have allowed so far. Even women who were
emphatic that they had made the decision to go i.e. that they did not
come under pressure to go from their families, sought also to miti-
gate the element of ‘choice’ in their decision. Women were able to
gain support for their migration plans with greater ease when serious
failures of provisioning are made apparent. For instance, community
workers would comment occasionally about emigrant women who
they believed suffered from dereliction that ‘there is nothing amiss
in her going. At least by this means she will be able to survive. Their
narratives certainly suggest a pattern. Marital provisioning broke
down when the husband died, or abandoned the family or otherwise
refused or failed to provide support. Widowhood, divorce or separa-
tion shifts the burden of provisioning ‘normally’ on to the woman but
failures are signalled when a husband fritters away his earnings on
alcohol or is indifferent to the family’s welfare, when he is too old or
infirm to work or has proved to be incompetent as a provider. A hus-
band may abuse his wife or be suspicious of her going out to work
 Stepping into the man’s shoes  37

and create difficulties for her on a regular basis making it impossible

for her to work locally. Break down of marriage mitigates social dis-
approval as it is seen as depriving women of ‘choice’ or options. Thus,
it tempered the oppositional character of women’s agency.
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However, women move strategically to mobilize information,

resources and allies, manipulate family patriarchy, and gain support
for their migration plans. They may manipulate their husbands’ con-
sent, withhold information from them until the last moment or even
go without telling them. Geetha’s husband had taken a loan to buy an
auto rickshaw and instead of repaying it he ‘went around drinking’
and took more loans from moneylenders at high interest. The debt
mounted.

The four of us [two daughters, husband and she] were in the kind of trou-
ble that could only mean death. I secretly applied for a passport without
telling my husband. When they came for police verification my husband
came to know. Then I said, isn’t it better than the four of us dying here.
My husband used to drink heavily, now it’s not so bad. When my daughter
was studying for her plus two my husband came drunk and tore up her
books.
(Geetha, upper caste emigrant, Trivandrum city, April, 12, 2012)

In 1999, she went to Kuwait with the help of her husband’s male
cousin who worked there. Once her husband was persuaded, he
helped her to go, chasing all the paper work and dealing with the
agent on each occasion that she has changed jobs or gone to a new
country in the past 13 years. Yet, she has learnt to rely on him less.
‘But my husband, if I send him Rs 50,000 to pay off a debt, he will
give Rs 30,000 and spend Rs 20,000 drinking. Now I pay the credi-
tors directly’. Geetha is one of the few upper caste overseas domestic
workers in our sample and the only woman from her locality in such
a job.
Women may mobilize support from relatives or acquaintances
working overseas to persuade their spouses or family members where
the latter resist their plans of taking up an overseas job. Kochumaria’s
husband had led the family into debt. In narrating the circumstances
in which she took up an overseas job, she presents him as incapable
of being a provider and thus implicates compulsion. Her husband
had refused to let her go but she got her aunt who was working as a
cleaning supervisor in Dubai to intercede in her favour.
Women may present their migration as a part of family strategies
to meet exigencies that arise at specific junctures such as daughters’
 38  Praveena Kodoth

marriages, expensive higher education for children, debts to be paid

off, or a house to be built or renovated. Framed as such the husband
does not vacate the provider’s position altogether or may expect to
regain it once a situation is redressed. Typically also provisioning is
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deferred when women go because men fail to get a visa or because

‘housemaid’ visas are cheaper compared to that for male workers. In
this case, women’s migration may open the doors to an overseas job
for their husbands or for their sons. Provisioning may be deferred
also when women live overseas with their husbands but their salaries
from domestic work are too substantial. Here too women’s agency is
not underplayed.
Rarely do women domestic workers live overseas with their hus-
bands, but those who do may straddle the space of deferred provi-
sion. As an overseas worker himself, the husband may be reluctant to
acknowledge the full importance of his wife’s contribution. Anwar’s
sponsor-employer had provided the ‘housemaid’ visa for Anwar’s
wife, Sakina, to go to Kuwait on the arrangement that she would
work outside and not for him. This is illegal and is done on what is
referred to as a ‘free’ visa, which entails the sale of the visa by the
sponsor so that a worker is free to negotiate her employment on the
‘open’ market. Sakina had been working ‘outside’ for several Malay-
alee families on a part-time basis, when last year the sponsor told
Anwar that he wanted her to work for him. To avoid this, Anwar
found her another sponsor. ‘I took her there with me so that she
could live with me and not to make her work.’ Going overseas on a
‘free’ visa is an expensive means of enabling family life overseas for
a blue collar male worker. Sakina earns between Rs 30,000 and Rs
40,000 a month, much more than she would earn working full time
for a sponsor but more importantly it is also likely to be more than
what Anwar earns as an office boy and driver to an advocate. Her visa
cost around Rs 1 lakh and must be renewed for a similar sum every
two years. Renting a living space is expensive in Kuwait and there
are other living expenses to be met. The woman’s income is crucial
for the couple to generate significant savings. Sakina and Anwar, a
young couple, have been able to use their savings to renovate the old
house in a highland village in Trivandrum, where their children live
with Anwar’s parents. Even as Anwar’s narratives obscure Sakina’s
agency under deferred provisioning women mitigate their agency by
framing their migration as being with their husband’s consent.
It was rare for women to take up overseas work on their own
initiative unrelated to marital provisioning. Most of our women
respondents were married when they first migrated. The agency
 Stepping into the man’s shoes  39

of unmarried girls is markedly oppositional even when in specific

cases they may evoke sympathy. Their narratives signal the costs for
women who step into the shoes of the male provider while remaining
outside marital provisioning. Though their agency is not set in oppo-
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sition (or allegiance) to conjugal authority, an important cost maybe

in terms of the conventional form of marriage. Majida says that in
going overseas she did not think about herself but only about her
siblings. She believes that she is fortunate to be married at the age of
31. Late by the standards of her locality and her community and long
after her younger sister’s marriage, a chance encounter in Kuwait led
to her marriage. Bincy was motivated by a sense of adventure. She
had a ‘love’ marriage when she was 30, long after her younger sister
was married. A few of the women in this category had remained
single.
Women defined their aspirations clearly and articulated the ratio-
nales underlying their preference for overseas work. Full-time work-
ers for Malayalee or Arab families who received salaries that were
not significantly higher than what they may earn in Kerala pointed
out that an overseas job enabled them to mobilize their earnings into
substantial savings, whereas at home their earnings would dissipate
in no time. Jumaila says:

If you work here, with a day’s wage you can take care of the daily needs of
the house. If we go to the Gulf, for our children we can get five sovereigns
or something to get them married or to educate them or to build them a
shelter. That this is possible, I was sure in my mind so I went.
(Jumaila, Muslim, Highland village, Trivandrum, July 6, 2013)

Thus, the denial of emigrant women’s agency is a refusal of wom-

en’s own perspectives on their movement.

Conclusion
The male dominated migration flows from Kerala stand in contrast to
the experiences of countries in South East Asia and Sri Lanka, raising
questions of policy at the macrolevel and patriarchal dynamics at the
household level. Feminists have pointed out that the politics underly-
ing migration comes to the fore when we ask what interests are served
when certain groups of people migrate for particular purposes and
acknowledge the power relations that underpin the migration flows
and experiences of specific social groups (Silvey 2004, 6). Migra-
tion scholarship on Kerala assumes that the male-dominated flow is
a ‘natural’ outcome of the dominant division of labour in families in
 40  Praveena Kodoth

Kerala, following the male breadwinner norm. Such work has served
to mask the power relations that underpin migratory flows. The mar-
ginalization of less skilled women migrant workers is most apparent
in a migration-obsessed state like Kerala in their invisibility in rou-
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tine policy considerations regarding work and remittances – which

usually consider the implications of changes in overseas market con-
ditions for migrant workers or the need to endow potential migrants
with appropriate skills. Policy barriers strengthen cultural stereo-
types of less skilled women migrants, reduce the scope for them to
seek overseas employment legally and narrow their social profile. In
this context, family patriarchy becomes the key arbiter in deciding
whether and in what circumstances women may go overseas. Emi-
grant women’s responses to cultural barriers against mobility cor-
respond to a form of ‘bargaining with patriarchy’ (Kandiyoti 1988).

Acknowledgements
This chapter was written for a conference on ‘Gender and Migra-
tion: Negotiating Questions around Structure and Agency’ organized
by the School of Women’s Studies, Jadavpur University, in associa-
tion with Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Berlin, in Kolkata on 22 and 23
August, 2013. I have benefitted from discussions of the chapter at
the conference and at an open seminar at CDS on 25 October, 2013.
I would like to thank T. S. Ebina, Elsa Oommen and Julie John for
research assistance.

Notes
1 Agrarian and social reforms during this period affected a shift and a
dispersal of patriarchal authority from propertied men and women at
the apex of the agrarian and caste hierarchies, to individual men within
modern conjugal institutions. See Kodoth (2008).
2 Officials in the Travancore government are said to have lamented that
‘the great majority of girls. . . regard their education, not as something of
cultural value in itself, but a direct means of securing employment and
competing with men in the open markets.’ (The Travancore Educational
Committee Report, cited in Jeffrey 2005: 134). In the 1920s, when the
Travancore government restricted nursing to married women, a noted
intellectual argued in the Legislative Assembly argued that women are
appointed in hospitals precisely because they have a greater natural
talent than men for nursing but that married women would be better
qualified on that ground than unmarried women (cited in Devika 2006:
50). Anna Chandy had argued that those who favoured restrictions on
 Stepping into the man’s shoes  41

married women feared that women’s employment would destroy family

happiness (cited in Devika 2003: 114).
3 Women in Kerala have had the highest share in organized sector
employment in India, contributed by high shares in the care sectors –
education and health – despite low overall work participation rates
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(Kodoth and Eapen 2005: 3281–2). Even in 1957, it was estimated that
one-third of employees in the Secretariat of the newly formed Kerala
state were women (Jeffrey 2005: 133).
4 K. P. Kannan points out that because of the way women in Kerala have
structured their families they are now able to spend longer durations
of time in ‘productive economic activities’. “Women in Kerala, it is now
widely acknowledged played a crucial role in its demographic transition.
Despite the very low levels of income, women have enhanced life
expectancy; birth and death rates have been reduced, especially the
infant mortality rate; the average number of children per couple has been
brought down to below replacement levels; the average age at marriage
has been raised, and women have planned their families in such a way
that they are now available for a longer period of time for productive
economic activities . . .” (Kannan 2000: 57).
5 Indian workers in the semi-skilled category were the biggest beneficiaries
of job opportunities that opened up in the Middle East in the early
twentieth century when British oil companies established contracts
in several GCC countries. Malayalees were particularly well placed to
exploit these opportunities owing to the history of trade between the
Arabian coast and Malabar and demographic changes in the 1930s that
had spurred migration of Malayalee men to places like Chennai and
Mumbai in search of jobs (Zachariah 2006).
6 A survey of domestic workers in Kuwait conducted in 2001 found that
14 out of 43 Indian women workers had education up to high school or
above (Godfrey et al. 2004). There are some instances of women with
diploma in nursing taking up these jobs when they are unable to secure
remunerative jobs in the profession they are trained for.
7 Passports of women in this category had ECNR stamped on it. Where
their passports were renewed in the destination too, they had the ECNR
stamp. This point was also made by a senior government official of
the MOIA.

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Economic migration of women

Challenges and policy with reference to Indian
emigration to the Gulf
Basant Potnuru

Introduction
International migration of people for employment purposes is a
conscious move to enhance one’s economic and social well-being.
The decision to migrate is essentially, either explicitly or implicitly,
based on cost–benefit accounting, i.e. it occurs when anticipated
benefits outweigh the costs. However, it involves many complex
variables that are either not quantifiable or inter related. There-
fore, the analysis on international migration often goes beyond
the accounting principle of cost–benefit analysis. Moreover, the
challenges are magnified when gender is brought into the analy-
sis of international migration. For these reasons, gender is hardly
introduced into the economic models of international migration.
Empirical studies focusing on differences in international migra-
tion determinants, remittances and impacts between the sexes are
only few (Pfeiffer et al., 2007). More often they suffer from lack of
a grounding framework or appropriate instruments to enable one
to reliably identify gender effects. As Kanaiaupuni (2000) states,
‘migration is a profoundly gendered process, and the conventional
explanations of men’s migration in many cases do not apply to
women’. In the absence of gender-specific analysis and understand-
ing, it is often difficult to situate and argue the case of women
for differential treatment in policy. The aim of this chapter is to
identify specific features of determinants, processes and implica-
tions of international migration of women with special reference to
Indian emigration to the Gulf. The chapter also critically analyses
Indian policy on emigration and suggests gender-specific measures
to address the concerns of Indian women migrant workers.
 Economic migration of women  45

Trends and characteristics

There are an estimated 215 million migrant workers living in the
world in 2010 (IOM 2011). Further, 49 per cent of these migrants
worldwide were women and an estimated 94 million women
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migrant stock was economically active (UNDESA 2008). Given the

gradual increase of women migrant workers, international migration
has entered into a phase where it can no longer be viewed from a
gender-neutral lens. This gradual increase in the number of women
migrants has dispelled the beliefs that migration is a male-dominated
phenomenon. The increase in international migration of women has
occurred due to a variety of reasons such as family reunification,
labour migration, asylum, and natural disasters. Though, majority
of women migrate as dependent family members of other migrants
or as future spouse of someone in another country, today, they are
increasingly part of workers flows moving on their own to become
the principal wage earners for their families. The inherent differences
between the migration experiences of men and women as workers
present differential opportunities and challenges. Therefore, under-
standing the reasons and key features of female migration is essential
for an effective policymaking.
The feminization of migration also resonates through the migration
trends, as some regions, communities and social classes experience
more female emigration than others. Similarly, some destinations,
occupations and networks attract more female migration compared
to others. Reflecting global trends, women from South Asia have con-
sistently accounted for almost 40–45 per cent of its total international
migrants over the last one decade (UNDESA 2008). In some parts of
Asia, however, the number of women migrating has surpassed that
of males. For example, approximately two-third of migrant workers
from Sri Lanka in 2002 was women. Large-scale female migration
has also been witnessed in countries such as Indonesia and the Phil-
ippines (Esim and Smith 2004). On the contrary, countries such as
Bangladesh and Nepal predominantly send male migrants with fewer
numbers of women migrating largely through irregular channels. For
all these origins, the Gulf is the key destination for female migration.
Although the numbers from India are not very large, there has
been a steady increase in the migration of women workers from par-
ticular States. The number of women migrating under emigration
check required (ECR) category increased from 10,416 in 2008 to
14,636 in 2009 and further close to 20,000 in 2010. This constitutes
 46  Basant Potnuru

about 3 to 4 per cent of the total labour migration from India under
the ECR category. However, Protector of Emigrants (POE), Hyder-
abad office accounted for the largest share of 43 per cent and 68
per cent of the ECR clearances granted to women in 2008 and 2009,
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respectively. In the second position, POE, Mumbai accounted for 34.7

per cent of the ECR clearances in 2008 and POEs, Trivandrum and
Cochin together accounted for 17.3 per cent in 2009 (Figure 4.1).
These migrating women also typically hail from particular communi-
ties of socio-economic backwardness in the State.
The majority of these women migrate to Gulf countries. How-
ever, few countries that dominate the flows are Kuwait, Oman and
the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These three destinations together
accounted for 97 per cent of all ECR women migrant workers in 2010
(Figure 4.2). Another important feature of the Gulf migration is the
dominant sexual division of labour. Relatively, lower-end positions
and occupations are being filled by migrant women (Thimothy and
Sasikumar 2012). In particular, women migrants are predominantly
engaged in domestic work and other low-end services such as beau-
ticians, babysitters, caregivers, cleaners, etc. Table 4.1 provides a
breakdown of the data on women migrant workers by occupation
and destination. It clearly demonstrates that amongst the migrant

Figure 4.1 ECR clearance granted to women migrant workers by Protector of

Emigrants (POE) Office, 2008–2009
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
2008
6000
2009
4000
2000
0

Source: Author’s compilation of data collected from the Office of the PGE, MOIA,
New Delhi.
 Figure 4.2 
ECR clearances granted to women migrant workers by major
destinations, 2008–2010
25000

19681
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20000
17880

15000
2008
11901 11909
2009
9602
10000 2010
6625
6707
5884
5000
3319
1358 13331334
219 140 122 52 19 45 121 131 340
0
Bahrain Kuwait Oman Qatar KSA UAE Total

Note: T
 he discrepancy in the total number of ECR women migrants in 2010 from
Figure 4.1 are owing to the interpretation made on the basis of occupations
for data cases where sex disaggregated data is not reported.
Source: Author’s compilation of data collected from the Office of the PGE, MOIA,
New Delhi.

Table 4.1 ECR clearances granted to women migrant workers by occupation

and major destinations, 2010

Category of
unskilled Total per
occupation UAE Qatar Oman Kuwait KSA Bahrain occupation
Labour 6 0 2 6 11 1 26
Cleaner 21 1 45 41 17 5 130
Helper 5 0 0 1 0 0 6
Housemaid 74 3 5,734 11,736 93 94 17,734
Domestic 4 0 0 3 0 0 7
cook
Servant 860 4 4 4 0 0 872
Domestic 0 0 3 0 0 0 3
servant
Messenger 7 0 0 0 0 0 7
Office 4 0 0 0 0 0 4
worker
House boy/ 0 0 1 9 0 0 10
girl
Domestic 0 0 1 9 0 10
driver
Other 109 19 53 61 50 7 299
unskilled
Total 1,090 27 5,843 11,870 171 107 19,108
Source: Author’s compilation of data collected from the Office of the PGE, MOIA,
New Delhi.
 48  Basant Potnuru

women ECR workers, the housemaid category is the most dominant

occupation and comprises of approximately 93 per cent of all women
migrant workers. Kuwait and Oman recruited the highest number
of Indian women migrant workers as housemaids with 11,736 and
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5,734, respectively. Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and

UAE recruited 94, 93 and 74 women as housemaids, respectively. It
may be noted that UAE also recruited an additional 860 women as
servants.1
Figure 4.3 provides an indication of the average wage of Indian
migrant workers employed as domestic workers. The monthly aver-
age wage paid to Indian domestic worker in 2010 in the UAE was
Rs 13,422, in Bahrain was Rs 12,387, in KSA was Rs 12,208, and in
Oman was Rs 8,623. It may be noted that Kuwait, the top destination
country with about 60 per cent of all Indian migrant domestic work-
ers in the Gulf, paid an average wage of Rs 8,082 per month. Keep-
ing in mind this low wage rates and increasing cost of living in the
Gulf on the one hand, and increasing opportunities and comparable
wages for domestic work in Indian metropolitan cities on the other, it
is worth considering that if Gulf migration is still attractive. However,
the decision to migrate – apart from wages and living costs – also

Figure 4.3 Average monthly wage of housemaids by destination country and

sex, 2010 (in rupees)
18000 16945

16000
13855 13422
14000
12387 12208
12000 10750
10557
10000 9340
8623 Male
8082
8000
Female
6000

4000

2000

0
Bahrain KSA Kuwait Oman Qatar UAE
Note: NA – Not Available
Source: Author’s compilation of data collected from the Office of the PGE, MOIA,
New Delhi.
 Economic migration of women  49

depends on networks and labour market information. Migrants find

it convincing and conducive with old channels of networks and infor-
mation (even if they are international) than exploring or forming
new ones. This is also the reason why Gulf attracts female workers
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particularly from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala where the networks are
stronger, while Delhi attracts female workers as maids from Uttar
Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Assam, and other states. UP and Bihar have also
emerged recently as the leading origin states to the Gulf migration
(MOIA 2013). However, it is largely dominated by males.
It may be noted that the ECR clearances data discussed earlier
may be highly misleading, as two-thirds of the actual flows are ille-
gal that escape the ECR route. The illegal flows may have particular
destinations, origins, occupations, and characteristics other than that
of the legal flows. However, in the absence of any other reliable data,
the ECR data serves as an overarching basis for public policy and
discussions.

Concerns of women migrant workers

In India, there have been increased concerns on the issues of safety
and security of women migrating, particularly as housemaids to the
Gulf countries. Given the nature of work and patterns of migration,
these women mostly are illiterates and come from disadvantaged
sections of society which in turn exposes them to severe vulnerabili-
ties throughout the migration cycle. Instances of harassment in the
form of non-payment or underpayment of wages, excessive working
hours, verbal and physical abuse, sexual harassment, cheating, fraud,
etc. are common (Rajan et al., 2011). However, if administered
well, successful migration experience can also become an empower-
ing experience for women by uplifting themselves from economic
and social backwardness. The benefits – apart from income and
wealth – also include increased autonomy and independence, the
formation of a migration network, or greater opportunities for future
generations, etc.
Therefore, systematic interventions need to take into account
various channels through which exploitation of women workers can
be mitigated. This necessitates factoring gender considerations and
in some cases redesigning the policies of the state. Therefore, it is
important to analyse the problems and root causes of these problems
in each stage of the migration cycle. The situation, nature, problems,
and stakeholders associated within each stage of the migration cycle
are different, and hence need different strategies and measures to
 50  Basant Potnuru

remedy them. For this purpose, the entire emigration process or cycle
can be divided into four stages, i.e. (a) pre-recruitment, (b) recruit-
ment and emigration, (c) work and living in the destination, and
finally, (d) return and resettlement in the origin. We now discuss
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these stages with respect to the concerns of women migrant workers.

Pre-recruitment
The key in this stage of migration is easy access to reliable source
of information for making an informed decision to migrate. In the
absence of formal mechanisms to access, process and disseminate
information on labour markets, the potential women migrant work-
ers usually depend on the informal networks, family channels and
intermediaries. The information accessed through these sources
often is incomplete, sometimes inaccurate, and often unverifiable.
Although deception may not be the ulterior motive of most informa-
tion sources, experiences recounted by them may in certain instances
be inaccurate and even exaggerated accounts of a life of prosperity
in the Gulf (Piper 2008). This may, in turn, influence decisions made
on false ground realities.
Once the final decision to migrate has been taken, the intending
women migrants proceed to initiate the actual process of emigration
by gathering information on the technical formalities of the migra-
tion process. These steps are undertaken either through the help of
family/friends in India and abroad or recruitment intermediaries
whose networks are spread over the origin and destination. As the
activities of the intermediaries are unregulated, they charge unrea-
sonably high commissions for the services rendered by them. Rajan
et al. (2011) estimated that on average an emigrant pays 23,500
rupees to the recruiting agent (RA) as service charges, apart from
other expenses on passport and visa services, air ticket, medical test,
insurance, etc. Absence of banking facilities for borrowing funds for
emigration purposes leads the migrant families dependent on infor-
mal money lenders, extended family, friends, lease, or dispose of
assets, etc, which burden with high interest charges.

Recruitment and emigration

The ideal condition in this stage is fair, transparent, simple, and fast
pace recruitment process. It also requires adequate assistance and
support services during emigration. While the recruitment agents
and middlemen play an important role in the facilitation of recruit-
ment process, the absence of proper regulation and standard setting
 Economic migration of women  51

protocols often leads to financial exploitation, fraud, cheating, etc.

It is also in this stage that the terms and conditions of the employ-
ment contract are negotiated and agreed. Skills and competencies of
workers play an important role in negotiating a better deal for work-
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ers and are also stronger weapons of empowerment that can ensure
safety and security of workers IOM 2011. Apart from the core skills
of their occupation, awareness about the new socio-cultural setting,
work culture, behavioural etiquettes, knowing dos and don’ts, safety
precautions, intelligent use of networks and social groups, etc. do
play an important role in negotiation of their wages, work and liv-
ing conditions. The absence of pre-departure orientation imposes a
considerable challenge on the women migrant workers dealing these
matters abroad IOM 2011. Emigration for women is indeed a chal-
lenge especially during travelling when they encounter with unwar-
ranted consequences and vulnerabilities due to maligned intentions
of the middlemen and brokers who accompany or assist the women
during travelling.
The recruitment and emigration from India is governed by the
Indian Emigration Act 1983. Under the Act and through 2009 amend-
ment of the Act, the women migrating to the Gulf for economic rea-
sons are subjected to additional regulations such as attestation of the
work contract by the Indian embassy, deposit of a security amount
with the Indian Embassy by the guarantee of the minimum wage,
mobile telephone facility, minimum age barrier, etc.
Owing to these procedural barriers, sometimes, women rely on
intermediaries and middlemen to circumvent existing regulations
through forging work contracts and passports to achieve ECR clear-
ance or migrating through tourist visa, thus pushing them into more
vulnerable conditions. The scale of migration through irregular chan-
nels is largely a manifestation of the political economy of migration
between India and the Gulf countries. Given the weak regulatory
apparatus on either side, the anticipated rewards of irregular migra-
tion are projected to be higher for the intending migrant and the per-
ceived risks for a defaulting RA are lower. Sometimes, though many
migrants are aware of using irregular/illegal channels, have incom-
plete or inaccurate information about the risks associated with it.

Work and living in the destination

Working and living in a foreign country all alone without the sup-
port and accompany of family members or friends is one of the most
difficult phases of the migration cycle, especially for an uneducated
 52  Basant Potnuru

or less educated woman. In the arrival airports at the destination,

migrants, especially women, would need assistance and support ser-
vices in order to make them reach the employer safely. Sometimes,
it is in this stage that the maligned intentions and acts of cheating/
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fraud by the middlemen appears to the migrant, especially in cases

of illegal or visit visa migrants. These women emigrated through visit
visa or illegal channels may also receive threats in order to force
them to the whims of the middlemen or employers.
In the destination country, women migrants, in particular are
vulnerable to exploitation and abuse by the employer, as they are
outside the jurisdiction and protection of the laws of their own coun-
try and are not entitled to protection and benefits of the destination
country. The occupations carried out by women are not generally
covered by the labour legislation, legal protection, social security,
and welfare provisions of the country of destination. Moreover, the
women migrant workers, under the prevalence of the ‘Kafala’2 system
in most of the Gulf countries, also have to depend on the employer
for their legal status to live in the country. Therefore, they always
run the risk of exploitation and abuse in the form of non-payment or
underpayment of wages, excessive working hours, absence of leisure
time, poor living conditions, sexual harassments, etc.
Fast assimilation of women migrant workers in the destination
country is also very important for their social, economic and physical
well-being. For this to happen women migrant workers should have the
leisure and freedom to move out of the work occasionally for meeting
friends, peer groups and engage in recreational activity, so as to relieve
stress and rejuvenate the socio-psychological and physical capabilities
at the work. Many also suffer from emotional and psychological stress
related to separation from family and work pressure. Taking an occa-
sional break from work also helps addressing her socio-psychological
health and needs. Neglect of small ailments due to lack of adequate
health insurance paves the way for serious illnesses later.
The key for a successful phase of work and living in the destina-
tion country would be adherence to the contract terms by both the
employer and employee. They run into troubled relation when the
contract terms are not respected by any of the two parties. This leads
to accusations and counter-accusations, which often lead to convic-
tion of the migrant worker for no crime committed. Absence of effi-
cient mechanisms for outreach of the Indian Embassy and fast-pace
redressal system to the needy migrant workers even exacerbates the
suffering and plight of the women migrant workers during these
kinds of situations.
 Economic migration of women  53

Return and resettlement in the origin

Return and resettlement is also an important stage of the migration
cycle. The migration cycle for an individual migrant never ends with-
out successful execution of this phase. Policymakers generally neglect
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this phase assuming the reintegration process as simple and return-

ees are capable of making fruitful decisions in their reintegration
process. However, in the absence of proper guidelines, counselling
services and assistance, the process may be far complicated and con-
fusing for the migrant workers with no or less education. Sometimes,
remittance money may be wasted in unproductive expenditures due
to lack of proper planning and awareness on safe investment options.
There might also be pressure from family, friends and peer groups
to use the money for short-term and unproductive purposes. These
reasons are enough to drain resources in a short span of time.
The reintegration process of a returnee woman also involves her
psychological and social adjustments and these are magnified mani-
fold if the woman has been a victim of physical or sexual violence,
forced abortion, psychological abuse, etc. while abroad. These prob-
lems are compounded to unmanageable stress and living when she is
subjected to rejection by families and communities. Many women are
unprepared for these kinds of situations. In the absence of availabil-
ity of psychosocial counselling and assistance for fighting these kinds
of eventualities on return, women migrants find themselves at loss
on how to cope with them. Many such migrant women also look for
alternative options of employment. However, due to lack of skills and
opportunities of employment and training, make them dependent on
families and societies despite their unwillingness. Migrant workers
who suffered exploitation or abuse may not have been able to file
complaints or seek legal redress while employed abroad. On return,
they still may not be able to do so because of lack of suitable legal
advice, support and protection. Absence of these facilities and assis-
tance to cope with the unwarranted consequences of migration may
lead to another phase of emigration full of dangers and hardship.

Indian policy on economic migration

of women
Before we critically analyse the Indian policy on emigration in the
following section, we briefly outline here the key policy initiatives of
the Government of India and several state governments governing
emigration processes and practices with reference to the emigration
 54  Basant Potnuru

of women. For the purpose of analyses, these policy measures may be

put into four broad categories, such as, (a) regulatory measures, (b)
information dissemination, (c) protection and social welfare, and (d)
skills training. We now discuss these four broad categories of policy
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measures.

Regulatory measures
Under the Emigration Act 1983, individuals with ECR category
passport holders are required to furnish the following documents:
(a) valid passport with a minimum period of six months valid-
ity; (b) valid work visa; (c) employment contract from the foreign
employer duly attested by the Indian Embassy or permission letter
from the concerned Indian Embassy; (d) receipt of prescribed fee
deposit; and, (e) insurance policy under Pravasi Bharatiya Bima
Yojana (PBBY). Furthermore, the Government of India, since 2009,
has barred emigration of women below 30 years of age for economic
reasons to 17 ECR countries. This regulation was imposed with an
intention to protect women of a young age from the risks of traffick-
ing, abuse and exploitation.
Furthermore, since June 2011 employers are also required to
deposit a security amount of $2,500 in the form of a bank guarantee
with the Indian Embassy. The security amount is reimbursed to the
employer upon completion of the contract and verification of fulfil-
ment of terms and conditions. A failure to adhere to the terms of
employment by the employer, not only nullifies the employer’s claim
to the deposit money, but in extreme cases can also lead to suo moto
action by the Indian Embassy in the destination country.

Information dissemination
Migrant resource centres (MRCs), as strategic centres for
migration-related information, are started in Hyderabad, Cochin and
Panchakula. The primary objective of the MRCs is to provide infor-
mation on legal and other administrative matters to help prospective
migrants to plan and organize their migration in a systematic man-
ner. Services provided at the centre include walk-in and telephonic
counselling and assistance in verification of documents. MRCs are
also expected to assist aspiring migrants in the job search, training
opportunities and emigration process.
The key state governments are also undertaking responsibility
for providing emigration services to potential migrant workers. For
example, the Government of Kerala has organized pre-departure
 Economic migration of women  55

orientation trainings in the past, hosts a job portal and provides

training opportunities through Norka Roots3. The Government of
Andhra Pradesh has also undertaken similar measures through its
state recruiting agency called Overseas Manpower Company Andhra
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Pradesh Ltd. (OMCAP)4.

Protection and social welfare measures

Consular support, verification and follow-up measures are impor-
tant steps to ensure the safety of migrant workers. Indian Missions
are entrusted with specific responsibility to intervene and interact
with the host country governments on behalf of workers when neces-
sary. Protection and welfare of migrant workers is also propagated
through establishment of institutions such as the Indian Workers
Resource Centres (IWRC) abroad (currently, in Dubai only) and
Overseas Workers Resource Centre in New Delhi. These institutions
register, respond and monitor complaints received from emigrant
workers and migrant families.
Shelter homes have been instituted in the Indian Embassies in the
key destination countries in the Gulf to accommodate and address
the issues of run-away women migrant workers. These services have
been adapted within the framework of Indian Embassies and IWRC.
Other services common to all migrant workers are the PBBY, Indian
Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), Pension and Life-insurance Fund
for Overseas Indian Workers (PLIF) scheme, etc.5

Skills training
Skills training, as stated in the previous section, is an essential part of
the empowerment process. It not only enhances the productivity of
workers but also command better wages and working conditions in the
destination. Under the current framework, state governments’ over-
seas recruitment bodies like OMCAP and Norka Roots are mandated
to provide skills training in key sectors and occupations. Ministry of
Overseas Indian Affairs is also encouraging to institute skills-training
programmes through public–private partnership mode.

Limitations of policy and practices

The policy framework discussed earlier suffers from serious limi-
tations and gaps in the implementation. Countries that have been
able to drive policy and managed emigration proactively have been
rewarded the most. For example, about two-thirds of emigrants from
 56  Basant Potnuru

Sri Lanka were females and most of them were leaving as housemaids
in 2003. However, by 2011, the share of women had come down to
half to register an increase in skilled and male migration (Kumar
and Rajan 2014). This turnaround has been achieved in Sri Lanka
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not by restricting female migration but through appropriate policies

that encouraged skilled and male migration from the country. Here,
the argument is not to discourage female migration from India either
but to encourage and strengthen the quality of emigration of women
by pushing them up in the occupational ladder and achieve diversifi-
cation of destinations through nurturing appropriate skills, training
and policy. This in turn can reduce the number of women migrating
as housemaids but increase their representation in other occupations
and seek diversification of destinations.
The foremost challenge in the current emigration policy practices
in India is that the legal processes and institutions of emigration are
undermined by the extensive networks of unscrupulous middlemen.
These middlemen act as an interphase between the migrants and the
institutional mechanisms, thereby making it difficult for the women
to access reliable information. India’s continued failure to effectively
regulate the operations of RAs and intermediaries gives credence to
the suspicion and rumour that powerful vested interests are block-
ing reforms in the system (Kumar and Rajan 2014). The policy on
restriction of emigration on women below 30 years of age has come
under sharp criticism. Kodoth and Varghese (2012) have argued that
this ‘protectionism’ by the state has contributed to the production
of underground operation of emigration activities for women. More-
over, policy of protection by exception has not offered any substantial
improvements but the exercise is reduced to document verification
alone (Rajan et al. 2011). While the intent of the policy has been to
safeguard the interests of women workers, the actual implications
of the policy have been counterintuitive. Similarly, more restrictive
measures like attestation of the contract and bank guarantee security
deposit with the Indian embassy by the employer reduces the com-
petitiveness of Indian women migrant workers abroad.
Some of the past initiatives on information dissemination,
pre-departure orientation and training programmes have not been
continued for simple reasons of bureaucratic hassles and disinterest.
For example, housekeeping trainings for intending migrant house-
maids initiated in Andhra Pradesh by OMCAP were halted after a
year. India Centre for Migration’s (ICM), the Ministry of Overseas
Indian Affairs (MOIA) sponsored, North-east Skills Training Pilot
Programme aiming to train 10,000 youth in three years time in
 Economic migration of women  57

health care, hospitality and education sectors for overseas employ-

ment is also under hold (ICM 2012). Another initiative of ICM and
UN Women collaboration to launch a project on ‘Empowerment of
women migrant workers from India to the Gulf’ also could not see
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light (ICM 2011).

The MRCs are indeed wrongly positioned in the current set-up as
extensive desks of the POEs. MRC, as an institution to provide accu-
rate information on emigration and address grievances of migrants,
is actually in conflict with the interests and functions of the POE.
Moreover, these centres are largely inaccessible and poorly envis-
aged with inadequate financial and manpower resources to take
independent decisions and reach out the migrants.
Therefore, to enable the MRCs to function and discharge duties
effectively, they need to be made autonomous to provide services
independently. The centres also need to be widely publicized and
set-up their extended help desks in the villages and districts of major
migrant origin regions (Kumar and Rajan 2014). Lastly, the centre
and state governments must also mobilize adequate resources to
these centres to undertake finishing skills and pre-departure orien-
tation training, apart from undertaking information dissemination
activities.
Systematic and efficient mechanisms to support and assist migrant
workers at the arrival in the destination country are either absent or
inadequate. There is no assistance or help desk(s) available in the
arrival airports of the destination countries. Labour Attaches at the
Indian Missions, IWRCs, OWRC (Overseas Workers Resource Center)
and MRCs though are mandated to perform tasks 24 × 7 and coor-
dinate to assist, provide information and redress grievances of the
migrants are constrained by time, manpower and will. Sometimes, it
is also difficult on the part of the migrants to reach out to the institu-
tions either due to unawareness of the existence of these institutions
or in anticipation of the unsatisfactory response and results approach-
ing these. Had there been any kind of arrangements made in agree-
ment with the destination country governments to set-up help desks
at the major airports in the destination to assist and register details of
women migrant workers at the arrival, it would have provided oppor-
tunity for both the governments to document and maintain data for
follow-up and relevant policy formulations on both sides.
As discussed earlier, the stage of return and resettlement in the
origin is completely a neglected area in the Indian policy practices.
Maximizing the benefits of remittances while abroad and reintegra-
tion upon return are essential towards ensuring labour migration
 58  Basant Potnuru

benefits. The governments have a key responsibility in providing

assistance to returnee workers through providing opportunities for
skill upgradation and remittance-linked investment products. Ade-
quate intervention and incentives for the civil society organization
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may also be provided by the government in order to set-up mecha-

nisms for counselling and assistance on resettlement issues of the
returnee women. Pourakhi, a returnee association in Kathmandu,
Nepal is a best example of a non-government initiative in providing
assistance for rehabilitation and distress management of the returnee
women.

Conclusion
The main purpose of the ECR regulation was to protect the inter-
ests of the most vulnerable categories of workers abroad. Despite
all its measures, it could neither stop the emigration of vulnerable
categories through irregular channels nor could it ensure their safety
abroad. The law and its stipulations rather served the interest of the
vested exploiting migrants and pushing them to illegal recourse. In
fact, the ECR clearance in India has reduced to merely a documenta-
tion exercise rather than a strong instrument to protect and promote
the welfare of migrant workers abroad. It is widely felt now that it is
high time to do away with the remaining list of 17 ECR countries and
scrap the ECR system making emigration free (Rajan et al., 2011).
One of the important constraints of Indian policy on emigra-
tion is its policy statement and belief that it ‘neither encourages nor
restricts emigration’. This in the twenty-first century, however, has
no relevance, particularly when it is widely acknowledged that the
changing demography of the world can highly work in favour of
India due to its demographic dividend. While the shortage of skills
world over estimated at 56.5 million by 2020, India is expected to
have a surplus of 47 million people by then. The forecasted Indian
population growth of 33 per cent between 2005 and 2030 will bring
a massive increase in the working age population putting unmanage-
able pressure on employment opportunities in India (Khadria 2009).
Therefore, the challenge for India is to be able to benefit from the
overseas opportunities and train the youth including women accord-
ing to the skills and qualifications required by diverse destination
countries. Upholding the indifference of policy and quietly expecting
that its surplus workers would choose to migrate and manage to find
employment abroad on their own is unlikely in a competitive world.
If it aspires to achieve the fruits of its demographic dividend, it has to
 Economic migration of women  59

make systematic planning and investment for specialized training of

the surplus workers years before the point of emigration. This would
not be possible with the current strategy of merely facilitating those
who chooses to migrate almost at the point of departure without
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possession of valued skills. Therefore, it has to proactively decide

to incentivize people to acquire specialized skills valued abroad and
position India as a preferred source country of skilled and trained
workers before it gets too late.
The discussions in the preceding sections highlight the need
for a coherent strategy for an orderly and humane experience of
international migration. Under the present emigration framework,
legal channels and process are largely undermined by the extensive
networks of unscrupulous middlemen who reach out better to the
migrant communities than the formal institutions of emigration do.
Therefore, it is important to reverse the current environment of emi-
gration that is highly dependent on middlemen/brokers to the one
that draws the migrants and migrant families close to the formal
institutions and channels of emigration. The state machinery and
mechanisms needs to be reformed, expanded and strengthened to
reach out to the migrant communities effectively. Apart from these,
keeping a long-term perspective, it is important to gradually free all
kinds of economic migration from the country and actively monitor
flows through a mandatory system of registration of emigrants so as
to build and maintain databases for critical analysis and informed
policy making towards promotion, empowerment and welfare of
migrant workers.
Specific mechanisms for facilitation rather than restriction of
women migrant workers are to be set-up for their safe, empowered
and dignified work and living abroad. These include expansion and
enhancement of the capabilities of the MRCs, setting up of MRC’s
extended help desks at the high density emigration villages and dis-
tricts, specialized skills training centres for overseas employment,
mandatory pre-departure orientation, help desks at the major origin
and arrival airports, arrangements for networking, leisure and rec-
reation of the women migrant workers while staying abroad, and
appropriate support on return and resettlement. Setting up of some
of these mechanisms may also need understanding, agreements and
coordination with the host countries’ institutions and governments.
All this can be achieved only when strong political and bureaucratic
will is restored upon setting up twenty-first century new governance
structures of emigration foreseeing the development potential of
emigration in the foreseeable future.
 60  Basant Potnuru

Acknowledgements
The author expresses his sincere thanks to the women migrant work-
ers at Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and UAE who extended time and
shared their experiences of emigration during his field visits. He also
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extends thanks to Ritika Arora and Vishishta Sam for providing ini-
tial research assistance at ICM and Smita Mitra of UN Women for
supporting during field visits. However, any possible errors in the
chapter rest with the author alone.

Notes
1 The application form for seeking ECR clearance comprises of many
questions pertaining to the socio-economic profile of the intending
migrant. Under the occupation sub groups, applicants can choose to fill
from a variety of occupations. Therein, housemaids and servants appear
as distinct occupations.
2 Under the Kafala system, the employer sponsors the visa for the migrant
worker which authorizes the migrant to temporarily reside in the country.
On withdrawal of the job/employment by the employer, the migrant
automatically losses the right to stay in the country and thus becomes
irregular.
3 Norka-Roots is the field agency of the Department of NORKA, set-up
in 2002.
4 Overseas Manpower Company Andhra Pradesh Limited (OMCAP) is a
recruiting agency set-up and by Government of Andhra Pradesh.
5 Details of these schemes may be obtained from the website of the Ministry
of Overseas Indian Affairs: [Link].

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 5
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Addressing the missing link

Women domestic workers migrating from South
Asia to the Gulf
Smita Mitra

Gender and labour migration intersection

We are living in a period of social realignments for which the term
‘global society’ best reflects the multiscale and multilevel interdepen-
dence and connectedness between nations and communities.
Policy discourse on migration and development is most often based
on interest groups, reacting to the prevailing domestic, bilateral or
political forces. Sometimes, these contradict the complex realities of
a globalized world driven by trade, financial capital and the gendered
division of labour, in the continuum of care and domestic work.
The absence of an international governance framework for migra-
tion, which is acceptable from a human rights standpoint and politi-
cally viable with a nation’s politics, makes this a challenge in itself.
Moreover, there is a dynamic market condition to contend with
which puts migrant workers at the mercy of employers, recruiting
agents and manpower agencies.
Increasing interdependence of goods and labour markets in an
unbalanced global economy is spurring migration flows across the
world. Thus, triggered by intraregional economic and demographic
gaps, an increasing number of women with low skill sets migrate as
domestic workers from Asia to the Gulf.
To place gender issues in the discourse on transnational migra-
tion and labour rights and to ground practices of abuse of women
migrants as ‘equal right holders’, is not only just challenging but also
very complex to address.
Experiences of human rights abuse in labour migration manage-
ment have been found to be embedded at the intersections of struc-
tures of power and identities that are historically formed.
Though these structures remain relatively stable and can be rein-
forced or altered under specific circumstances, yet the framework
 Addressing the missing link  63

of universal rights does not feature in this complex arrangement of

labour mobility and the gendered division of labour.
The International Human Rights regime is built on treaties allow-
ing for a single cause of discrimination to which other causes can be
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added.
These treaties cannot deal with multiple inequalities and
multicausal discrimination occurring simultaneously or sequentially,
as in the process of migration.
This intersection of human rights requires cooperation across var-
ied institutions; namely government, societal, bilateral, and multilat-
eral development agencies.
Therefore it is important to analyse the intersection of the social
identities of women in the domain of domestic work, in order to pro-
mote and protect their rights and entitlements. This could be accom-
plished through the regulation of recruitment processes and the
creation of model instruments like standard employment contract,
supporting migrants associations. Promoting effective engagement
between countries of origin and employment through formulation
of gender-responsive policies on labour migration management and
strengthening intergovernmental processes such as the Colombo Pro-
cess and the Abu Dhabi Dialogue will go a long way in addressing
some of the basic concerns.

Background
According to the United Nations (UN) data, globally, there are approx-
imately 215 million international migrants, the majority of whom are
foreign workers and their families IOM, 2010. Of these, 105 million
are estimated to be women. The driving forces behind global migra-
tion, in terms of the push and pull factors, can be ascribed to two
main interconnected trends as listed hereunder:

(1) global ageing, due to enhanced life expectancy, notably in

Europe and East Asia, where the share of the age group of 65+
is above 15 per cent; paralleled by a declining fertility rate,
as per the number of children per women, which has halved
over the last 20 years. The latter can largely be attributed to
rising educational standards and the increasing labour force
participation of women worldwide. Those two demographic
developments are offset against an unequal distribution of the
world’s population, with Asia taking the lion’s share of 57 per
cent of the world’s 7 billion, followed by Africa (28%) and
Latin America (9%) (Münz, 2012).
 64  Smita Mitra

Table 5.1 Migrant domestic workers in Gulf Cooperation Council countries

Country Year Total Women

Bahrain 2011* 83,198 51,811
Kuwait 2010 569,536 310,402
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Oman 2009 94,592 69,256

Qatar 2009 80,342 48,147
Saudi Arabia 2009 777,254 506,950
*First quarter
Source: Esim and Carole 2011, as quoted in Thimothy and Sasikumar 2012, 24.

(2) The second broad trend is related to the fact that many econ-
omies all over the world are unable to generate sufficient
employment opportunities, leading to a global job crisis as
well as a large employment deficit. This trend explains the
continuing significance of international migration for work,
the main functions of which are to ease unemployment pres-
sures in countries of origin on one hand, and to supply the
much needed (but unwanted) workforce in less attractive
jobs in countries of destination, on the other.

The reappearance or persistence of domestic work, as part of the

expanding global care economy, is a reflection of the above trends.
In addition, the recent economic and financial crisis is forcing more
women into paid employment in the ‘productive’ economy, whilst
paying others, mostly women (among them increasing numbers of
migrants, hired more often on informal terms), to carry out ‘repro-
ductive’ work in private households, especially with respect to elderly
and child care.
Out of the 6.45 million international women migrants from South
Asia, the most copious are those originating from India (2.6 million),
followed by Pakistan (1.9 million). Marriage and family reunifica-
tion are common reasons for migration in these countries (Thimothy
and Sasikumar 2012), whereas in Sri Lanka, 89 per cent of migrant
women are registered as ‘housemaids’ (SLBFE 2009, as quoted in
Thimothy and Sasikumar 2012).

Feminist and macroeconomic analysis

of labour migration
Feminization of migration across the developing world is one of the
entrenched features of the twenty-first century. One in seven persons
 Addressing the missing link  65

worldwide is a migrant. In 2009, the United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) estimated that in addition to the 215 million
international migrants across the globe, there were an additional
740 million internal migrants.
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The 2011 research on, ‘Migration of Women Workers from South

Asia to the Gulf: A Study of Trends and Patterns’ commissioned by
UN Women, points out that in the mid-1990s an estimated 800,000
Asian women were migrating to the Middle East annually, mostly as
domestic workers (See Table 5.1). By the year 2000, an estimated
2 million Asian women were working in neighbouring countries. This
may have increased to two-and-a-half million or more by now. It
should be noted that these figures reflect only those who are moving
through legal channels; however, for those moving across illegally
(undocumented), the numbers are even more difficult to estimate.
There are many push and pull factors, which contribute to the
high levels of women migrating from South Asian countries to the
Gulf in particular. The ’push’ factors include poverty, lack of decent
work and sustainable livelihoods, gender inequality, violence at
home, political instability, climate change, and environmental deg-
radation. Many women, including young women, migrate indepen-
dently as a basic strategy for survival to support themselves and their
families. The Gulf often presents a cheaper and closer option with
less red tape, making it easier for migrants to enter legally than other
countries in the West. Among the ‘pull’ factors, the strongest is that
there are high prospects of employment for domestic workers in the
Gulf countries. In light of the increased middle class prosperity in
the Gulf countries and fuelled by its feudal social structure, domestic
workers are now looked upon as a necessity. It should be noted that
local domestic workers will often charge higher prices than migrants.
There is a clear gender differentiated demand for labour in the
Gulf. While the majority of men are engaged in the production and
construction sectors, the majority of women undertake work in the
care and entertainment sectors, the working conditions of which are
likely to be more precarious. According to the 2009 estimations of
UNDP, 52 per cent of the total Sri Lankan emigrants were women, of
which, 89 per cent migrated as housemaids.
Overall, South Asia accounts for nearly one-fourth of remittance
flows to developing countries. In 2012, India was the largest recipient
of remittances (US $55 billion) followed by Bangladesh (US $11.1 bil-
lion) and Pakistan (US $9.4 billion). However, as a percentage of gross
domestic product (GDP), remittances are most significant for Nepal
(22.9%), Bangladesh (11.8%) and Sri Lanka (7.9%). There is a glaring
 66  Smita Mitra

paucity of gender-disaggregated data with regard to remittance flows

of women from the Gulf countries to South Asia, both at the macro-
and microeconomic levels. There is a critical need for such data, in
order to particularly know how the remittances have been used by the
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recipients, with a view to gauging and understanding how this affects

the community and the local economy. This data can then be used to
enhance the efficiency of the remittance transfer system and to maxi-
mize its benefits to the desired individuals and communities.
Remittances from migrants account for as much as 23 per cent of
the GDP in some countries. Women form 49 per cent of the global
migrant workforce and almost three quarters of the domestic migrant
workers in the Gulf.

Vulnerabilities and violence faced by women

migrant workers in the Gulf
Many women migrant workers end up in unregulated workplaces
in the informal economy, in domestic work, hospitality and enter-
tainment. They lack access to labour and social protection, embrac-
ing social services like health care, education and social safety nets,
which provide welfare and pension benefits, protection under labour
laws as well as employment contracts. This leaves them vulnerable
to multiple abuses, such as harsh working and living conditions, low
wages, illegal withholding of wages and travel documents, and pre-
mature termination of employment. Continued discrimination, vio-
lence and exploitation of women migrant workers, including sexual
and gender-based violence, infringes upon their fundamental human
rights, simultaneously reducing productivity and economic growth.
In many of the Gulf countries, these dangers are greatly perpetuated
and exacerbated by the ‘Kafaala’ system as well as the nature of the
domestic work, which is often ‘private’ and therefore ‘invisible’.

Women migrant workers employed in

domestic work
Whilst offering important opportunities for many to secure their own
and their families’ livelihoods, domestic work also exposes migrants to
particular vulnerabilities, especially those who are underage, members
of ethnic minority/indigenous groups, and/or live-in workers. Domes-
tic work worldwide is an unregulated sector of the labour market.
Domestic care work should no longer remain peripheral to the
development agenda because domestic women migrant workers are
 Addressing the missing link  67

very important economic actors in both the sending and the receiv-
ing country. Domestic women migrant workers contribute to the
economies of the receiving country through their labour, skills and
consumption, accelerating both production and growth. In the major-
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ity of cases, they do valuable work at wages lower than would be

acceptable to citizens of the receiving country. Through their domes-
tic work, the migrant workers enable family members in the receiving
countries to have the freedom and opportunity to engage in work and
enterprise that adds substantially to the economy. In addition, domes-
tic women migrant workers contribute through social and economic
remittances, saving schemes and diaspora investments to their coun-
tries of origin. The potential of the returnee migrant women work-
ers can be harnessed to allow them to transfer their valuable skills,
knowledge and experience to productive activities in their countries
of origin. Despite its inherent value, domestic care work has remained
peripheral and ‘invisible’ in the development agenda because it takes
place within the privacy of the home. It carries the low value ascribed
to women’s unpaid care work; it is perceived as requiring no special
skills except those deemed ‘intrinsically feminine’; and is categorized
as informal work. Domestic work is also often poorly regulated or
unregulated and consequently remains one of the most unprotected
and risk-prone professions for women and their families.
The protection of domestic workers’ rights needs to be foregrounded
in the development agenda, in order for it to be truly meaningful.
‘Development’ is referred to as human development in an inte-
gral sense that takes into consideration the well-being of the person
and of all people, in terms of different dimensions: economic (GDP,
distribution of income and wealth), social (quality of life in terms of
health, education, nutrition, employment, non-discrimination on the
basis of gender, etc.), political (respect for all human rights, repre-
sentative and participatory democracy, rule of law), cultural (iden-
tity, capacity for intercultural dialogue), and ecological. As stated
in 2006, by Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights: ‘managing migration flows effectively, requires understand-
ing that migrants are not simply agents of development but human
beings with rights, which States have an obligation to protect’.

UN Women on empowering women

migrant workers in Asia
UN Women’s regional programme in Asia Pacific and the Arab
States on empowering women migrant workers promotes women’s
 68  Smita Mitra

human rights and creates an enabling environment to facilitate

empowerment, This it does by supporting policy, institutional and
socio-economic reforms for women in the informal sector, especially
women migrant workers; building the capacity of women migrant
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workers to claim their rights and entitlements; and by ensuring

equal opportunities and the promotion of their rights throughout the
migration process.
At the global level, UN Women extends support to the Global
Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) and the Global
Migration Group (GMG) an interagency group focused on migration.
As an integral component of this programme, the aim is to sup-
port the establishment of legal frameworks and processes that pro-
mote and protect the human as well as the labour rights of women
migrant workers in South Asia. The proposed development of such
a standardized package on contracts, aligned with the recommenda-
tions that emerged from the Colombo Process, will go a long way
in facilitating transparency in agreements, and in promoting gender
responsive and orderly labour migration management.
The UN Women Office for India, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka,
has taken the first step to this by supporting a Regional Consulta-
tion led by the Core Group on Gender Responsive Labour Migration
Management. It brought together a wide range of stakeholder con-
stituencies from the South Asia and Gulf countries, including experts
on gender and migration, to advise and support evidence-based
advocacy by UN Women, on issues pertaining to the safe mobility
and migration of women domestic workers from South Asia. The
two-day deliberations culminated in a recommendation for 15 stra-
tegic interventions. These are geared towards building cohesive
action to respond to the challenges of safe mobility for women and
in designing an apparatus for a standardized regulation to promote
safe, informed and orderly migration of women and men across the
regions.

Situating women labour migration in SAARC

In South Asia, the South Asian Association for Regional Coopera-
tion (SAARC) Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking
in Women and Children, ratified by all Member States, came into
force on 15 November 2005. They have constituted a Regional Task
Force to implement this convention. Given the porous borders in the
region, along with overlaps between migration for economic reasons
and falling prey to trafficking rings, there is a need to design and
 Addressing the missing link  69

implement strategic interventions, which strengthen labour mobility

and migration management in South Asia. Undocumented migrant
women workers are easy prey for traffickers. Indeed, it has been
observed that traffickers fish in the waters of migration. Studies have
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established that there are close linkages between trafficking and

unsafe migration, and these need to be kept in mind when designing
interventions. The potential undocumented woman migrant worker
and the potential victim of trafficking, share certain common char-
acteristics, which include poverty, low levels/absence of skills and
education, lack of awareness of their rights, and a compelling desire
to improve their economic situation. At the 17th SAARC Summit held
at Addu Atoll in Maldives on 10–11 November 2011, Member States
affirmed interest in the implementation of the SAARC Social Charter
and people’s right to mobility with dignity. Transnational mobility,
thus, needs to be respected as a human right. It was further declared
that migrants should be assured of dignity and the right to work, as
well as physical protection, basic amenities and adequate wages.
The large-scale migration of women workers from South Asia has
well-documented historical roots in the colonial period. Indentured
migration to the plantation colonies in the nineteenth century, for
instance, was governed by the strict requirement stipulated by the
colonial government, of a minimum of 40 women per 100 men. Most
women who migrated were single, with only a minority travelling
with their family. This had important consequences on the character
of the household and community formation in the destination econo-
mies. It also affected the way migration was looked at in the send-
ing regions, with sentiments of national honour, often attached to
the treatment of women migrants. The exploitation of single women
in the plantations triggered massive nationalist agitations against
indentured migration and eventually led to its abolition in 1916. The
regulation of women’s migration was thus crucial, both at the incep-
tion and at the end of migration systems of the nineteenth century.
The pattern of women’s migration from South Asia underwent a
change, starting in the 1970s, when the migration and emigration of
low- and semi-skilled workers from the region to the Gulf countries
accelerated, as result of the construction boom, spurred by the new
found oil exporting economies. The increase of oil prices in the 1970s
led to a vast demand for labourers in the Gulf, including domestic work-
ers. This demand continued to grow in the Gulf oil exporting countries,
and exists even today, with minor periods of slow down due to fluctuat-
ing global oil prices and economic downturns. Indeed, the demand for
labourers and domestic workers in the Gulf region has only increased.
 70  Smita Mitra

Many women workers, who have migrated to these countries,

have been driven by a search for better economic opportunities. Lack
of viable opportunities in the home country, widespread poverty, the
desire for a better future, and the promise of a higher remuneration
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in the destination country are some of the main reasons for migra-
tion of women. The impact of these factors varies across different
countries. Other aspects such as a harsh family life, alcoholism of
male members of the family and oppressive social systems, also play
a crucial role in influencing women’s decision to migrate.
One of the striking trends of migration in the South Asian subre-
gion is that migration has been taking place both intra- and inter-
regionally. Rising poverty levels with increasing opportunities in
neighbouring countries coupled with a comparative ease of mobility
have augmented the number of labour migrants in this subregion.
Flow of remittances to the developing countries has grown over
the past two-and-a-half decades. Officially, it has increased from
US$ 4.2 billion in 1990 to US$ 50 billion in 2006. India continues to
retain its position as the leading recipient of remittances in the world.
According to the World Bank, remittances to developing countries are
estimated to have reached US$ 372 billion in 2011. It predicts that,
despite the current global economic conditions, remittance flows are
expected to continue growing with global remittances expected to
reach US$ 615 billion by 2014, of which, US$ 467 billion will flow to
developing countries.
Remittances from women migrant workers generate substantial
economic benefits for both the countries of origin and the countries
of employment – most visibly, in the direct benefit accruing to their
families. However, there is a woeful lack of data on the contribution
of women migrant workers.
UN Women is mandated by the UN General Assembly to be the
lead UN agency to promote gender equality and women’s empow-
erment. One of its comparative advantages is its convening power.
With its ability to bring together diverse stakeholders in a collegial
manner, UN Women is well positioned to visualize the issues and
concerns of women migrant workers and poor women in the infor-
mal sector, bringing them to the forefront in the policy and develop-
ment discourse.
UN Women’s gender responsive labour management programme
focuses on the gender component and on adult women migrants
entering the domestic work sector. This is because, in the process
of migration – specifically unsafe migration – the risk for trafficking
 Addressing the missing link  71

is highest. As noted earlier, those opting for unsafe migration are

particularly vulnerable due to their lack of education and skills. As
with all workers in the informal sector, they fall outside the formal
employment laws and regulations, and therefore protection.
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• In light of the existing scenario, the following are the recom-

mendations for policymakers and programme managers to
make migration a gender just and empowering experience for
both men and women.
• Undertake advocacy for the creation of an international gov-
ernance framework for migration based on human rights
principles and seek endorsement of Member States.
• Encourage cooperation among relevant key institutions,
including governmental, societal, bilateral, and multilateral
development agencies, to enable the realization of diverse
rights, viz. labour rights, women’s rights and human rights.
• Need for a coherent and focused policy for formalized man-
agement of low skilled labour migration so that low-skilled
workers do not end up as irregular migrants either in transit
or at the destination.
• Accelerate engagement between countries of origin and
employment in the formulation and implementation of
­gender-responsive policies on labour migration management.
• Enhance coordination between the sending and receiving
countries to promote the safety of women migrant workers
and strengthen bilateral agreements.
• Promote the generation of reliable gender disaggregated
data with regard to remittance flows of women from the Gulf
countries to South Asia.
• Undertake research to assess the impact of the use of remit-
tances by recipients at home and use the findings to enhance
the efficiency of the remittance transfer system and maximize
its benefits to the desired individuals and communities.
• Use existing international human rights instruments, such
as the conventions on human rights and labour migration
optimally; use the Colombo Declaration proactively as a blue
print for action.
• Strengthen engagement with SAARC and other intergovern-
mental bodies and processes, such as the Colombo Process
and the Abu Dhabi Dialogue.
 72  Smita Mitra

• Provide better information and support services to prepare

migrant workers for their travel overseas. Invest in the
development of orientation programmes and pre-departure
information packages, preferably using pictures and simple
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language, making them widely available – both in the urban

and rural areas at a designated office/resource centre. These
should include a helpline number, which can be reached and
is empowered to act in a time-bound manner.
• Institute a system/mechanism to provide an integrated
response to cases of violence against women throughout the
entire cycle of migration (pre-departure, in-transit, return,
and reintegration).

References
IOM. 2010. World Migration Report 2010. Geneva: International Organisation
for Migration.
Münz, Rainer. 2012. Global Challenges: Aging and Potentially Shrinking
Labor Forces. Paper presented at the 11th Global Conference on Aging
organized by the International Federation on Aging, held at Prague, May
29, 2012.
Thimothy, R. and S. K. Sasikumar. 2012. Migration of Women Workers from
South Asia to the Gulf, New Delhi: V.V. Giri National Labour Institute,
sponsored by UN Women.
 6
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Vulnerability of women in
international marriage migration
Renuka Mishra

Since time immemorial, migration to a new family, village or town

through marriage is an inevitable feature of a women’s life in patri-
archal societies. In patriarchal systems, migration of the groom is not
the norm.
Migration on marriage brings in vulnerabilities associated with
the new environment and social mores for the bride. The vulnerabili-
ties are to some extent similar to the one’s faced by an emigrant at a
foreign nation. A migrant woman in marriage is required to construct
her identity in an alien family, confront problems and deploy strate-
gies to make life in the in-laws family more liveable. However, she
is constrained by the structures of the in-laws’ family, its regulatory
rituals, beliefs and practices, and the limits imposed upon her. She
is expected to be quiet and docile. The situation is perhaps not much
different from what an emigrant faces in a foreign nation. They are
required to explore ways to construct their identity in an alien land,
due to vulnerabilities associated in a foreign country they face prob-
lems, they need to take recourse to legal or illegal strategies to make
their life liveable in the host country. Before leaving the country, they
are required to pay hefty fees to the recruiting agents. The marriage
process of woman migrant also involves passing of dowry or gifts
to in-laws’ family before marriage. Government authorities – both
national and foreign – allow migration only if the person has the
basic qualification for being eligible for a job in a foreign country.
The qualifications of the would-be-bride are examined and scruti-
nized by the in-laws before granting green signal for marriage.
Certain cruelties which are meted out on emigrant workers (with-
holding of the passport by foreign employer, non-payment of salary
by employer, being put behind bars for asking legitimate require-
ments/demands) in foreign countries would not have occurred in
the normal circumstances in the home country. Brides also face
 74  Renuka Mishra

sometimes life-threatening circumstances at their in-laws’ place.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau Report 2012 on
‘Crime in India’ 1,06,527 cases were registered under cruelty by
husband or his relatives and 8,233 were registered under dowry
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deaths.
However, it is at times claimed that marriage migration can offer
women the same chances of economic improvement that labour
migration offers to men. In material terms this may be realistic, but
in terms of the status, autonomy and control they confer, the options
are not comparable.
This chapter is divided into three major sections as listed
hereunder.

1. Review of literature on marriage, migration and vulnerabili-

ties of women
2. Research methodology and findings of an empirical study
based on questionnaire canvassed among 360 married women
across the country particularly, North-East, Uttar Pradesh and
National Capital Territory Region
3. Current policy interventions of Government of India to sup-
port the marriage migrants in a situation of vulnerability and
suggestions.

Review of literature
The sociological literature is almost unanimous in the conclusion that
truly matriarchal societies no longer exist. Campbell (2002) summa-
rized as follows: ‘there are societies that are matrilineal and matrilo-
cal and women are accorded veneration and respect but there are
no societies which violate the universality of patriarchy defined as “a
system of organizations in which the overwhelming number of upper
positions in hierarchies are occupied by males” ’.
In both China and India, for instance, where the rule of patri (viri)
local marriage is predominant, marriage for women entailed a new
home and work environment, and possibly even different types of
work, structured by new people, relationships and authorities to
­submit to. The migrant in such a case was expected to follow the
local mores and ways of doing things rather than those of her natal
family or locality, and it would take time for her to be incorporated
as an insider, if ever. In effect, and simply by virtue of her marriage,
she was the epitome of the permanent migrant. For a viri locally
resident bride, the nature of her relationships with her in-laws is of
fundamental importance to the quality of her married life, as evinced
 Women in international marriage migration  75

by the common stereotypes of the overbearing mother-in-law, jeal-

ous sister-in-law and vulnerable bride.
Women’s ‘marriage migration’ – that is migration within or as
a result of marriage – may often be the most efficient and socially
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acceptable means available to disadvantaged women for social and

economic mobility.
Feminist scholars have come to recognize the impossibility, empir-
ically speaking, of making a meaningful distinction between ‘mar-
riage’ or ‘family migration’ on the one hand, and ‘labour migration’
on the other. Given women’s role in family subsistence production,
‘wives’ are typically also ‘workers’ though their ‘work’ may not be
adequately acknowledged as such. Social norms make the bride/wife
do all the domestic chores while the mother-in-laws and sister-in-
laws enjoy dominance over the new entrant in the form of bride.
Migrant brides are more vulnerable and isolated than other mar-
ried women. They may arrive in their husband’s village or town with-
out friends or even acquaintances, and with little chance of appeal to
their own far distant families if they are ill-treated, abused or merely
given subservient status.
It is believed that dowry in South Asia is a form of enticement or
compensation paid in a tight marriage market to the husband and the
family for taking on an ‘unproductive’ women; conversely, bride price
is interpreted as a positive valuation of women’s productive capacity
and a form of compensation to the women’s family for the loss of her
productive labour. Given these assumptions, the long-term decline
in bride price practices in various communities and regions and the
increase and expansion of the ‘dowry system’ are read as indicative of
women’s low and declining status in the South Asian context.

Research methodology and findings

In order to conduct the study, a questionnaire was designed (both
in English and Hindi languages) to capture the factors which are
symptomatic of migration-related vulnerabilities in a marriage. The
factors included in the questionnaire are given as under:

1. Fear of migration
2. Whether migrated on marriage
3. Freedom of speech post-migration in marriage
4. Requirement to adjust at in-laws’ place
5. Whether called an outsider by in-laws
6. Difference in the economic condition of the bride’s family and
bridegroom’s family
 76  Renuka Mishra

7. Dowry or gifts delivered before marriage

8. Harassment on account of non-payment of dowry

The questions were to be answered in either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to

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avoid ambiguities. The respondents to the questionnaire are mar-

ried women. The study covered North-East (Assam and Meghalaya),
North (Uttar Pradesh) and National Capital Territory Region.
Questionnaire survey was conducted during June–July 2014. The
survey exercise was a team work conducted with the assistance of
three young scholars with the researcher1. Table 6.1 indicates the
major findings of the survey conducted in Assam, Meghalaya, Noida,
Ghaziabad, Barabanki, and New Delhi.
The total sample size comprised of 367 married women out
of which 50 respondents belonged to Barabanki district in Uttar
Pradesh, 46 from Tezpur, Dibrugarh and Shillong in North-East India
and 271 were from Noida, Ghaziabad and New Delhi.
The major findings of this survey are as follows:

1. Precisely, 93 per cent of the married women covered under the

survey migrated on marriage. Most of the women who did not
migrate on marriage belonged to the Khasi community in Megha-
laya where matriarchal system of marriage is still prevalent.
2. Of the migrated married women, 37 per cent reported that
they did fear the aftermath of migration on marriage.
3. As much as 46 per cent of the migrated married women did
not feel free to speak after marriage as they spoke at their par-
ent’s family.
4. Of the migrated married, 34 per cent women felt the need to
adjust with the cultural set-up of the in-laws’ family. Minimum

Table 6.1 
Summary of findings from the Primary Survey Among Married
Women, 2014

Factors North-East North and Delhi Total %

Migrated 38 304 342 93
Fear of migration 14 121 135 37
Not free to speak 24 143 167 46
Need to adjustment 10 113 123 34
Called outsider 2 52 54 15
Parents family rich 20 95 123 34
Dowry given 13 151 164 45
Ill-treatment for no dowry 1 81 82 22
 Women in international marriage migration  77

adjustment was required in cases where the marriage was in

the same caste or same state.
5. Exactly 15 per cent of the migrated married women were
labelled as outsiders by the in-laws’ family particularly by
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mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

6. For 45 per cent of the married migrated women, dowry was
given before marriage either in the form of cash demanded or
in the form of gifts.
7. As much as 34 per cent of the married migrated women
belonged to families richer than their in-laws’ family.
8. Of the married migrated women, 22 per cent faced maltreat-
ment after marriage on the grounds of bringing insufficient
dowry or no dowry.

In addition to the above, the following findings were evident from

the analysis of the survey:

• Migrated married women belonging to richer families than their

in-laws’ family did not face harassment in the name of dowry.
• In each of the individual cases surveyed there are at least two
factors speaking of the subservient position of the migrated
women after marriage. If there was no other factor indicative
of secondary position after marriage, then harassment on the
pretext of poor dowry or no dowry was discernible.
• In some cases where everything seems to be in order for
instance she has freedom of speech, need for adjustment on
her part does not exist, there is no demand for dowry, or
harassment in the name of dowry, yet the married migrated
woman is labelled as an outsider in the in-laws’ family. This
is perhaps symbolic of the politics of migration where the
migrant is considered an outsider/alien in a foreign land and
is bereft of any political rights per se by virtue of being a for-
eigner. In other words, the woman does not have a say in the
family indicative of her migrant status.
• The fact that 46 per cent of the women did not feel free to speak
as they spoke at their parent’s house is indicative of their subser-
vient status post-marriage and migration into a new family.

Therefore, it is essential that policy of the Government of India

needs to be protective towards its women folk who get migrated after
marriage and face problems on account of migration associated with
marriage.
 78  Renuka Mishra

Current policy initiative of Government of India

to support marriage migrants and suggestions
The problems of marriage between diasporic Indians and partners
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from the homeland are being addressed by the Ministry of Overseas

Indian Affairs, Government of India through a scheme for providing
‘Legal/Financial Assistance to Indian Women Deserted/Divorced by
their NRI Husbands’. Issues related with desertion of Indian women
by their overseas spouses are complex and sensitive. The approach
of the ministry in addressing these issues is to create awareness
amongst prospective brides and their families regarding their rights
and responsibilities and safeguards to be adopted while entering into
matrimonial alliances with grooms residing overseas.
The objective of the scheme is to provide initial financial assistance
to needy women in distress due to being deserted/divorced by their
overseas spouses, for getting access to counselling and legal services.
The counselling and legal services are provided through credible
Indian women’s organizations/Indian community associations and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) empanelled with the Indian
Missions/Posts abroad in the countries like US, UK, Canada, Austra-
lia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore (included in 2013–2014), and
the Gulf countries. The assistance under the scheme is limited to US$
3,000 per case for developed countries and US$ 2,000 per case for
developing countries and is released to the empanelled legal counsel
of the applicant or Indian Community Association/Women’s organi-
zation/NGO concerned to enable it to take steps to assist the woman
in documentation and preparatory work for filing the case.
However, this is only one-time assistance and may be sufficient.
Systems need to be in place to empower the women so that she stands
up on her own to defeat the vulnerabilities arising out of desertion
in a foreign land. Before the marriage is solemnized, her parents and
her home country government must ensure that she has some basic
vocational/skills qualifications which empower her.
Moreover the scheme does not address the problems of resident
Indian women who have migrated within the country after marriage.
It is important that the migrant status of women in marriage is rec-
ognized. At the policy level, vulnerabilities associated with migration
marriage particularly for the women migrant needs to be understood.
Only then one can appreciate the fact that there is need for:

1. Migration workshops for marriage migrants as are being

organized for migrant workers.
 Women in international marriage migration  79

2. Marriage migrants orientation manuals.

3. Training in skills – vocational and otherwise – for the mar-
riage migrant so that she is well equipped to fight the vulner-
abilities post-marriage.
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4. Awareness generation regarding the migrant status in the

marriage of the girl and the need for parents/government to
empower her with adequate education and vocational skills
to make her financially independent.

Once the migrant status of women in marriage is recognized

and Government of India frames a policy with this perspective in
view and issues directives accordingly, the vulnerabilities of Indian
women after marriage can be adequately addressed.

Note
This paper is a result of a study conducted by the author in personal
capacity. The views expressed in the paper are personal.
1 Field work was conducted by Vinita Sharma in New Delhi, Seema Sharma
in Dibrugarh, Assam and Shalini Srivastava, Barabanki, in Uttar Pradesh.

Reference
Campbell, Anne. 2002. A Mind of Her Own: The Evolutionary Psychology of
Women. Oxford University Press.
 7
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International mobility of
skilled women
Overview of trends and issues
Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

Introduction
Female migrants constitute about half of all international migrants.
This roughly equal share of males and females in migration flows
does not reveal the marked dissimilarities in the circumstances of
movement for each sex. Females and males are situated in a differ-
ent way within the economy and society. They carry out different
responsibilities and face different restrictions and, respond differ-
ently to policies and market signals. There are differences in wages,
employment practices, government policies, and socially defined
roles of women and men. Similarly, migratory behaviour is not a
gender-blind phenomenon.
The literature on the international mobility of females is relatively
limited and mostly focuses on the mobility of less skilled female
migrants. The gap in both academic and public discourse regard-
ing skilled female participation in the international labour market
may in part be explained by the stereotypical notion that female
migrants are mostly unskilled or low skilled and fall outside the legal
and social protection systems in host countries. On the policy front,
skilled migrants are assumed to have no other duties or familial ties
outside their jobs as they are analyzed only from a labour migra-
tion perspective. Family migration on the other hand is seen as a
social phenomenon where skills are less relevant. As a larger num-
ber of skilled female migrants compared to males enter through the
family route, the assessment of their situation gets caught between
these two perspectives. It is also assumed that it is the males who
migrate with their families for work and their female spouses pri-
marily take care of their households. Women are neither considered
as economic agents of development in such frameworks, nor are
 International mobility of skilled women  81

their gender-specific experiences reflected. It is further presumed

that skilled female migrants, like their male counterparts, are well
informed with relevant information about their destination mar-
ket and are more secure in their rights and entitlements than the
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unskilled in both sending and receiving countries, although their

position may still differ from that of skilled males. There is thus an
evident gap in the literature on skilled female migration.
This chapter focuses on this less-studied phenomenon of inter-
national skilled female mobility and highlights the need to have a
gender-sensitive perspective on international skilled migration. In
this context, the discussion does not distinguish between ‘skilled’
immigrants, who have at least a secondary education and ‘highly
skilled’ immigrants who have a university degree or equivalent.
Data from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) shows
that global emigration rates for low-skilled women 25 years and
older was 1.3 per cent in 1980 and 1.28 per cent in 2010 while the
same for high-skilled women was 5.33 and 5.55 per cent, respec-
tively. In general, high-skilled women constitute a small proportion
of female migrants though in some host countries, the proportion
of female migrants with tertiary education exceeds that for male
migrants. Interestingly, in source regions where emigration is domi-
nated by male migrants, the few women who migrate are likely to be
more qualified than the men. It has been noted that the dominance
of skilled male migrants over female migrants is often indicative of
an asymmetric gender distribution in the destination country rather
than a gender imbalance in the source countries.
Following this introduction, Section 2 presents a review of vari-
ous dimensions of skilled female migration that should be kept in
perspective when discussing such flows. Section 3 provides an over-
view of the global trends in international skilled female migration
while Section 4 examines key features and patterns of this migration
for specific occupations, namely, information technology (IT) and
engineering, health and education. Section 5 outlines how India is
situated in international skilled female migration and in these three
selected sectors. Section 6 concludes by highlighting gender-related
issues that are important for framing policies concerning skilled
migration.

Key issues in skilled female migration

Any detailed analysis of skilled female mobility is constrained by the
lack of studies on the phenomenon and the inadequacy of migration
 82  Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

data that is segregated by gender. Available literature mainly cap-

tures the female-dominated sectors of the labour market, especially
nursing, which is considered a semi-skilled profession. There are
some studies on the international migration of (school) teachers.
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However, since nursing and teaching are both perceptibly feminized

professions, scholarship in these areas sometimes misses their gen-
der dimensions. There are patchy anecdotes on international female
migration for secretarial jobs, IT workers and scientists while stud-
ies on women executives generally do not address migration. A few
studies on gender and skilled migration focus on the hardships and
impediments faced by skilled females during the migration process
and in destination markets.
From the limited number of general as well as sector- and
gender-specific studies that do address skilled female mobility, cer-
tain important characteristics and dimensions emerge. These pertain
to the impact of social norms and responsibilities in shaping migra-
tion paths for skilled male and female workers, discrimination faced
by women migrants, the deskilling of skilled female migrants due to
a mismatch of skills and occupations in the destination country and
the gendered outcomes of immigration and labour market policies in
receiving countries. The key aspects surrounding these dimensions
are briefly discussed next.

Implications of social and cultural norms

It is well recognized in the labour market literature that family for-
mation and familial duties and responsibilities influence the career
paths followed by men and women. The latter, in turn, also influ-
ences their migration paths. Though family formation has an impact
on both male and female migration in the early stages of their careers,
differences emerge as they progress in their professions due to their
differing roles in the family. The linear, high skilled career path of
having a full-time job with an uninterrupted working life and the
ability to be available 24×7 is more difficult for females because of
their disproportionately more demanding familial and social respon-
sibilities. The issue becomes magnified for female migrants. Some
authors conjecture that highly skilled immigrant women withdraw
from or delay joining the labour force in the destination country to
help settle their families. This case is likelier for women having part-
ners who can afford to support them (Preston and Giles 2004).
However, there are recent studies which suggest changing trends.
Unlike in the past, when skilled women were mainly moving along
 International mobility of skilled women  83

with their families, women are increasingly also migrating indepen-

dently. Moreover, even when they move with their families, they
are increasingly taking into account their professional needs. Some
related empirical studies show that in dual-career households, the
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migration decision is led by the partner with higher income or better

career prospects, irrespective of gender. Vergés Bosch and González
Ramos (2013) in their study of how family considerations influence
skilled female migration in Spain finds that the negative typecast of
the ‘trailing spouse’ is too stereotypical. Women are increasingly fol-
lowing their independent professions or pursuing further education
in the context of family migration. Likewise, Raghuram (2004) notes
that skilled female migrants who accompany their spouses may actu-
ally benefit by taking advantage of opportunities for training and
further study or may find work when entering a country as a depen-
dent immigrant. On the other hand, an earlier cross-country study
on migration of health professionals by Mejia et al. (1979) finds that
there is a dichotomy in the nature of migration for men and women
in the health care profession. Nurses, who are primarily female, are
likely to migrate over shorter geographic distances than doctors, rep-
resented chiefly by males, on account of familial ties and responsi-
bilities. Thus, available studies clearly indicate the role social and
cultural norms and the family play in shaping the choices of skilled
female migrants and changing trends.

Deskilling and discrimination

Several studies that take a gendered approach to understanding
skilled migration highlight the issue of deskilling and discrimina-
tion of skilled women in the host country. Studies argue that skilled
female migrants are more likely to confront these problems due to
the familial and social dimensions that influence their mobility. For
instance, skilled female migrants are more likely to be affected by an
education–occupation mismatch in the destination country as they
follow their families, regardless of their own credentials. Evidence
suggests that female migrants are more likely to experience ‘brain
waste’, i.e. accepting jobs requiring lower skills, and deskilling, i.e.
underutilization of their capabilities than their male counterparts.
Studies also find that the loss of personal and professional net-
works tends to affect females more than men as family and house-
hold responsibilities, immediately upon relocation, may prevent
them from nurturing new networking relationships. Their job
search, reskilling and technical or professional certification may be
 84  Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

hampered in a patriarchal family setting. Lengthy periods out of

work may also affect skilled women psychologically and deepen their
deskilling. In destination countries, skilled women who accompany
their intracompany transferee husbands often find it difficult to learn
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new languages or to study for a higher degree. These women may

engage in jobs which are not commensurate to their qualifications.
They also take up part-time jobs even if they can allocate time for a
full-time job.
Though sector-specific studies on this aspect are few, evidence
from the medical profession confirms the presence of deskilling
among female migrants. Dolishney (2012) explores foreign-trained
medical professionals in Canada and finds immigrant status, gender
and country of origin to be significant. Zietsma (2010) finds that quite
a number of female immigrants in Canada have a medical degree but
are working in occupations requiring lower levels of qualification.

Gendered outcomes of host and source

country policies
Available literature also highlights the gendered outcome of immi-
gration, labour and education policies in sending and receiving
countries. Skilled women may be at a disadvantage compared to
their male counterparts when migrating internationally due to
the nature of immigration processes and inherent education and
employment-related biases against women in certain professions.
In the origin country, gender-discriminated access to education
can result in fewer women acquiring the skills required to migrate
under the immigration rules for skilled people in the destination
country. Also, streams such as engineering, which are characterized
by fewer female students, evidently gives rise to fewer women in the
associated occupations and consequently their lower share among
such migrants. Gendered employment of skilled jobs in the origin
country also impedes the possibility of relative mobility of skilled
women vis-à-vis men as they are fewer in number to start with in
categories such as intracompany transfers.
In the destination country, gender-discriminated employment pol-
icies and attitudes can deter skilled female migrants. All highly quali-
fied women wanting to migrate may not be seen as highly skilled
as skills are defined by the labour market demands of the receiv-
ing country. The employment of skilled migrant females can also be
affected by sectoral bias as migrant women tend to concentrate in
certain professions such as nursing. Often, these women-dominated
 International mobility of skilled women  85

sectors such as nursing and teaching also happen to be highly regu-

lated and lesser remunerated.
In countries where immigration schemes favour particular occu-
pations, such as IT, the result may be masculinized skilled migration
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as IT sector training and hiring implicitly favours men over women.

Immigration systems which factor in age and earnings for admission
also have gendered consequences since maternity and child-rearing
tend to affect these variables differently for females. The pecking
order within the workforce is also related to immigration policies.
Kofman (2013) notes that soft skills are valued in immigration poli-
cies when they come bundled with requisite analytical and concep-
tual knowledge. They are improperly valued when understood in
the context of embodied knowledge, which is habitually associated
with women. Hence, due to the inappropriate categorization of skills,
gender-blind policies can give rise to gendered outcomes that affect
skilled female migrants unfavourably. On the other hand, countries
which use educational qualifications and language proficiency as cri-
teria for migration are likely to influence the share of skilled women
migrants in a more positive manner.
UNDESA (2006) gives instances of gender-discriminatory migra-
tion laws in many host countries. These include curbs on women
from getting their husbands and children along, mandated preg-
nancy tests for female migration, ban on female immigration without
the permission of their guardian and age limits on female migrants.
In some cases, the entry of many immigrant women is only as care-
givers even if they have superior qualifications. For example, in the
US, the spouses of highly skilled H1-B visa holders are granted an
H-4 visa that which does not permit them to work or access student
loans. However, as noted by Martin (2007), increasingly, countries
are considering policies to permit work authorization to spouses of
executives and professionals, recognizing that many of these highly
sought migrants will not relocate if their spouses are denied the right
to work in the destination market.
The limited occupation-specific studies available on this issue con-
firm the presence of gender-based discrimination in the workplace
for skilled migrant workers, although this is less frequent than in the
case of less skilled workers. Wojczewski and Kutalek (2014), in their
study of African migrant health workers, find discrimination based
on gender, in addition to foreign nationality and race among doctors
and nurses in African and European host countries. They conclude
that even in a highly demanded skilled profession such as health
care, there is gender discrimination.
 86  Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

Overall, as highlighted above, a gendered lens to the issue of

skilled mobility throws up a host of social, cultural, regulatory, and
organizational dimensions that are critical for any analysis of skilled
female migrants. However, the existing literature remains quite
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inadequate.

Synopsis of global skilled female migration

According to the United Nations Population Division, the inter-
national stock of female and male migrants in mid-2013 stood at
111.2 million and 120.3 million, respectively. The proportion of
female migrants was 52 per cent in the global North and 43 per cent
in the global South (UNDESA and OECD 2013). The distribution
of the female migrant stock by geographic region is represented in
Table 7.1 which indicates that the share of women migrants among
international migrants has been hovering around 50 percent for the
past two decades in all regions. The shares are higher in regions con-
taining traditional immigration countries, namely, Europe, North
America and Oceania than those of the typical emigration continents
such as Africa and Asia.
Table 7.2 summarizes the occupational break-up for female and
male migrant workers by region of birth. It shows that migrant
females are concentrated in the top three activities, the exceptions
being management occupations where the share of migrant Asian
women is less than that of their male counterparts while the reverse
holds for female migrants from other regions in management-related
occupations.
Table 7.3 displays the major sectors in which migrant women
find employment in Europe vis-à-vis native women. It indicates that,
in the EU-27, female migrants are employed more than the native

Table 7.1 Female migrants as percentage of international migrants

Region 1990 2000 2010

Africa 46.2 46.7 46.8
Asia 45.4 45.7 44.6
Europe 52.7 52.8 52.3
Latin America and the Caribbean 49.7 50.0 50.1
North America 51.1 50.5 50.1
Oceania 49.1 50.2 51.2
World 49.1 49.4 49.0
Source: Thimothy and Sasikumar (2012).
 Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 08:24 20 April 2017

Table 7.2 Occupation of employed foreign-born civilian workers aged 16+, 2011

World region of birth (in %)

Total Asia Europe Latin America Other
Occupation group Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male
Management, 31.9 25.8 42.5 48.0 45.2 44.8 20.3 11.6 43.6 37.5
professional and
related
Service 31.9 19.3 22.6 13.7 20.4 11.6 41.0 23.5 29.1 15.4
Sales and office 24.4 13.2 25.4 18.2 28.6 12.9 23.0 10.6 22.6 17.3
Farming, fishing and 0.8 2.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.2 1.5 3.5 – –
forestry
Construction and 0.4 14.4 0.2 2.9 0.4 10.3 0.5 21.3 – 4.2
extraction
Installation, 0.3 5.1 0.2 3.3 0.2 5.0 0.4 5.8 – 5.1
maintenance and
repair
Production, 10.4 20.1 9.0 13.7 5.0 15.1 13.3 23.8 4.6 20.5
transportation and
material moving
Source: 
UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development); [Link]
[Link]?sCS_referer=&sCS_ChosenLang=en.
 88  Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

Table 7.3 Key employment sectors for women aged 25–54 years, EU-27, 2010
(% of total corresponding population)

Employment sectors Native-born Foreign-born

Activities of households as employers 1 11
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Accommodation and food service 4 10

Administrative and support service 4 8
Other service 3 4
Human health and social work 18 17
Professional, scientific and technical 5 4
activities
Manufacturing 11 9
Wholesale and retail trade 15 12
Public administration 8 3
Education 13 7
Source: Reconstructed from Kofman and Kaye (2012).

women in the first four categories, while native women get more
employment than their migrant counterparts in all the other catego-
ries. However, the difference between the two groups is not signifi-
cant, except in public administration and education.
Although the number of skilled female migrants is relatively small
and even smaller for those who are employed among them, their
numbers have been increasing for the past few decades. In the UK,
the share of women among skilled migrants increased approximately
by seven percentage points over the 2002–2007 period (Kofman
2013). These female migrants include employees of multinational
companies or international institutions and those working in spe-
cialized areas such as IT, medicine and academia. Permits Founda-
tion (2009) reports a marked difference in the share of men versus
women who were in employment post-migration, with about 32 per
cent being employed among women and nearly 56 per cent among
men. Moreover, educated migrant women were less successful than
men in finding a job in their chosen area.
Table 7.4 indicates that in some important European Union (EU)
host countries, migrant women fall behind their native-born coun-
terparts in entering high-skilled professions. The exceptions are Ire-
land and UK, where the pattern is reversed. On a similar note, Cully
(2011) finds that a female immigrant entering Australia and who is
sponsored by the employer is 74 per cent more likely to be employed
in a full-time skilled job than other comparable females entering via
the family route.
 International mobility of skilled women  89

Table 7.4 
Percentage of women in highly skilled occupations aged 15–64,
selected OECD countries, 2004

Country Native-born Foreign-born

Belgium 42.9 41.6
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France 37.7 30.5

Germany 46.0 30.5
Ireland 40.0 47.9
UK 36.2 43.7
Source: Kofman (2011).

Table 7.5 
Highly educated migrants by gender (% of corresponding
population)

Holder of advanced degree Holder of

Country Time Gender (above Bachelor’s degree) Bachelor’s degree
Australia 2001–2006 Female 9 26
Male 12 23
USA 2008 Female 10 17
Male 13 15
Source: Hawthorne (2011) for Australia; [Link]
immigrant-women-united-states (last accessed 3 April 2014) for the USA.

Table 7.5 illustrates the gender differences in immigrants in two

major host countries, the US and Australia, which target skilled peo-
ple under their immigration policy. In both countries, the share of
females is higher than that for males in case of a bachelor’s degree
but the situation reverses for advanced degrees. The latter suggests
that migrant women with advanced degrees may not be able to take
up employment in their prime time due to family responsibilities and
other social factors which affect their employment.
Evidence also confirms that deskilling affects female migrants
more than their male migrant counterparts and significantly more
than their native female counterparts. Figure 7.1 shows the extent
of overqualification among male and female migrants and natives
in the EU-27 countries. The highest rate of over qualification occurs
among immigrant females across all four groups. This confirms
the findings of Rubin et al. (2008) that in the EU labour force,
the deskilling experience is higher among non-EU born migrant
females.
 90  Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

Figure 7.1 Overqualification rate (%) of employed population aged 25–54,

EU-27, 2008
40
35
35 32
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30

25
19 19 male
20
female
15

10

0
Nave born Foreign born
Source: Reconstructed from Kofman and Kaye (2012).

Skilled female migration in selected sectors

While the literature on skilled female migration is quite thin, it is
even thinner when it comes to the trends and characteristics of such
migration in specific occupations, other than nursing. The following
discussion provides an overview of the key aspects of this migration
in three professions, viz. IT and engineering, health care and educa-
tion. The choice of these sectors is motivated by the need to focus
attention on a wider set of occupations than nursing and maids.

IT and engineering
Careers in the IT sector are closely entwined with international
migration. The business model of ‘offshoring’ and on-site delivery is
based on knowledge transfers and requires international movement
of human resources. There are, however, certain sectoral biases that
arise in skilled female mobility in the IT profession stemming from
the disadvantages faced by women in engineering, from which most
IT employment is sourced.
In general, women engineering professionals are at a disadvan-
tage in receiving training and mentoring which makes their earnings
lower. They are less likely to be promoted to management ranks. In
the case of immigrant women, these difficulties intensify because of
 International mobility of skilled women  91

requirements such as prior work experience, number of years of work

and role in the sending organization, where women often do not
fare favourably for reasons discussed earlier. Further, as engineer-
ing in different countries has developed under different historical
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and social orders, the involvement of women in engineering varies

from country to country. For example, women from source countries
where engineering is less male dominated than in the destination
country, may have to encounter barriers in the destination market.
A case in point is Canada, where skilled women have been a signifi-
cant part of the immigrant workforce but not the native workforce.
Table 7.6 shows the numbers of female professionals in sciences
for key source and destination countries and regions. One finds that
Asia is a leading source region for female professionals in some sci-
ence subjects including engineering and Canada and UK are the
major recipient countries for such women migrants.
The IT workplace environment is male-dominated (Poster
2013). The work culture involves meetings and travel for uncer-
tain and extended periods, which makes it more difficult for women
than men. It has been noted that in this sector, typically, men
are allocated technology-based tasks while women are assigned
communication-based tasks, giving rise to gender biases within the
profession. Further, career advancement is primarily based on the
job achievements of candidates, without contextualizing the obsta-
cles women have to face. As with gender-blind immigration rules,
these apparently neutral rules of promotion in the highly technical

Table 7.6 
Foreign-born high skilled female professionals with tertiary
education, 2000: physical, mathematical and engineering science
professionals

South and Central

Selected region of birth Africa Asia America and Caribbean
Selected country of residence
Australia 660 6,853 265
Canada 1,825 16,215 2,320
France 3,057 1,188 356
Ireland 162 141 36
New Zealand 105 501    9
UK 3,329 4,949 655
Note: Data for Belgium, Germany and USA are not available.
Source: Database on Immigrants in OECD Countries; (DIOC), [Link]
org/
 92  Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

and competitive IT labour market arise from a male-centric model

of career progression. However, according to a study of Spanish IT
workers by González Ramos and Vergés Bosch (2011), this work cul-
ture does not deter women in IT from going abroad during their
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careers as compared to women working in other sectors. This, they

attribute to the fact that female IT employees have typically had
more global exposure and opportunities than those working in other
sectors due to the global reach and dynamism of the IT sector. Stud-
ies note that often women in IT and engineering follow their spouses
and gain professionally from this migration. Roos (2013) reasons
that the global character of the IT profession enables dual-career
couples to harmonize their career paths across borders. She finds
the idea of male breadwinner to be less relevant in the case of the IT
sector, making the migration model much more dynamic for dual IT
career couples where it is possible for the status of the leading and
following migrant to be interchanged between the spouses.

Health
It is well known that most of the semi-skilled segments of the health
sector, which includes nurses and midwives, are overwhelmingly
female dominated from the education and employment perspec-
tives. Women are, however, catching up with male physicians in
migration. Kofman (2011) notes that women constituted about half
of all migrant doctors in UK in 2002. Differences persist, however,
in the numbers of women and men in certain specialties, largely
reflecting sociocultural customs in origin and destination countries
for medical education which influence the choice of specialization
by females and hence create sectoral biases between male and
female health care providers. The latter is reflected in the interna-
tional migration of doctors as well. Table 7.7 provides an idea of
the quantum of female health professionals participating in inter-
national migration. Asians are the leading immigrant group as in
the sciences.
The incentives for migration tend to differ between doctors and
nurses, wherein the former mostly migrate in order to achieve career
advancement as opposed to the latter, who migrate mostly for eco-
nomic reasons. The Mobility of Health Professionals project funded
by the EU over the period 2009–2011, which analyzes trends in the
mobility of health care professionals to, from and within the EU finds
that the proportion of women among doctors differs by country and
that women are highly overrepresented among nurses.
 International mobility of skilled women  93

Table 7.7 
Foreign-born high skilled female professionals with tertiary
education, 2000: life science and health care professionals

South and Central

Selected region of birth Africa Asia America and Caribbean
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Selected country of residence

Australia 3,329 14,322 781
Belgium 2,866 732 _
Canada 3,495 17,415 8,785
France _ 8,573 13
Ireland _ 264 168
New Zealand _ 819 1,287
UK _ 4,682 1,090
Note: Data for Germany and USA are unavailable.
Source: Database on Immigrants in OECD Countries (DIOC); [Link]
org/

Reports of exploitation of internationally mobile health work-

ers by employers in the destination country generally relate to poor
accommodation, undervaluing of skills and poor information about
employment contracts. OECD (2008) highlights the presence of vio-
lence against health care professionals, especially women, as a grow-
ing phenomenon. The literature suggests that this problem may be
more pronounced for migrant female health workers. There are also
accounts of positive instances where locally coordinated schemes are
created to support foreign nurses in adjusting to the working envi-
ronment, such as in UK (Buchan and Dovlo 2004).
Female health worker migration is influenced by immigration pol-
icies and migration arrangements. Many countries have entered into
bilateral arrangements for the recruitment of foreign nurses. Malay-
sia has, e.g. signed agreements to recruit nurses from Bangladesh,
India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines. Developed countries
such as Australia give preferences to health care professionals under
their points-based immigration systems. Trade agreements increas-
ingly include provisions to facilitate the mobility of health care pro-
fessionals. Such policies have implications for the mobility of skilled
women, especially nurses, given the prevalence of women in the
nursing profession.

Education
The education sector is one area where females constitute a signifi-
cant share of employees. This phenomenon is also observed in the
 94  Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

migration of teaching professionals. For instance, in New Zealand,

using permanent and long-term arrivals data for 2013, Raghuram
(2014) finds that female school teachers outnumber their male coun-
terparts from all countries of origin, including India. This is in con-
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trast to the case of foreign IT professionals where males outnumber

women.
There are, however, differences in male–female representation
across segments of the teaching profession. While males dominate
in higher education, females surpass males at the level of teaching
assistants and library technicians, categories which may not always
require high skills. Table 7.8 provides a selected compilation of the
number of migrant females in the teaching profession. A noticeable
point that emerges is the large number of female teachers migrat-
ing from Africa to France, indicating the importance of colonial
ties and language in shaping the international mobility of teaching
professionals.
There is evidence to suggest that these differential trends result
in different migration outcomes between men and women in aca-
demia. For instance, although male and female researchers in aca-
demia show similar rates of mobility during doctoral training,
female mobility drops at the postdoctoral level. Empirical analysis by
Fernandez-Zubeita et al. (2013) indicates that the different mobility
patterns between females and males mirror their differing incentives
and that gender plays an influential role in determining decisions
relating to a career in academic research.

Table 7.8 
Foreign-born high skilled female professionals with tertiary
education, 2000: teaching professionals

South and Central

Selected region of birth Africa Asia America and Caribbean
Selected country of Residence
Australia 3,082 7,362 708
Belgium 1,980 _ _
Canada 3,545 11,510 4,865
France 13,744 1,433 924
Ireland 138 90 30
New Zealand 1,131 1,137 81
UK 10,602 12,642 4,254
Note: Data for Germany and USA are not available.
Source: Database on Immigrants in OECD Countries (DIOC); [Link]
org/
 International mobility of skilled women  95

International migration of skilled

females and India
India is a prominent source country for skilled migration, including
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scientists, engineers, accountants, secretaries, doctors, nurses, and

teachers for primary, secondary and higher education. In 2000, the
emigration rate for Indians with tertiary education and above was 4.2
per cent versus 0.3 per cent for all education groups (Mani 2009).
India is also one of the main origin countries for high-skilled immi-
grants to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Develop-
ment (OECD) countries, with women constituting more than 40 per
cent of these immigrants in 2000 (Kofman 2011). On the regulatory
side there is scant evidence indicating that some provisions of the
Emigration Act 1983, which governs emigration from India, limit the
right of women to work and unintentionally promote unauthorized
female migration (Thimothy and Sasikumar 2012).
Table 7.9 indicates that the share of female migrants from India is
similar to that found in the global figures shown earlier in Table 7.1.

Table 7.9 Migration profile, India

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Estimated number 7,493,204 7,022,165 6,411,272 5,886,870 5,436,012
of international
migrants at
mid-year (stock)
Estimated number of 3,578,808 3,378,740 3,107,712 2,860,663 2,648,186
female migrants at
mid-year (stock)
International 0.9 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4
migrants as
percentage of
population
Female migrants 47.8 48.1 48.5 48.6 48.7
as percentage of
all international
migrants
Net migration rate –0.5
(per thousand
population)
2005–2010
Remittances as 3.6
percentage of gross
domestic product
(GDP) 2009
Source: Kumari and Sharma (2013) and Thimothy and Sasikumar (2012).
 96  Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

Hence, the gender dimension of migration from India broadly mir-

rors that seen globally.
Evidence from the US and New Zealand, two important destina-
tion markets for Indian migrants, helps illustrate the nature of skilled
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female migration from India. According to the American Community

Survey 2008, more than 60 per cent of Indian female immigrants in
the US labour force worked in management and professional occu-
pations compared to 40 per cent in the case of native-born females
(Immigration Policy Center 2010). In 2008, 33.7 per cent of migrant
women from India in the US had a graduate degree compared to
9.6 per cent native-born women. Also, immigrant women from
India in 2008 had the highest median annual income among immi-
grant women in the US labour force, and higher than that earned
by native-born women. Furthermore, female immigrants from the
Philippines and India had the lowest poverty rates among immigrant
women in the US in 2008.
Table 7.10 presents an occupational breakdown for female and
male Indian migrants in the US and Canada. It shows that participa-
tion of immigrant Indian females was higher than for males in educa-
tion, health and social services sectors in both the US and Canada in
2006. In Canada, the share of immigrant Indian women was higher
than that for males in management and manufacturing as well.
Migrant application data from New Zealand, as shown in
Table 7.11, provides an idea about the quantum and nature of skilled
female migration from India, based on the figures for primary or prin-
cipal applicants, which may be seen as a crude indicator of migration
driven by skill and career considerations rather than family reasons.
It shows that the share of female Indian single principal applicants
has risen considerably and that of the dependents has declined over
the period under consideration.
The findings of Badkar et al. (2007) on New Zealand over 1997/98
to 2005/06 imply that the gender balance of skilled migrants to New
Zealand is impacted by the principal applicant. In turn, the overall
skill balance of migrants depends on the skill levels of the partners.
In male-dominated streams, the proportion of women from India
with secondary applicants was higher than for many other countries,
indicating that the attributes of the principal applicant who was
most suited for obtaining points under the skilled migrant category
(SMC) was used, irrespective of gender.
 International mobility of skilled women  97

Table 7.10 
Occupations of Indian migrants in the USA and Canada by
gender, 2006

Foreign-born Foreign-born
Indian Indian
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US Male Female Canada Male Female

Persons aged 16 and 629,218 346,733 Total 15+ in 159,110 124,650
older employed in labour force
the civilian labour 283,760
force
Management, 20.0 15.3 Management, 21.9 28.0
business, finance finance/
insurance, real
estate, rental,
and leasing
IT 27.4 13.1 IT, sciences and 11.6 3.6
engineering
Other sciences and 11.2 6.2 Professional/
engineering scientific/
technical
Education/training 4.7 8.7 Educational 2.4 4.3
and media/ services
entertainment
Physicians, registered 7.1 20.5 Health care 2.3 6.7
nurses, other
health care
practitioners,
health care support
Sales 11.4 11.1 Sales and 15.2 27.0
services
Administrative 4.3 11.9
support
Construction, 5.4 1.5 Construction, 28.4 3.2
extraction and transportation/
transportation warehousing
Manufacturing, 4.4 4.7 Manufacturing 13.9 18.9
installation and
repair
Social services and 4.1 6.0 Social services and 1.5 3.8
legal, (other) legal
services
Farming, fishing and 0.1 0.3 Farming, fishing 2.9 4.6
forestry and forestry
Source: Reproduced from Li and Lo (2009).
 98  Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

Table 7.11 Percentage of principal female applicants (with

and without secondary applicants) from India
to New Zealand

Year Single Dependent

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1997/98 13.9 86.1

2001/02 16.5 83.5
2005/06 38.8 61.2
Source: Badkar et al. (2007).

Female migrants from India in specific skilled sectors

Some evidence is available on female migration from India for spe-
cific skilled occupations. However, there is hardly any analysis of
this phenomenon in terms of its characteristics, its social and other
dimensions and its policy implications. The following discussion
highlights the cases of the IT, health care and education sectors.
In the global market, India occupies an important position in both
IT and IT-enabled services (ITES). The strategy for successful careers
in IT for both genders in India is charted out keeping in mind the
educational prerequisites in the IT sector and marriage preferences
for a person with a similar background. There are both positives and
negatives. On the negative side, skilled Indian women are hampered
in their migration prospects in the IT sector due to the eventual-
ity of career transitions following marriage or the demands arising
from career progression of the spouse. Their international mobility
prospects are also influenced by the needs of the entire family. In
the Netherlands, although Indians were the largest group of migrant
knowledge workers in 2006, women constituted only 10 per cent
compared to 40 per cent in the case of Chinese migrant knowledge
workers (Kofman 2013). On the positive side, it has been observed
that international migration provides Indian women IT workers with
an opportunity to move upward socially. Also, such women face
fewer doubts about their technical capability and gain greater access
to engineering jobs.
With respect to international migration of female health care pro-
viders, evidence is mostly available from the nursing profession. India
ranks among the leading global suppliers of nurses. The recruitment
of nurses from India to other countries such as the USA, UK, Ireland,
Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East is mainly from certain
Indian states, led by Kerala, which has provided nurses to the West
and the Middle East since the 1960s. Interestingly, unlike migration
 International mobility of skilled women  99

of nurses from Kerala which is predominantly female, nurse migra-

tion from Punjab is dominated by men, indicating how social and
cultural norms and educational status in the source locations affect
the gender dimension of migration. In India, nursing, owing to its
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migration prospects, is taken up by a good number of women. Par-

ents invest in nursing courses keeping in mind the beneficial out-
comes from future emigration. A nurse working abroad is believed to
have better marriage prospects. A part of the remittance sent back by
female nurses is used for the dowry for the nurse herself.
Immigration and labour market policies are important in shap-
ing the migration of Indian nurses. In their study on nurses migrat-
ing from Kerala to the Netherlands and Denmark, Kodoth and
Kuriakose Jacob (2013) find that though both countries are fac-
ing shortages of nursing staff, there remains a mismatch between
their immigration policies and the demands of employers. They
argue that the concerted ‘Work in Denmark’ programme proved
ineffective in recruiting nurses from India, mainly due to the poor
management of the process while the direct recruitment of nurses
by hospitals, driven mainly by personal and social networks, was
more effective.
With respect to the mobility of Indian women in the education
sector, there is very little information available. According to Sharma
(2013), Indian teachers are sought after to teach English, mathemat-
ics and science all over the world, including traditional host countries
such as the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE,
and Kuwait as well as other less common markets such as Tanza-
nia, Liberia, Qatar, Oman, and the Maldives. While the statistics do
not provide much breakdown of the trends in teacher migration by
gender, there is evidence that suggests emigration rates tend to be
higher for Indian women in this profession. In a case study on the
migration of Indian teachers, Sharma (2013) finds that the number
of female migrant teachers is thrice the number of male teachers.
The findings also indicate that female teachers migrate because of
the migration of their spouses. Caravetti et al. (2014) find that 44
per cent of the female Indian migrant teachers under their survey
migrated as a following spouse. They were given little time to go
through the terms and conditions of their own teaching contract
and also lacked a detailed understanding of the legal framework of
the destination country. Overall, however, paucity of organized and
countrywise comparable data makes it difficult to track the migra-
tion of teachers internationally and specifically for India, let alone
by gender.
 100  Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

Concluding thoughts
The preceding discussion has highlighted the need for further research
on skilled female migration. As is evident, migration policies often do
not take into account the specific needs and expectations of skilled
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women. The lack of attention to gender-specific factors that shape

the skilling and migration process can give rise to unequal migra-
tion outcomes for skilled women. Hence, migration policies need to
be gender-sensitive even in the context of skilled female mobility.
They need to recognize that male and female roles differ and are
governed by the prevailing economic, social and political contexts of
both sending and receiving countries. A gendered analysis of migra-
tion requires knowledge about broader social factors that influence
women’s and men’s roles and their access to resources and services.
The discussion also highlights the need for gender-segregated
data on migration to better understand the nature of these flows
so as to design appropriate polices. Furthermore, given the many
cross-cutting issues pertaining to international female mobility, ini-
tiatives are required at various levels; in host countries and source
countries, by international agencies and research institutions; and
in cross-country dialogues on migration management. Within coun-
tries, at the institutional level, different ministries and agencies need
to come together to devise appropriate labour market and migra-
tion strategies. An investigation into the disparities facing women at
all stages of the migration process and in the host’s labour market
is also required to devise policies for skilled female migrants. Poli-
cies in both sending and receiving countries also need to be directed
towards facilitating the employment and integration of skilled
migrant women into the labour market.
In sum, a gendered lens to understanding skilled migration
requires interdisciplinary research. Cross-country, country-specific
and occupation-specific studies are needed to shed light on issues
such as the factors that influence female skilled migration differen-
tially from male skilled migration; how the migration process and
integration into the host country’s labour market differs for the two
groups; what role marital status, familial ties and socio-economic
background play in the migration of skilled women; how aspects
such as wages, career progression, deskilling, and return and rein-
tegration in the source market differ for skilled female versus male
migrants; how the migration experiences of same versus different
profession couples vary; what kinds of discriminatory barriers skilled
women face in general and in specific sectors and occupation when
 International mobility of skilled women  101

they migrate, among other issues. Analysis of these gender dimen-

sions would greatly help advance thinking on skilled migration as a
whole.
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 8
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Indian international students

A gender perspective
Gunjan Sondhi

Introduction
Globally, India makes up the second largest outward flow of inter-
national students after China. Part of the global trend, according
to Global Education Digest (GED) 2009, is that men and women
are equally represented in this overall global movement. While the
50:50 ratio proposed in GED is broadly representative of the stock of
international students from most Western countries, the Indian case
shows a very different story. An examination of select sending coun-
tries reveals that the gender ratio of International Student Migration
(ISM) flows has a strong relation to the rate of female participation
in tertiary education (UIS 2010). For example, for China, the rate of
female participation in tertiary education is 46 per cent and women
compose approximately 55 per cent of the internationally mobile stu-
dent flow from China (UIS 2010). In India, the second country after
China to send most students, there is a strong male bias in the tertiary
enrolment ratio and mobility flows: women comprise 39 per cent of
the total enrolment of the tertiary institutions in India and 27 per
cent1 of the international student mobility flow. And yet, there is little
to no research that examines student mobility through a gender optic.
This gap is surprising for two reasons. Firstly, feminist scholar-
ship over the past 25 years has shown that the migration process
is gendered. Secondly, within the Indian patrifocal context (Muk-
hopadhyay and Seymour 1994) gender inequality and differential
access of women to education and mobility is a stark and unfor-
tunate reality. The international mobility of women from India for
education has thus far been left unexamined. This is an oversight
since this particular mobility flow speaks to the transformations of
India’s social and economic milieu within the contemporary trans-
national context.
 Indian international students  105

In an effort to cover this gap, a project was undertaken, entitled

‘Gendering international student mobility: an Indian case study’, as
part of the author’s doctoral project. This chapter presents and analy-
ses the results of this research. Specifically this chapter paints a broad
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demographic picture of Indian international students (IIS), their

motivations to study abroad and the role of family in the decision to
study abroad. This chapter is organized into five sections. The follow-
ing section outlines the limited body of statistical evidence available
at present on IISs. Section three discusses the research methods for
data collection. Section four presents the research findings of this
research project. Section five concludes this chapter.

IISs – the data thus far

Generally speaking, there is very little data on Indian students study-
ing abroad. This is surprising considering the colonial history of stu-
dents moving from India to the UK. Indian students now represent
the largest flow into the US and second largest in the UK (IIE 2009;
IIE Network). Trailing behind the US and the UK are Australia, Can-
ada and New Zealand as the next most popular choices of destination
for higher education.
Current research that presents data on Indian students is also lim-
ited. Of these, two studies stand out that present quantitative data
specifically on Indian students. One study, by Mkherjee and Chanda
(2012), draws on multiple data sources to review and analyse trends
of Indian student mobility into European countries – specifically the
UK, Germany and France. A second study was conducted by Rajan
and Wadhawan (2014) with prospective international students across
five cities in southern India. The survey consisted of 155 question-
naires with 63 per cent male and 37 per cent female See, Rajan, (ed)
2014. With such limited statistical studies, the IIS survey, the results
of which are presented in this chapter, was designed to gather data
to provide an overview of this population of Indian students abroad
through a gender lens.

Methods
Using mixed-methods approach, the researcher conducted multisited
fieldwork for 14 months in Canada and India. In-depth semi-structured
interviews were conducted with 65 respondents: 22 current stu-
dents in Toronto, 23 family members/parents in New Delhi and 20
return students in New Delhi. An online survey was also hosted for a
 106  Gunjan Sondhi

duration of 13 months, November 2010–November 2011; 157 fully

completed questionnaires were collected. Respondents identified
themselves as following: 50 per cent as currently studying abroad
(CSA), 20 per cent as studied abroad and living abroad (LA), and
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the remaining 30 per cent as studied abroad and living in India (LI).
The gender ratio (M:F) for the respondents was balanced for those
in CSA (51:49) and LA (45:47) categories; there was a clear male
bias in the sample of the respondents in the LI category (65:35). The
overall sample comprises 55 per cent males and 45 per cent females.

Gendering IISs
The data gives a broad picture of the students from India. The online
survey was open to people around the world who were from India
and had studied abroad since 2000. Respondents were recruited
using multiple methods – e.g. primarily emails, social media. The
in-depth interviews were conducted with students identified in Can-
ada and in India. The diversity of the Indian population becomes
visible when the sample’s demographics are examined; place of birth
and residence, languages spoken, religion and caste, and the coun-
tries in which they studied were all identified along a wide spectrum.
The respondents’ place of birth and last place of residence before
leaving to study abroad span all across India: 22 out of the 28 states,
and 2 out of the 7 union territories appear in the survey responses. At
least 20 languages were identified as the first language of communi-
cation. Five languages – Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali, and Marathi –
were identified by 65 per cent of the respondents; lesser-known
languages spoken in India such as Portuguese and Saurashtra also
appeared in the survey results. Respondents associated themselves
with 10 different religions and 20 castes and subcastes. There are
no emerging gendered trends in the above indicators; however, gen-
dered trends emerge when data on age, level of study and field of
study of the respondents is examined.
We now present the main results of the survey. The focus of the
discussion is on four themes: (a) the demographics of the respon-
dents: age, programme of study and discipline; (b) factors that shape
the potential to move: parents’ socio-economic class, and individual
and family migration history; (c) motivations of the individuals; and
(d) role of family in the decision to study abroad. Intertwined with
the presentation of the survey data are discussions that contextualize
the data within the ISM literature and the Indian context.
 Indian international students  107

Demographics
Age
The mean age of the sample (N=157) is 27 years. However, 43 per
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cent of all respondents are between 21 and 25 years of age, making

this the largest age group. The male respondents are spread evenly
between two age groups: 21–25 and 26–30 at approximately 38 per
cent and 36 per cent each, whereas the majority of the female respon-
dents, just under 50 per cent, are aged between 21 and 25 years.
Women who are part of the ISM flow (current and past) are younger
than their male counterparts. This could be a reflection of the chang-
ing dynamics of access to higher education in India. Historically,
enrolment of women in higher education in India has been very low
due to various factors such as cultural preferences that place greater
value on the education of sons over the daughters. Data from the
University Grant Commission (UGC) of India indicates that since the
1960s there has been a continual increase of women’s enrolment in
higher education and a particularly significant jump in enrolment
since the 1990s. Women represented 41 per cent of total enrolment
in 2009 (UGC 2011); 28 per cent of the total enrolment in 2000–2001
and 22 per cent of the total enrolment in 1990–1991. The increase in
enrolment in the recent years can be attributed to two factors: firstly,
the generation of women before who completed higher education
and are now encouraging their daughters to pursue higher education
and secondly, to transforming social and cultural norms which are
diminishing (though slowly) gender disparity across various social
classes and castes. Thus, while fewer women of an earlier generation
may have gone abroad for education, the current growing cohort of
women graduating from universities with an undergraduate degree
is reflected in the increasing number of women pursuing the next
level in higher education abroad. The relationship with parents’ edu-
cation is examined in more detail presently.
The age group in the cohort 21–25 years, for both men and
women, is also indicative of the India’s education structure: i.e. stu-
dents start higher education at the age of 18 years and complete their
undergraduate programme or other technical school programmes
by the age of 21. Most undergraduate programmes are three years
in length (UGC 2012) and by the time students complete their first
degree, they have completed 15 years of formal education. The large
cohort in the age group of 21–25 is therefore indicative of the level
of study the students have completed before going abroad, and also
 108  Gunjan Sondhi

the level they will pursue while studying abroad. The next section
presents the data on level of study.

Level of study
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Most of the respondents (45%) were enrolled in masters’ pro-

grammes. This was the preferred level of study for both men (48%)
and women (41%). The second most popular level of study for
men was an undergraduate degree (19.5%) and for women a PhD
(18.5%). Mirroring the results of Rajan and Wadhawan (2014)
study, 72 per cent of respondents undertook postgraduate level of
studies. Of this, 45 per cent were women and 55 per cent men.
The preference of a postgraduate programme is also reflected in
the US statistics on students from India. Approximately 14 per cent of
the students in the US in 2010/2011 were enrolled in undergraduate
programmes, 61 per cent were enrolled in postgraduate programmes
(Open Doors 2012).2 The UK, France and Germany show similar
trends (Mkherjee and Chanda 2012). The inclination toward a mas-
ter’s degree programme over an undergraduate or PhD is shaped by
several factors including length of programme and financial positions.
The cost of education as an international student usually means
paying twice if not more than the fee for domestic students. For
instance, according to the British Council the annual tuition fee for
degree (undergraduate or postgraduate) in arts/social sciences in the
UK ranges between £7,000 and £12,000. The upper range increases
to £25,000 for science programmes, and up to £34,000 for MBA.3
In Canada for the year 2014/2015, tuition fee for an undergraduate
programme was approximately CDN $20,000 and for graduate pro-
grammes was CDN $13,934 (Statistics Canada 2014). The duration
of the programme therefore becomes important, since the student
would have to pay for one or two years for a master’s degree ver-
sus 3–4 years for an undergraduate or PhD programme, a difference
which becomes especially significant if the students have no fund-
ing. The survey findings highlighted that 62 per cent of the respon-
dents were self-funded or have parental support. A three-to-four year
undergraduate degree or PhD (in some countries completing PhDs
can take up to six years) may not be a financially viable choice. Fur-
thermore, the young age cohort has implications as well. Youth in
India, especially around the age of 21–22 years, have little or no assets
to their name. They have no credit history or financial resources; they
are entirely dependent on their parents for financial resources. Even
when they are abroad, unless they work or have funding, these young
 Indian international students  109

adults are entirely dependent on their parents to cover their living

expenses. A heavy financial burden is placed upon the family when a
student goes to study abroad. This, among other factors that will be
discussed later, shapes the potential to go abroad.
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Discipline of study
There was not a significant gendered difference in the level of study;
however, there is a very strong relationship between gender and
discipline of study. Overall, 43 per cent of the respondents enrolled
in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pro-
grammes. There is clear and statistically significant male bias in
STEM courses; of the total students enrolled in STEM programmes,
69 per cent were male and 31 per cent were female. This male bias
is not unique to this survey. Enrolment at Indian universities (UGC
2012) as well as globally in STEM courses is dominated by males
(UIS 2010).
The next popular courses are social sciences (24%) and business
(23%). Females comprise approximately 70 per cent of the total
respondents enrolled in social sciences. The gender composition is
reversed for those enrolled in business courses – females make up
40 per cent of this group. However, business is the only main pro-
gramme of study in this survey where the gender bias is rather small.
In the remaining courses, there is a clear male or female bias.

Factors shaping potential to move

Many factors shape the potential of students to move abroad for edu-
cation. In the next sections, two aspects are highlighted that were
identified from the survey data. This section discusses the influence
of parents’ social class and the migration history of the individual
and his/her family on the likelihood of students from India to move
abroad for higher education.

Social class of the family

The growing literature on international student mobility shows that
it is a family pursuit rather than an individualistic one (Brooks and
Waters 2011; Findlay et al., 2006). Studies on ERASMUS and UK stu-
dents studying abroad show that social class – indicated through par-
ents’ education and profession – has a strong positive impact on the
student’s mobility behaviour (Brooks and Waters 2011; Findlay et al.,
2006; Findlay and King 2010; King et al., 2010). Brooks and Waters
 110  Gunjan Sondhi

(2011) further state that studying abroad is an exclusive pursuit for

the middle classes and that this exercise can be seen as an instance
of enacting and reproducing those specific class relations. Parental
education levels were one predictor of student mobility behaviour,
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which was particularly the case where mothers had completed higher
education. The results of our survey mirror the results on the impact
of parents’ education.

PARENTS’ EDUCATION

There is a strong and significant relationship between gender and

parents’ education, especially between the student women and their
mothers’ education level. Survey results show that 54 per cent of
male respondents have mothers who are university educated and 75
per cent have fathers who possess university education; by contrast
nearly 80 per cent of the female respondents have mothers who are
university educated and a more or less equal number have fathers
who are university educated. The differing status of parental edu-
cation places males and females in different social locations. Spe-
cifically, women who move abroad for education are able to do so
because of their parents’ education, especially their mothers’ edu-
cation. These women who studied abroad represent a particularly
privileged and ‘educationally advantaged’ class (Brooks and Waters
2011; Thapan 2009; Waters 2006, 2008).

PARENTS’ OCCUPATIONS

The parental occupations provided by the respondents were grouped

in the general categories. There is no significant difference between
the proportion of women and men and the breakdown of the father’s
occupation. However, there is a clear difference between the moth-
er’s occupation for male and female respondents. Nearly 65 per
cent of the male respondents have a mother who is a homemaker4,
whereas for women the largest category was comprised of mothers
who worked as ‘professionals’ at 47 per cent, followed by at 43 per
cent who were homemakers.
Data suggests that women who study abroad come from families
of higher social class, where parents are highly educated and work in
higher income positions, whereas men’s family background stretches
across the large and complex Indian class system. For women, moth-
er’s education and occupation places women in a position of advan-
tage, which facilitates their participation in the overseas migration
stream.
 Indian international students  111

Migration history
INDIVIDUAL

Data was also collected from the online survey on both internal and
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international migration of individuals. For UK students, Findlay et al.

(2010) highlight that there is a positive relationship between previ-
ous migration experience and future migration for education. Reflect-
ing these results, nearly 60 per cent of the respondents in our study
have moved at least once before they moved for their studies abroad.
Further, 42 per cent of the respondents moved internally (in India)
from their place of birth at least once before they moved outside of
India for their studies. A smaller number, though not inconsiderable,
17 per cent had experience of international migration before heading
off for their international studies.

FAMILY (PARENTS AND SIBLINGS)

Data shows that 66 per cent of the respondents have at least one
member of their family (parents and siblings) who has undertaken
migration. Here the category of parents refers to at least one parent
who has migrated – for work or study (international); and siblings
refers to at least one sibling who has moved internally or internation-
ally for study. Approximately 75 per cent of the female respondents
have at least one member of their family who has some history of
internal or international migration, compared to only 60 per cent of
the men. Also, approximately 30 per cent of the female respondents
have two or more members (both parents and siblings) of their fam-
ily who have undertaken migration, compared to only 16 per cent of
the men. Family history of mobility clearly has a positive correlation
with the decision to apply for study abroad, especially in the case of
women’s international mobility.

Why study abroad

In this section we summarize the motivations from the survey ques-
tionnaire and corroborate them with the results from the in-depth
interviews. The survey asked the respondents to rank the main
determinants of their decision to study outside of India.5 The top
two ‘very important’ determinants in the decision to study abroad
are attending a world-class university and the desire for an inter-
national career: 58 per cent selected ‘I was determined to attend a
world-class university’ as a very important determinant, followed by
‘I want an international career and this was the first step towards it’,
 112  Gunjan Sondhi

selected by 56 per cent of the respondents. The interviews revealed

concerns with the national-scale structures of Indian higher educa-
tion and labour markets. Hence, the top two determinants that shape
the potential to move are discussed further in the context of Indian
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education system and labour market.

Family – the desire of parents that their child studies abroad was
selected by only 14 per cent of the respondents. This was surpris-
ing since family is the central site for decision-making in the Indian
context. The role of family is discussed in the section on ‘Role of
family’ – and in doing so, the in-depth interviews reveal why this
‘determinant’ scored low while simultaneously playing a significant
role in decision-making process.

World-class university
The idea of the ‘world-class university’ has been identified as a sig-
nificant factor in research on international students across countries.
The results were no different for the Indian case. However, the rea-
sons for the desire for the ‘world-class’ university outside of India was
influenced by the experiences of students in Indian universities, and
on a broader level by the education system. To some extent, studying
abroad is seen as a way to mitigate the fear of failure (Brooks and
Waters 2011; Waters 2006) that emerges out a highly competitive
education system, such as the one in India, at least for entry to the
top institutions.
The Indian higher education system is extremely competitive as
a consequence of rising demand for higher education, and limited
availability of spaces at highly regarded institutions of higher educa-
tion. In order to manage the high demands for higher education, the
government has allowed the establishment of private universities,
and campuses built by overseas universities.
The interview respondents revealed their frustrations with the
universities in India. A common theme was that universities did not
offer the courses or type of approach that the students wanted to pur-
sue beyond undergraduate level. This was especially the case with
the doctoral students. The majority of the interviewees worked in
India before they took up the PhD programme in Toronto. Some of
the students left their jobs in India to pursue master’s courses in the
UK or US, and then chose to come to Canada for a PhD. Some worked
in the university environment and others outside. They all wanted to
pursue further higher education, and felt that the Indian universities
did not offer the courses they wanted to pursue. These students felt
 Indian international students  113

disappointed by the approaches of the programme – that topics of

research focused primarily on their policy application especially in
programmes such as biology, economics and geography.
A second factor that shaped the choice to pursue education abroad
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was the constraint put upon students by the institutions based on

their previous education. A few of the respondents found out that
they could not continue further education in their topic of interest
because it was not linked to their undergraduate degree. They could
only pursue a masters and then doctoral level course in the field
of their undergraduate study. This policy of higher education insti-
tutions in Indian fails to account for the shifting and transforming
interests of students as a result of their personal and professional life
trajectories.
The third reason that led to the decision to study abroad is the
low opinion of the Indian society and community on those who pur-
sue non-STEM related fields. According to the respondents, pursu-
ing undergraduate degrees in non-STEM courses is frowned upon
and disapproved by family and the community at large, especially
for men. This disapproval is so heavily embedded within cultures
of certain areas that some high schools (grade 11 and 12) only pro-
vide university entrance courses that cater to STEM fields. Students,
those who can afford to do so, find that they may have to move to an
urban centre to enrol in courses in non-STEM-related fields to pursue
higher education. This ‘stigma’ of possessing non-STEM education
is circumvented, and in fact turned into a positive attribute when
that education is pursued abroad. Pursuing a non-STEM programme
abroad leads to social capital accumulation (Waters 2006).
Hence, the idea of a world-class university is linked to dissatisfac-
tion with the Indian education system. Students’ motivation to study
abroad is to fulfil the need for quality education for future prospects,
to acquire further training, gain exposure to different methods, and
study a course/programme that may not be available or accessible
in India.

Career
Study abroad is seen to provide skills and cultural capital that enables
students to enter international labour markets as well as provide a
more competitive stance in ‘home’ labour markets (Brooks and Waters
2009). Hence, this venture is an investment by parents and the stu-
dents in their future – 56 per cent of all respondents, male and female,
identified their interest in pursuing higher education abroad as the
 114  Gunjan Sondhi

first step towards building an international career. As one respon-

dent stated, ‘studying abroad has many struggles and hardships but
a big time investment for bright future though’.
A factor that shapes the desire to go abroad for international
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career is the Indian job market and limited access to it. Approxi-
mately 50 per cent of the online survey respondents held jobs in the
information technology (IT) industry; others held jobs in business
processing firms linked to banks in Australia, in the medical field and
others in media/communication. One of the reasons these individu-
als left their jobs in India was because they felt there was no room for
professional progression unless they upgraded their education/skills
and also gained international experience. The respondents referred
to their transforming interests as they worked. As they continued
their employment, some going abroad on contracts and others work-
ing in positions of increasing responsibility, all claimed to feel a level
of dissatisfaction from the job, their teams and the institutions. The
need to pursue a career in their chosen field – that differed from their
jobs – led them to look for employment elsewhere. A few recognized
that employment outside of India offered them the opportunity to
pursue their interests. However, in order to pursue their careers, they
needed more education in an international context.
Secondly, while some of the respondents were able to secure jobs
based on their merits and contacts, other respondents felt they were
not as successful within the Indian job market. This group is one
whose families had financial resources to support higher education,
but they and their families lacked the social contacts to navigate in
the highly competitive job market (Jeffrey 2010). Nepotism over
meritocracy still remains at core of the most social and economic
transactions, and particularly within the job market.
Exacerbating the situation further are other factors that create
differentiated access to labour market and career progressions. The
gender inequalities of the Indian labour market (Gupta and Sharma
2002; Parikh and Sukhatme 2004) emerged continually throughout
the narratives of women who studied abroad, as well parents whose
daughters studied abroad. In professional fields such as engineer-
ing and IT, while women have made substantial headway in break-
ing into these industries, their progression is significantly hindered
by the gendered inequalities embedded in the system. Research has
shown that women in the Indian labour market are often relegated
to lower positions and earn significantly less than their male coun-
terparts (Gupta and Sharma 2002; Parikh and Sukhatme 2004). This
is not specific to India; labour market gender inequalities persist
 Indian international students  115

in all countries/societies (Mills 2003). However, they exist at dif-

ferent levels. Parikh and Sukhatme (2004), for instance, highlight
instances of Indian engineering firms that have policies against hir-
ing women. Hiring practices of other organizations give preference
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to men over women based on the assumption that women will dis-
continue work after they are married or when they have children.
This also limits the progression of women within the management
hierarchy. Parents’ concerns underscore the gender inequalities that
exist at national level in the labour market. Hence, the motivation
to study abroad for a career is also a result of the underlying gender
discrimination that women may face if they enter the labour market
in India.

Role of family
Existing research on the motivations of international students has
framed the role of parents as the supporters and facilitators of study
abroad (Baas 2010; Waters 2006). The results of our study mirror
this finding, but also reveal another aspect of this issue. The survey
results show that respondents did not feel that parents played a sig-
nificant role in the decision to go abroad for education. And while
on some level that may be – true – in that the individuals decided
for themselves that they wanted to go abroad; however, they would
have been unable to do so without their parents support. It is in the
negotiations of gaining that support that we see significant gender
differences; and one of the key unique findings of this study emerges –
that parents of sons expressed a greater reluctance for their sons to
go study abroad than parents of daughters.
Parents have divergent and conflicting interests on the migration
of their offspring. As expected, within the Indian context, many par-
ents and female students interviewed spoke of the disagreements,
discussions and negotiations that took place in order to gain parents’
support to go abroad. The discussions between parents and daughter
to secure (un)material support was through negotiating parents’ nar-
ratives of: ‘daughters’ shouldn’t leave home unless married’, ‘I don’t
want my daughter to be alone because I worry for her safety’, ‘she
is of marriageable age, and if she continues more studies she will be
too old to get married’, and lastly ‘how are we going to pay for this’.
This spectrum of reasons covers the array of cultural and individual
opinions and class positionalities within the Indian context. As the
above cultural narratives were negotiated, parents’ reason to support
their daughters’ mobility for education was shaped by their desire
 116  Gunjan Sondhi

for their daughters to have better future than one they would if they
stayed in India for education, work and/or marriage. Education and
work experience abroad would be an investment in their daughters’
future in order for them to overcome the barriers and struggle many
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women may face as a result of the inequalities and disparities within

the broader Indian social, cultural and economic milieu.
The surprising and interesting finding about the role of the family
was in respect to the sons. The parents of sons were the most reluc-
tant about this movement. Parents’ narratives of reluctance were
comprised of their references to the gender roles of sons within a
patrifocal family – to ensure that care arrangements are provided
for the older members. While parents sought to ‘send’ their daugh-
ters abroad for a ‘better future’, parents of sons were concerned that
their son might not return. A movement away of the son makes the
future of care uncertain since there are no other definite or famil-
iar arrangements. This reluctance of parents also makes visible the
failure of the state in providing options for care for the ageing popu-
lation (Raghuram 2012), and especially not for the middle classes
(Fernandes 2006). This narrative of reluctance of the parents of
sons was particularly relevant since families of men who go to study
abroad are not necessarily as affluent of those of women. As the sur-
vey results discussed earlier show, men’s families fall within a wider
range of Indian class hierarchy, and therefore they (especially ageing
parents and grandparents) are not likely to possess the resources to
care for themselves in the absence of the future breadwinner/sup-
porter of the family – the son. The position in which the son leaves
(Sondhi 2013) – a ‘youth’, a student, unemployed and likely single –
also does not provide families with assurances of future remittances.
For some students, both men and women, they were able to over-
come this reluctance by securing funding for their education thereby
negating the financial burden on families (Sondhi 2013). However,
for families with sons, the uncertainty of the ‘student’ stage of life
course greatly shapes the degree of reluctance of parents to support
their son’s decisions to go abroad for higher education.

Conclusion
This chapter has painted, in broad brushstrokes, a portrait of the IIS.
This group of highly educated youth are leaving India in increasing
numbers for greener pastures elsewhere and becoming a part of the
global talent mobility flows. The survey results highlight the dominance
of a young age cohort of 21–25 year-olds, a preference of shorter dura-
tion courses and a bias toward STEM courses, especially for men.
 Indian international students  117

Deeper analysis of the data reveals that more women than men
who go abroad for higher education are likely to have mothers who
are university educated and work outside of the home in occupa-
tions that require non-reproductive labour. The family, as is the case
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for other migrant groups, is a key site for decision-making and sup-
port for migration. Hence, students first had to overcome reluctance
of family members and garner their support. Both men and women
had to overcome parents’ reluctance – which emerged due to the
expected gender roles. And while women’s gender role expecta-
tions are transforming with the Indian society, as evidenced by their
increased international mobility for education, men are still heavily
embedded in their traditional gender role expectation – that of tak-
ing care of ageing parents.
The discussion on motivations to go abroad for education high-
lighted macrolevel issues surrounding the Indian higher education
system and the labour market. The limitations of the higher educa-
tion system with regards to courses offered, pedagogy and access
led students to seek other options globally. The second macroissue
was the differential and unequal access to the Indian labour market.
Despite the credentials and merit, it emerged that lack of personal
and social contacts places opaque walls rather than glass ceilings
which the individuals could not, or would not be able to break
through. Interviews revealed that this was more likely to be a sig-
nificant barrier for women than for men. Hence to circumvent these
barriers, people – particularly women – sought studying abroad as a
means of entering a labour market elsewhere where they would be
more likely to be evaluated on their merit and not just their social
contacts.
The preceding discussion has clearly shown the role gender plays
in shaping the potential to move abroad for education. Secondly,
it has shown that Indian women’s participation in the global talent
mobility flow is a reflection of the gender disparities that limit wom-
en’s access to the labour market.

Notes
1 This statistic is calculated by the UIS using data from five countries:
Canada, UK, France, South Africa, and Australia. There is paucity in ISM
statistics that are disaggregated by gender.
2 [Link]
Fact-Sheets-by-Country/~/media/Files/Corporate/Open-Doors/
Fact-Sheets-2011/Country/India%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%20Open%20
Doors%[Link]
 118  Gunjan Sondhi

3 [Link]
international-students
4 I used the category of homemaker to refer to work that is often done
within the household – reproductive labour. This category also appears
in the fathers’ occupation table, but expectedly there is a much larger
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percentage of women who are homemakers than men due to the social
and cultural norms of Indian society.
5 This scale was based on the survey designed and used by Findlay and
King (2010).

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 9
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Gendered mobilities
Negotiating educational strategies in Kerala
Sara Lång

Introduction: student mobility in a

transnational context
Kerala, in the south of India, is a region that is deeply linked to pro-
cesses of transnationalism (Osella and Osella 2007). The region
has a strong history of emigration to diverse global locations and
these migratory trajectories often follow the flow of both economic
and social remittances (Levitt 1998). In Kerala, today, roughly one
person in every third household is living or working abroad (Zach-
ariah and Rajan 2012: 31). The emigration of Indian workers sig-
nificantly increased during the period of British rule when Indians
were required to work on plantations in the various British colonies
(Jain 2011: 24). A few decades into the twentieth century the emi-
gration of highly skilled Malayalee1 workers began to expand, which
sparked a debate surrounding the potential problem of a ‘brain drain-
ing’. The Middle East oil boom in the 1970s was the starting point
for a new (and currently ongoing) – wave of labour emigration to
the Gulf countries (Zachariah and Rajan 2012). The understanding
of Kerala’s history of migration is of key importance in the explora-
tion of existing spatial relations today. It is, however, important to
distinguish between different rationales that people have to migrate
and this chapter is devoted to the growing research field of student
migration and the symbolic value of mobility (Brooks and Waters
2010; Findlay et al., 2012).
According to the KMS 2007 report, students constituted the sec-
ond largest population of outmigration from Kerala (25, 8%). Indian
students also represent the biggest share of international students
living in the US, and are the second biggest within the UK (Kumar
et al., 2009: 35). The growing middleclass in India is enabling young
people to go abroad and to enter foreign university programmes
through either direct family funding or by utilizing educational loans
 Gendered mobilities  121

(ibid.). These new and evolving patterns of student migration illus-

trate that it is an important area of research that deserves further
attention. There is a risk though, that studies on youth mobilities
are reduced to a Western focused phenomena, where empirics draw
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upon the migratory experiences that are only available to a smaller

group of privileged students, and where ‘cosmopolitism’ comes to
represent an elitist view (Devika 2012).
Drawing on interviews with students conducted in a private,
gender mixed, Christian upper-secondary school in Thiruvanantha-
puram I argue that young people’s perceived spatial restrictions in
their everyday life is reflected in their future aspirations. Firstly, the
discourse on girls ‘need’ to be protected is keeping young women
from going to prestigious universities far away from home. The big
cities, which are perceived as dangerous by some parents, are also
important springboards for later wanting to go abroad. Secondly, in
the girls’ stories related to future aspirations there is an emphasis on
city life, which they relate to independence through both movement
and anonymity. Thirdly, and finally, the life course perspective and
the shared idea of ‘getting a family and settling down’ affect boys and
girls negotiation of places and spaces differently. Going abroad to
study is, and I address this aspect more deeply later in the chapter, a
family strategy to obtain both symbolic and economic capital. Young
people in Kerala are, due to the transnational context of the region,
taught the value of such an investment within the formal education
system as well as in more informal settings.
The study’s theoretical approach draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s
concept of capital (Bourdieu 1986) and explores how strategies of
outmigration from Kerala to other parts of India, and emigration
abroad, co-produces social positions through its symbolic value.
The ‘post-Bourdieu feminist’ researcher Beverly Skeggs emphasizes
that the

ability to propertize culture in making of a self [. . .] becomes central

to how class is made in the contemporary. The entitlement and access
to the resources for making a self with value are central to how the
middle-class is formed; they have access to others’ culture as a resource
in their own self-making. In the relationship of entitlement class is lived
and experienced.
(Skeggs 2004: 177)

Although the students that take part in the study could all be said
to belong to a middle class, their trajectories and future horizons are
greatly differentiated. What they perceive as ‘the right way to go’
 122  Sara Lång

in life is related to inherited and acquired assets (Bourdieu 1986).

According to the majority of the interviewees, the US represents the
best education system in the world. Despite the primacy of the US
some students have alternative dreams that are bound to the Gulf
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countries, whilst others perceive Germany or France to be the best

educational option.
The chapter begins with sketching out the theoretical framework
of the study, where gender inscriptions (Skeggs 2004: 12–13) are
explored in relation to different forms of capital (Bourdieu 1986). It
then moves on to describe the collected fieldwork material, the con-
text of the study and some considerations of my role as a researcher.
The empirical section, which is divided into four themes, sets out to
explore how girls’ everyday experiences are reflected in their future
aspirations, followed by a section on girls’ associations between city
life and freedom. Thereafter, the chapter moves to focus more deeply
on space and time restrictions, where boys’ and girls’ career choices
are related to their social positions. In the final empirical section,
boys’ and girls’ different expectations of family life and its implica-
tions for educational and career choices are highlighted. The chapter
ends with a concluding section that summarizes the main findings
and points towards new research questions that deserve attention.

Gender, mobility and education

This chapter is written within the discipline and tradition of social
and economic geography. Geography in the Western context has
historically been a male-dominated subject, incarnated in a [white]
male ‘explorer’ of new lands taking on the mission to ‘objectively’ map
out the world. This legacy has created controversy and internal dis-
ciplinary battles. One of the most important of these battles has been
the development of critical feminist geography, or more commonly
referred to today as gender studies. In the 1970s the long-standing
emphasis within the discipline on objectivity was redirected towards
acknowledging the subject. With this shift the role of the researcher,
the ‘master subject’, was critically questioned (Rose 1993: 6). New
areas of research were also introduced, which underlined the impor-
tance of everyday experiences and statements like ‘the personal is
political’ (McDowell 1997) became key.
The major achievement arising out of the feminist turn was that
‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’ became complicated and not viewed
only as fixed entities. It became clear that they have to be understood
in relation to empirical findings that may be contradictory, ambigu-
ous and unstable. Furthermore, gender is not an autonomous system
 Gendered mobilities  123

but a ‘particularly combinatory social category, one that infiltrates

and influences every other category’ (Moi 1999: 288).
The intersecting relations of caste, class and religion are under-
stood in the study in relation to different forms of capital, an approach
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that has also been used by Filippo Osella and Caroline Osella (2000)
and David Sancho (2012). It is therefore important to take into
account, e.g. the parents’ educational background and professions,
as these factors indicate a student’s educational and cultural capital
(Bourdieu 1996: 139–142). The recent development of mass higher
education that is taking place on a global scale, combined with a
policy focus on the knowledge-driven economy, and an increasing
emphasis on individualization, has created a feeling that everyone
has the ‘opportunity’ to enter fulfilling and rewarding careers (Brown
2003: 142–80). The ability to navigate through the education system
is, however, dependent on social background and acquired assets
(Bourdieu 1986).
Mobility patterns have been explored at different levels, such
as gender ideologies of personal mobility, everyday travel patterns
and uneven power dynamics that constrain movement (Conlon
2011:354). Recently, researchers have directed their interest towards
the ‘new mobilities paradigm’ (Hannam et al., 2006) as a way of
understanding contemporary processes of globalization. Tim Cress-
well (2010) identifies these aspects of mobility as being: ‘getting to
one place to other’, ‘representations of movement that give shared
meaning’; and, finally, ‘the experienced and embodied practice of
movement’ (p.19). In this study, I focus on the latter two aspects,
and additionally I explore boys’ and girls’ potential mobility patterns.
There has been an ongoing and justified critique towards gen-
der studies developed in Western contexts. The research field has
neglected gender experiences outside of Europe and North American
contexts and has fallen short in acknowledging the close relationship
between ethnicity and gender. I have been cognizant of this critique
and scrutinized my own research in ways that reflect a transparent
choice of method and theoretical framework that can be responsive
to the empirical material.

Framing the study

The focus of the study is on future aspirations, and not actual out-
comes. What is the benefit of such an approach? Firstly, studies on
student mobilities often include students from Asia in a Western
‘hosting’ context, where the move has already taken place. From a
retrospective perspective, decisions to migrate may be rationalized
 124  Sara Lång

and reconstructed to ‘fit’ the story. It also leaves no room for com-
parison with peers in secondary schools who did not choose to move.
A few international students then become representative of a local
context that may contain a much more varied horizon, or the context
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of origin is absent from the analysis. Secondly, the aspiration itself

may say a lot. It enables, e.g. an exploration of what makes certain
futures visible, obtainable and preferable; and for whom? Further-
more, it says something about the equality of choice and the acces-
sibility to a potential market of education and employment. Is there
an experience of a great number of choices being present in a trans-
national context like Kerala?
The chosen field location is Thiruvananthapuram, located in the
former administrative district of Travancore, which held a matrilineal
rule amongst at least half of the population up until 1940 (Lindberg
2001 p. 52). Regarding the status of women (literacy, health, demo-
graphic factors) Kerala has been advanced compared to other parts
of India (Ramachandran 1997: 233). There has, however, been criti-
cism of a process of idealization of the “Kerala model” that risks cov-
ering up inequalities and internal disparities (Devika 2010; Lindberg
2001). Devika (2006) explored the gender paradox in Kerala, where
‘high levels of literacy, better access to health care, weaker taboos on
educated women’s employment, rapid acceptance of smaller families,
and so on, have not brought greater mobility to women or expanded
their range of life-choices’ (p.44). Nonetheless, the history of migra-
tion rooted in Kerala, together with a rather unique history of gender
development makes this an especially interesting case study. Young
people in Kerala are, however, a diversified group with as many hori-
zons as there are participants of the study. Thiruvananthapuram is
everyone’s place of birth within the study and has been a part of
their environment as they have been growing up. This geographic
and environmental commonality provides a shared standpoint, and
to some extent a shared horizon. This intersection of individual and
shared horizons is perhaps another way to understand the purpose
of the study.
The results presented later in this chapter draw on a qualitative
study of students in 12th standard in a Christian private school in
Thiruvananthapuram. Defining the middle class is not an easy task,
but sending children to private schools, with a good reputation, is
one way that researchers have distinguished the middle class (Jef-
fery 2008). Those students who are represented in the study live in
an urban part of Kerala. This urban area is not comparable to major
cities by Indian standards, but rather functions as an administrative
 Gendered mobilities  125

and educational centre with about 7,50,000 inhabitants in the city

area. The primary fieldwork method included semi-structured inter-
views which covered on a broad range of topics such as everyday life,
future aspirations, social relations, experiences from other places in
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India and abroad, as well as family expectations. There were 17 boys

and 21 girls taking part in the study from both Indian Certificate
for Secondary Education (ICSE) and state syllabus enrolled students
in both the science and commerce groups. In addition to the inter-
views I did formal and informal interviews with school staff as well as
unstructured observations in the school. The students do not appear
with their real names in the study, but the changed names still reflect
the parents’ religion.

‘Protecting’ the girls and thereby constraining

geographical mobility
Although the topic of the chapter is students’ mobility, I begin this sec-
tion by discussing immobility and spatial restrictions in youth’s day-to-
day life, and then return to how this is a key issue for future aspirations
later in the chapter. Everyday routines, which may initially be consid-
ered as trivial, are bound in power structures which limit and con-
fine youth. These experiences of being ‘female’ and ‘male’ in different
spaces becomes inscriptions (Skeggs 2004: 12–13), and a part of our
disposition from which we develop future strategies. These inscriptions
that guide our acts may be both conscious and unconscious (Bourdieu
1984: 170), which is something that is reflected in the interviews. Both
boys and girls experience family life, school and the future as gender
neutral and equal. In the interviews, examples of inequality are taken
from the media, images of brutalities against infant girls, or rape cases.
The dowry system, where the family of the bride is expected to give
expensive gifts and cash to the bridegroom’s family, is also brought to
attention in the discussion of gender equality. None of the informants
found examples of inequality in their own everydaylife. In the gender
analysis I have therefore excluded the specific questions about gender,
and instead looked at their everyday practices and experiences that
addresses these issues in an indirect but telling way.
Usha is a 17 year old enrolled in ICSE. Her father is a contrac-
tor and her mother is a dentist. She was one of several girls who
addressed the issue of calculating risk while moving around in the
city. Several of the girls described themselves as being ‘protected’ by
their parents, something that was not mentioned in the interviews
with the boys. There are real security issues in the local urban area,
 126  Sara Lång

where it might not be safe to go out at night, yet there is also a

socially constructed risk of damaging the family reputation. There are
expectations on girls to represent dignity and pride by being ‘appro-
priate’. The importance of maintaining the image of one self and the
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image of the family play an important role in feelings of respect and

honour. This was also reflected upon by 18-year-old Geetha, both of
whose parents are working as bank managers:

Sara: The people in Thiruvananthapuram, what are they like?

Geetha: They are, in generally they are good. Everybody is willing
to help you. But, they are too judgmental, like, they don’t
let people go in other ways. They have to follow the typi-
cal patterns, the same culture. Otherwise, they will look
at you in a negative way.

Several girls expressed that Kerala is a conservative part of India.

This was noticed in their everyday practices of moving around in
Thiruvananthapuram, as well as in the future horizon. It is expected
that younger generations are more progressive in their thinking, but
also earlier studies have drawn attention to Kerala as a region where
values and traditions are preserved (Devika 2012). A number of the
girls expressed that their parents did not approve of them going to
study at a university outside Kerala. They were considered to be too
young, and that it was unsafe. The most prestigious schools, within
a certain field, might then be off limits to them due to various safety
precautions. In the case of 17-year-old Nila, her parents – father an
engineer and mother a home maker – were planning to move as a
family unit to Delhi if she got accepted to a particular school there.
This kind of an engagement also shows the two-sided involvement
of parents’ in their children’s education. On the one hand they invest
money and time in their children, building up expectations and anxi-
ety, and on the other showing proof of commitment and personal
sacrifices. In other cases, like with Seema, 17 years old – her father
who was a businessman and mother a pharmacist, both with five
years of education respectively, did not want her to move.

Seema: I don’t like Kerala that much.

Sara: You don’t?
Seema: Cause . . . I don’t know, I want to explore and I want to
be in different places, /. . ./ my mum, she says it’s more
safe here, you know, the localities are more safe com-
pared to other, any other state in India. She wants me to
stay here.
 Gendered mobilities  127

Girls are deprived of the same academic opportunities as the boys

when they are not given the same chance to go to one of the bigger
university cities. It is a double punishment in that sense. First, girls are
threatened by the patriarchal and sexist structure of society. Second,
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they have to be ‘protected’ from this structure and thereby miss out
on equal opportunities. The ‘choice’ to stay has to be understood in
relation to what is recognized as valued by the dominant structures in
society (Bourdieu 1984: 64). That is, prestigious universities outside
Kerala, which boys and girls may have different opportunities to access.

The city: educational prestige and a symbol of

independence
After finishing upper-secondary school several of the students
planned to move from Thiruvananthapuram to go and study at a
prestigious university in Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, or Mumbai. Uni-
versities in Kerala are, according to the interviewed students, not
considered to measure up well to national standards. A prestigious
university in Delhi would also be an important springboard to go
abroad and study in the US or the UK. The dream of going to a big
city and engage in study differed between boys and girls. The girls
were keener to discuss life outside the university and emphasized
‘student life’ as an important motivator. The boys, on the other hand,
focused on education, and did not mention life outside the university
as an enticement to move. The girls thought of the ‘freedom’ of living
in a big city, e.g. by going out by oneself and using the transporta-
tion system. The meaning of urban travel has been explored, by Ole
Jensen (2009), amongst others. Jensen finds that transportation has
to be understood as something more than simply getting from point
A to point B. It is about knowledge mastery, as well as a part of the
daily ‘identity construction of the mobile urbanities’ (p.152), to which
I would also like to add a ‘production of gendered experiences’. The
girls interviewed frequently expressed a longing for independence.

Sara: What kind of opportunities do you have there?

Sankar: Like it’s more outgoing, and. . . You learn to travel by
yourself go places and do stuff by yourself. It’s not like
that. . . I don’t really get to go out by myself, someone
always come with me. It is a conservative place. If I grew
up somewhere else I would be more independent.
Sara: Is that something you wish for?
Sankar Yes, at times I think it would have been better; it is easier
to be independent.
 128  Sara Lång

The girl from the above quote was Sankar, 18 years old and
enrolled in ICSE, who has a mother that is a home maker and a father
with five years of higher education. She goes on to explain how there
is a spatial restriction where she and her girlfriends are not permitted
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to move around freely by themselves in Thiruvananthapuram, and

especially in the evenings. Several of the girls expressed that they –
similar to the boys – would like to meet up with friends in the eve-
ning instead of staying in the house. Their parents were afraid that
people would ‘start talking’ if they moved around by themselves or
in the company of the wrong person. The longing for independence
in a big city was related to their experiences of restriction in their
everyday life in Thiruvananthapuram. Cities like Delhi then become
an alternative, something different and a way of life associated with
a big city.

The diverse middle-class: overcoming

time/space restrictions
This section is devoted to space and time divisions in young people’s
everyday lives that co-produce young people’s identity as well as
their career paths. Students in the 12th standard go to school during
the day and many have signed up for extra tuitions before and after
official school classes. When they get home at night it is only to get
started on tomorrow’s homework. It is not unusual that boys and
girls sleep only five or six hours per night. There is a reason as the
final year is said to ‘make or break you’ (Sancho 2012).
There are mainly two professions that ‘count’ within an upwardly
striving middle class in Kerala, and those are medicine and engineer-
ing. There were more girls than boys pursuing medicine, drawing
on a ‘discourse of care’, while more boys were to be found within
engineering. To be left with only these two career alternatives was
a common perception in the interviews. Here Remya, 17 years old
with a mother who works as a clerk and father who is a government
employee, both with five years of education:

Remya: Honestly, I mean I wasn’t interested in medicine, so . . .

naturally, as opposite to medicine, the only other field
here is engineer.

Only a few students were encouraged by their parents to do ‘what-

ever they want’ and these students came from families rich in educa-
tional and social assets that felt that they could trust their children
 Gendered mobilities  129

to ‘do the right thing’, rather than openly pushing them in a certain
direction. These families had social networks in Kerala and India,
as well as abroad, that played an important role in sharing expe-
riences and information about alternative educational routes. One
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boy, Abraham, was looking to pursue a university degree in fashion

in Delhi. Although, his parents were surprised of his choice, the sym-
bolic value of the prestigious school was an accepted compensation
for the unusual career path. The parents were well educated, both
with master degrees. He dreamt about going to the US to work with
ready-to-wear fashion, but had some worries that the training he
would get in India would not be valued in either the US or Europe.
Another student, Ashok, whose parents are head of research institu-
tions in India, and had spent a few years in the US.

Ashok: [. . .] if you are a creative person, or you really persistent

about your originality, I think the place to go is the US
or UK.

Going abroad to study is a way to distinguish yourself from oth-

ers by being original and different (Heilbron 2001; Fourcade 2006).
A key driver of international student mobility in this study, as else-
where, was the desire to obtain a qualification that would make them
stand out from other graduates within the same field (Waters 2006;
Xiang and Shen 2009).
Not everyone had the support of their parents in pursuing a
non-traditional stream of education. For example, there was one
girl who was interested in psychology, another in English literature
and a third girl in journalism. These students had all been advised
against pursuing their interest as a formal career. They were instead
encouraged to have their interest as a hobby, something they very
well could do, but only after attaining a degree within a more ‘secure’
stream of education. The problem is, however, that due to the lim-
ited amount of time, these students had no chance to practice their
interests. The teachers and parents did not have to actively express
negative feelings towards the children’s hobbies; rather – due to the
strict time divisions – it would take its natural course and ultimately
become a forgotten dream.

Sara: So you mean to be an engineer?

Elsi: Well, actually, I like to pursue literature, but then, just,
you know, my parents feel, that, for us, if you have an
engineering course it’s kind like a.. you can get a job, so,
 130  Sara Lång

I can go for that research after my engineering course.

So, I definitively want to go for literature, that my, that’s
what I want to do, but then. . . this is just for a, you
know, safe.
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Elsi’s passion for English literature was presently overshadowed

by homework and tuitions and at the time of the interview she could
not find enough time to read. She is enrolled in state syllabus2, with
a mother working as a receptionist and father working with technical
machine work. The dream was important to Elsi, and she emphasized
that engineering was something temporary, an obstacle she has to
overcome before she could follow her heart.
While engineering and medicine are opening some doors, they are
closing others. This also highlights the added value of using quali-
tative methods since it complicates career choices that would have
remained invisible in a quantitative study. Again, youths’ aspirations
are altered in relation to what is valued, not only by themselves or the
family, but also by what is commonly agreed upon as an educational
capital. There is a difference between the students who understand
what is valued ‘over there’, in the US or UK e.g. and those who plan
to go abroad, but are seeking recognition from people in their home
surroundings. The students who were actually planning to study psy-
chology, fashion or literature abroad carried a cultural and educa-
tional capital where the two streams of education – e­ ngineering and
medicine – were not considered the obvious norm. Gender, there-
fore, always has to be understood in relation to the students’ social
­position. The ‘middle class’ is, however, too broad a definition and the
interviews reflect students different compositions of economic, social
and cultural capital.

Educational investment: a life course

perspective
The issue of marriage has different meanings in the girls’ and the
boys’ stories. In Kerala it is customary for the girl to be a few years
younger than the man at the time of marriage. In the interviews
girls expressed a concern to attain a final degree before their wed-
ding occurred, and thereby had to negotiate between a dream of
doing a PhD and their parents and grandparents wishes of mar-
riage for them at the age of 22 or 23. Shaftna, 17 year old and
enrolled in the state syllabus with a father working in the Gulf
 Gendered mobilities  131

with three years of education and a mother who works as a nurse,

expressed concern if she would have time for a PhD before getting
married.
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Shafta: Yeah, usually, if there is a course and it last a long time,

then you would be usually blocked away from it, because
it’s too long and you get too old and, they say you have to
get married and get settled down before that, so they ask
you to choose a shorter course.

StellaRaj, also enrolled in the state syllabus, had thoughts on how

marriage, and all that comes with being a girl, affects dreams and
expectations. She does, however, refer to girls as ‘they’ and thereby
do not include herself as being part of the same pattern.

StellaRaj: Yeah, that is, because. . . Girls they expect to finally get
married to someone and settle down and take care of
children, that’s what they are brought up, but boys, they
think they can do anything. It is not the way they are
brought up, even, even, in other things, boys are almost
always allowed to do whatever they want, but girls they
say ´”no, it’s not safe” or “you shouldn’t do that” or you’re
a girl, you shouldn’t do that. So, I think it has affected
their way of thinking too, so they don’t dream as high as
the boys.

Another aspect of marriage is to find an equal partner. The edu-

cational level between husband and wife should be rather simi-
lar, and enable fruitful discussions between the two. Therefore
an investment in education is not only a matter of career, but it
also sets a certain standard for a potential future wife or husband.
Although many planned to go abroad for study or work, almost
all students wanted a partner from Kerala or India. About half of
the students were positive to arranged marriages, usually following
family tradition.
Educational level is a type of proof of you being knowledgeable,
but does it mean different things depending on if you are a man or
a woman? In the interview it is possible to see that it could be even
more important for a girl to be educated than for a boy, in relation to
gaining respect. Education could therefore serve in a compensatory
role for structural gender differences, where women have to prove
 132  Sara Lång

themselves to be better than their gender. Anitha, a 17 year old in

state syllabus, with a mother with five years of education and a father
who went to upper-secondary school, says:
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Anitha: So she [her mother] wants me and my brother to reach

a high position like her. Because she thinks that educa-
tion, if you’re educated people give you respect, and
especially for women and all that, if you need respect
you should be educated, so she wants both of us to be
educated.

The interviews also raised issues of masculinity, and the role of

the ‘man’ in the family. In the interviews the boys expressed con-
cern, in a way that was not similarly present in the girls’ stories,
about taking responsibility for their parents. The shared ideal was
that they should do well in school, go to a prestigious university
and ‘make them proud’ and also provide for them economically
and care for them. This is a responsibility not only towards the
parents, but also towards the country. Gratitude – or put differ-
ently, guilt – is causing distress amongst the interviewees when
they are planning to go abroad. The boys in particular express their
primary sense of responsibility towards their parents, and secondly
towards India. Young people are formally and informally educated
to develop transnational horizons, while at the same time closely
tied to both family and national responsibilities. The contested
process of nation-building and international education is also evi-
denced in other studies on youth mobilities (Holloway et al., 2012;
Madge et al., 2009)

Conclusion: transnational horizons and

local meaning-making
The perceived potential mobility, and values attached to mobility,
have to be understood in relation to the commonly agreed upon
value of mobility as a symbolic capital in the regional context. The
experienced gender differences of potential mobility may, in this
case, therefore be problematic and a matter of injustice.
In a few cases girls, e.g. were not allowed to go and study at a
university located far away from their parents’ home, which excluded
them from going to the most prestigious schools and attain the most
 Gendered mobilities  133

recognized educational capital. In the chapter this phenomena was

described as a double punishment, where girls first are protected
from a sexist structure, and then restricted by that same structure in
their aspirations and dreams of the future.
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Furthermore, it is clear that there is a gender divide when it comes

to the students’ meaning-making of their potential mobility. The girls
related student life in the city to feelings of independence, and mobil-
ity itself – e.g. within city transportation system – was an important
part of that freedom. Growing up, being ‘protected’ both from poten-
tial dangers and from hurting the family reputation lead to the geo-
graphic distance between home and the offer of anonymity in a big
city, to become tempting.
The life course perspective also uncovered different expectations
of boys and girls, where several girls mentioned marriage as an end-
point of educational and career development. The boys, on the other
hand, had conflicting thoughts on their responsibilities of caring for
the family and the nation, while at the same time fulfilling [per-
ceived] individual goals of going abroad.
The interviews also show that not only the geographical reach is
depending on the family’s social position in the community, but also
on social networks reaching beyond Thiruvananthapuram. Thinking
ahead, there are several research questions on gender and mobility
that needs further attention. For example, how do potential mobility
of boys and girls differ amongst students from more diverse social
backgrounds? Future research should continue to explore mobility
patterns, and combining qualitative and quantitative methods to
map and predict migration patterns, and equally important, study
individual trajectories and strategies to maintain and accumulate
social assets across space.

Notes
1 Malayalee, or Malayalis, is a member of a Malayalam-speaking people
chiefly inhabiting the Indian state of Kerala. According to the Indian
census of 2011, there were about 33 million Malayalis in Kerala, making
up to 96.7 per cent of the total population of that state.
2 The Secondary School Certificate (SSC), or state syllabus, depends on
the state where the school is located. Normally the state syllabuses
are considered to be easier than the other syllabuses in India such as
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of
Secondary Education (ICSE).
 134  Sara Lång

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 10
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Reducing vulnerabilities of
‘women in migration’
Cross-border migration experience within
South Asia
Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

Introduction
Vulnerabilities faced by migrants, especially women, within the
South Asian region are less documented. This chapter seeks to enrich
knowledge gained from a quasi-experimental study and project data
from the Enhancing Mobile Populations Access to HIV and AIDS Ser-
vices and Support (EMPHASIS) project.1 This pilot action research
project was for a period of five years starting in August 2009. The
project worked with migrants in specific locations (Table 10.1),
across the mobility continuum over two mobility routes.
External evaluators carried out a final quantitative evaluation of
the project based on a quasi-experimental design. This chapter is
based on the findings of this study, and new analysis carried out with
a focus on woman migrants and women who stayed behind. This
chapter also uses project data (especially for the section on violence)
apart from drawing on already published data emanating from the
project.

The context
The India–Nepal context
Migration across the Indo–Nepal border, as with most regions in
South Asia, has a long history, due to cultural and geographical
affinities. An open border since 1950, further facilitated this process.2
The number of people migrating across the border has been
extremely difficult to estimate. Estimates put the number of long-term-
and short-term migrants from Nepal to India between 1.5 million
 138  Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

Table 10.1 Locations across two mobility routes

India–Nepal route
Source locations Transit locations Destination locations
Accham and Gaddachauki–Banbasa Selected locations
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Kanchanpur and Bhairwa–Gaurifanta in Delhi-NCR and

districts border areas Mumbai/Thane
India–Bangladesh India route
Source locations Transit locations Destination locations
Jessore and Satkhira South 24 Parganas border Selected locations in South
districts 24 Parganas, Kolkata,
Delhi, and Mumbai/
Thane

and 7 million (National Centre of Competence in Research [NCCR]

2011, Bhattarai 2007). In Nepal, the Far-West region of the country
is one of the least developed regions and witnesses huge migration
to India. In the context of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV),
the Far-West region of Nepal has seen a disproportionate rise in HIV
prevalence, having a close linkage with migration to India. In India,
migrants from Nepal are generally welcomed, even in places like
Mumbai, where migrants (even from other states of India) face pres-
sures. Nepalese migrants generally work as nightwatchmen, guards
and in restaurants (EMPHASIS 2014).

The India–Bangladesh context

Migration across the closed border is usually undocumented and
invisible, though it is one of the world’s busiest corridors (World Bank
2011). Migration between Bangladesh and India has a long history,
and continues in the context of close socio-cultural ties and a porous
border. Continuing migration coupled with a strong anti-migrant
political discourse has meant that these migrants remain invisible
in India.

Vulnerabilities
Quantitative data (Wagle et al., 2011) from the baseline study indi-
cated that only 10 per cent of respondents in India and 27 per cent
of the respondents in Nepal faced problems while in India. Short-
age of finances (51%) was the most common problem mentioned
by respondents in India. However, 46 per cent of circular migrants
and returnees and 39 per cent of migrants in India reported lone-
liness – most of them males. Further, 31 per cent of returnees
 Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’  139

in Nepal and 54 per cent of migrants in India expressed fear of

imprisonment. A very different picture emerges from the qualitative
data, with most Nepalese migrants in India saying that they faced
discrimination.
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In the quantitative findings very few respondents talked about vio-

lence. In the qualitative findings (Sultana et al., 2011), Bangladeshi
migrants reported violence at various contexts, such as harassment by
the border security force (BSF) during their return journey. Getting
caught by the BSF usually resulted in being sent to jail and having
to pay a fine of around 200–3,000 taka. Many Mumbai respondents
reported getting caught by police and facing harassment. Captured
undocumented migrants at destination generally face imprison-
ment and a large amount of money is required for their bail. Female
migrants reported violence across the route. A 25-year-old woman
returnee in Bangladesh shares how she felt stigmatized both in des-
tination and in source:

In Mumbai people discriminated against me. They looked at me as if I was

a thief. Sometimes I felt that they were whispering about me. After com-
ing back to Bangladesh I felt that people here didn’t like me, they hated
me. They said that ‘she came from Mumbai’; they whispered that I am a
sex worker. I feel ashamed.

Findings from the qualitative study also portray some of the help-
lessness felt by the female spouse of a migrant at source, ‘My hus-
band likes to have new women frequently as sex partner. Being a
woman and housewife I have nothing to do to stop him’.

Data and methods

End-line survey
The end-line survey study (Ravesloot and Banwart 2014) col-
lected information from Nepalese mobile population (NMP)3 and
Bangla-speaking population (BSP)4 in the destination cities of Delhi
and Mumbai, and source locations in Nepal and Bangladesh. The
external evaluators followed a robust and rigorous approach, allow-
ing key indicators to be measured for comparisons between end-line
impact populations and purposefully selected end-line control popu-
lations. The study was carried out in India, Nepal and Bangladesh
and the sampling was broken into eight strata; impact and control
population in Nepal and Bangladesh, impact and control among BSP
and NMP in India.
 140  Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

Project monitoring data on violence

The EMPHASIS project set-up is a robust monitoring system, including a
registration process for all migrants in the intervention areas. The moni-
toring system was appreciated by the external evaluators. The project
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documented all cases of violence that were encountered. Data was col-
lected from all areas through a printed format filled by field workers.
Each case was followed up (unless the violence survivor moved out).

Baseline study
A baseline study was carried out in 2010–2011 for the two routes
India–Nepal and India–Bangladesh and the findings are used in this
chapter.

Respondent characteristics
Demographics
The end-line survey resulted in similar proportions of female respon-
dents across strata within Nepal and within Bangladesh. The major-
ity of respondents in both source countries were females; however, in
Bangladesh only marginally so (Table 10.2). In the destination, the
proportions of females were similar for the BSP among the control
and impact strata. Among the NMP, however, the females among the
impact strata were double that of the control ones.
The proportion of respondents currently married in the source
countries closely matches among the control and impact strata. In the
destination country, the proportion of married in the impact strata
is marginally higher than the control ones (Table 10.3). Importantly,
the proportion of single respondents and married respondents across
the end-line impact and control stratum are closely aligned and
homogeneous, lending further evidence that the control locations

Table 10.2 Percentage of female and total number of respondents

Percentage of female Total number of

respondents respondents (N)
EL – CTRL EL – IP EL (CTRL) EL (IP)
Source country
Nepal 79.4 77.7 448 466
Bangladesh 57.7 51.7 443 444
Destination country
India (NMP) 21.1 50.1 417 473
India (BSP) 41.1 37.1 426 411
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Table 10.3 Percentage currently married

Married respondents Number of observations

EL
EL – CTRL EL – IP Combined EL (IP) CTRL Combined
Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
Source country
Nepal 72 92.8 88.2 78.1 92.7 89.7 75 92.8 88.9 466 448 914
Bangladesh 67.3 95.2 81.9 58 97.7 81.7 62.9 96.5 81.3 444 443 887
Destination country
India (NMP) 68.8 83.3 76 82.3 93 84.6 77.4 86.4 80.5 473 417 890
India (BSP) 70.5 84.2 75.6 78.1 84.6 80.8 74.1 84.4 78.1 411 426 837
 142  Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

have similar sociodemographic characteristics as the impact popula-

tion strata. Overall across all populations, more female respondents
were married than were males.
Unsurprisingly, respondents in the destination country who are
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married are largely not living with their spouses (Table 10.4).
When comparing the levels of education between end-line impact
and control populations, there is small, and barely statistically sig-
nificant, difference in the levels of education between the control
locations and the impact population’s locations. As with marital sta-
tus, education status of respondents is relatively equal between the
EMPHASIS impact populations and their associated control popu-
lations (Table 10.5). This, coupled with the marriage information,

Table 10.4 Percentage of married respondents not living with spouse

Stratum Number of observations

EL – CTRL EL – IP EL (IP) EL (CTRL)
Source country
Nepal 45.5 61.6 466 448
Bangladesh 22.2 12.0 444 443
Destination country
India (NMP) 83.7 76.0 473 417
India (BSP) 79.1 74.6 411 426

Table 10.5 Education: destination and source countries

Stratum Number of observations

EL – CTRL EL – IP EL (IP) EL (CTRL)
NMP
Nepal
No education 16.5 16.5 448 466
Middle school or less 42.6 42.7 448 466
India (NMP)
No education 18.0 19.0 443 444
Middle school or less 64.5 64.3 443 444
BSP
Bangladesh
No education 15.8 10.2*** 417 413
Middle school or less 69.8 69.3 417 413
India (BSP)
No education 23.0 25.3 426 411
Middle school or less 54.2 66.9*** 426 411
Statistically different at the 10 per cent (*), 5 per cent (**) or 1 per cent (***)
levels (unmatched t-test).
 Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’  143

lends further quantitative evidence towards the effective purposeful

selection of control respondent locations. As the sociodemographic
characteristics between the control and impact strata were similar,
combined values are also taken into account.
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Working conditions, rights and entitlements

of migrant workers
As international migration into India from Nepal and Bangladesh is
undocumented, and as many feel that it is not in the best interest
to reveal their identities, data as well as interest about their vulner-
abilities and entitlements is missing. The EMPHASIS project, though
focused on reducing vulnerabilities to HIV, gradually expanded the
range of vulnerabilities to learn about and to pilot strategies for
addressing them (EMPHASIS 2014).
In the EMPHASIS baseline study (Wagle et al., 2011), the main
occupations of Nepalese included restaurant workers, house servants,
bar workers, watchmen, and factory workers. Negligible proportions
had reported that they were employed by government or were daily
wage earners. Less than 10 per cent were employed by resident/
market committee (6%), (especially males) or self-employed (8%),
(especially females). Among Bangladeshis in India, (Sultana et al.,
2011), 40 per cent of the males worked as casual labourers, fol-
lowed by vending and petty trading. However, about a quarter of the
females worked as housemaids.

Results from the end-line quantitative study

The study finds that a majority of the Nepalese migrants in India is
working as watchman (51% male and 3% female) while some are
working in factories (15% male and 3% female), as unskilled casual
labour (6% male and 4% female) and in restaurants (3% male).
A higher proportion of females are working as housemaids/domestic
servants (7%) as compared to male migrants (4%). Nepalese migrant
females at destination are mostly taken up cutting and tailoring as an
employment (48%), followed by 31% who are housewives.
On the other hand majority of the male migrants from the
Bangla-speaking community are factory workers (25%), followed by
hawkers/vendors/or in petty trade (22%), unskilled labour (18%),
and rag pickers (11%). Most of the females among the Bangla-speaking
population are housewives (57%) while almost 13 per cent are work-
ing as housemaids/domestic servants. Further, 16 per cent of the
females mentioned that they are currently unemployed while 6 per
 144  Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

cent of the females are involved in rag picking work and 5 per cent
work as unskilled labour.

Reducing vulnerabilities linked to working conditions

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EMPHASIS end-line results have shown a positive and significant

impact among the impact population when comparing to the end-
line control population (Table 10.6).
The results suggest that the EMPHASIS project is having a positive
and significant effect on workers’ entitlements in India. The figures
show a clear difference between the end-line impact population and
control populations when looking at the access of employer accident
compensation. This effect is significant and large. In terms of indicators
on receiving health care benefits and overtime pay there is a positive
effect of EMPHASIS on Bangla-speaking impact population compared
to the control group; however, the effect is not large in magnitude or
statistically significant. This is because of the huge difficulties faced
by the BSP in terms of continuously being under the radar and live
fearfully. The BSP in India, however, indicate a significant positive

Table 10.6 Entitlements at place of work: comparison between impact and

control strata

Regression treatment
Point estimates effect (ATT)
EL – IP (2014) EL – CTRL (2014) IP – CTRL Treatment
Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
Percentage of migrants currently in India who are provided
accident compensation from their employer
NMP 8.7 9.7 5.0 1.2 2.4 0.0 7.9***
BSP 10.0 16.5 0.6 1.2 1.9 0.0 9.1***
Percentage of migrants currently in India who are provided health
care benefits from their employer
NMP 5.9 6.4 4.0 0.7 1.4 0.0 5.5***
BSP 1.2 2.1 0.0 0.9 1.5 0.0 1.0
Percentage of migrants currently in India who receive same type of
overtime pay as their Indian counterparts
NMP 50.1 57.6 22.0 23.7 41.8 5.7 10.0***
BSP 27.5 39.3 10.7 21.8 31.0 6.3 4.9

Statistically significant at the 10 per cent (*), 5(**) per cent or 1 per cent (***)
levels.
NMP = Nepalese mobile population
BSP = Bangla-speaking population
 Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’  145

impact as far as accident compensation is concerned (Table 10.7).

This was because this was one of the key focus of engagement with
employers and was done without reference to identity as cross-border
migrant. In contrast, the effect for the Nepalese impact population is
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both large in magnitude and statistically significant when comparing

the end-line control population. However, as the overall figures sug-
gest, the proportion of migrants (whether impact or control) getting
a favourable working condition is extremely low.
The project has been successful in making a difference with regards
to working conditions at the destination in general for both NMP

Table 10.7 Working conditions at destination: comparison by gender

Regression
Treatment Number of
Point estimates Effect (ATT) observations
CTRL – EL
Destination country EL – CTRL EL – IP Treatment EL (CTRL) EL (IP)
Percentage of migrants currently in India who are provided
accident compensation from their employer
India (NMP) 1.2 8.7 7.9*** 417 473
Female respondent 0 5 0.2 209 100
Male respondent 2.4 9.7 8.4*** 208 373
India (BSP) 1.2 10 9.1*** 426 411
Female respondent 0 0.6 0.7 158 169
Male respondent 1.9 16.5 13.5*** 268 242
Percentage of migrants currently in India who are provided health
care benefits from their employer
India (NMP) 0.7 5.9 5.5*** 417 473
Female respondent 0 4 0.3 209 100
Male respondent 1.4 6.4 5.8*** 208 373
India (BSP) 0.9 1.2 1 426 411
Female respondent 0 0 0.7 158 169
Male respondent 1.5 2.1 1.6 268 242
Percentage of migrants currently in India who receive same type of
overtime pay as their Indian counterparts
India (NSB) 23.7 50.1 10.0*** 417 473
Female respondent 5.7 22 1.3 209 100
Male respondent 41.8 57.6 8.7** 208 373
India (BSP) 21.8 27.5 4.9 426 411
Female respondent 6.3 10.7 0.4 158 169
Male respondent 31 39.3 7.9 268 242
Statistically significant at the 10 per cent (*), 5 per cent (**) or 1 per cent (***)
levels.  
 146  Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

and BSP populations and figures indicate positive changes across all
strata and gender categories. The results indicate that in general, all
migrant categories, whether BSP or NMP have shown positive and
statistically significant changes (except BSP in the last two indica-
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tors). However, among all the categories of migrants (BSP or NMP)

it is only the males that show significant and positive changes. While
at the destination areas, the focus of the intervention was on the
male migrants and in reducing their vulnerabilities, the nature of
work also determined the levels of change achieved. While interven-
tion with employers and stakeholders was able to bring about sig-
nificantly positive changes in employment categories such as factory
workers and watchmen (employing two-thirds of the NMP males),
the same level of change was not achieved in employment categories
such as ‘service provider’ (employing about half of the NMP females)
as they were mostly individual enterprises. Among the BSP males
though a larger proportion worked in factories, it is in the services
(barber, tailor, etc.) category that they get the most benefits, whereas
BSP females mostly worked as domestic workers or unskilled casual
labourers. This indicates the challenge for implementers and poli-
cymakers in reducing vulnerabilities of the cross-border migrants
with regards to working conditions, especially for females. As the
EMPHASIS project started learning about and initiating interventions
to reduce vulnerabilities of cross-border migrants at the workplace,
much later in the project, the results indicate the strategies adopted
are robust (brings about positive changes) but bringing about the
same level of changes for women may take longer to achieve.
The challenge of cross-border migrant women workers working
at the destination is reflected through the story of a woman from
Kapashera, Delhi. She says

When I first came here, I worked for a paint making company. They paid
me Rs1800 per month, while the Indians were getting Rs2600. I worked
for about one and a half years quietly. One day the owner made sexual
advances towards me, and tried to molest me. I did not go back to work.
Our family condition was not good, so I next went to work in another fac-
tory where they make bulb holders (light bulbs), here again I was unfairly
paid because I am Nepali and so I left. After some time I took up another
job, the factory made vehicle parts, but the staff weren’t women friendly
and I continuously faced harassment. I had to work more hours than the
men. I left that job as well.

Currently she does not work, but with the support of EMPHASIS
has become an educator for other women in the locality. She assists
other women workers who face violence in their lives.
 Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’  147

Thus in some areas, workers are getting aware about their rights.
In many individual cases factory workers and domestic workers have
been successful to make their claims granted by their employers but
still there are a lot to do in terms of advocacy at different levels in
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order to make a larger impact for the benefits of migrant workers

community, especially for females. There is a need for protection of
worker’s rights and at a minimum ensuring equal wages, insurance,
health and safety coverage, humane working hours, safe and healthy
working conditions, savings facilities, safe remittance services, and
protection against violence.

Creating an enabling environment

The end-line study also looked at whether the project has made an
impact in creating an enabling environment for migrants and their
spouses at the source. The end-line results indicate a positive change
among all categories compared with the control strata (Table 10.8).
The results also indicate that the project has been successful in
making a positive difference, more for females at source areas. As
empowerment of women was a key strategy in the project women
groups effectively rallied around and supported each other to create
an enabling environment at the source and destination (EMPHASIS
2014). Though these women groups enabled positive changes even
with regards to working conditions at the destination, significant
change had not yet materialized. However, in the source areas the
levels of change for creating an enabling environment, in compari-
son, were achieved to a much greater degree.

Table 10.8 Creating an enabling environment: source

Regression
Treatment Number of
Stratum Effect (ATT) observations
CTRL – EL
EL – CTRL EL – IP Treatment EL (CTRL) EL (IP)
Source country
Nepal 3.1 8.4 3.1 448 466
Female respondent 2.9 8.9 3.7 348 370
Male respondent 4 6.3 0.5 100 96
Bangladesh 5.2 8.6 5.6*** 443 444
Female respondent 3.9 10.9 8.5*** 229 256
Male respondent 6.5 5.3 1.4 214 188
Statistically significant at the 10 per cent (*), 5 per cent (**) or 1 per cent (***)
levels.
 148  Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

The results indicate the success of the project strategy in reaching

migrants across the mobility continuum. It also validates the success
of adopting a differential strategy (EMPHASIS 2014) that the project
adopted with regards to the Indo–Bangladesh route due to the sen-
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sitivities involved.

Violence faced by cross-border migrants

EMPHASIS, while engaging with Nepalese and Bangladeshi migrants
(at the source, transit and destination) as a part of the programme
activities, was faced with, repeated reporting of instances of violence
faced by cross-border migrants. The project took the initiative to
record the details of such cases to understand the prevalent patterns
and vulnerabilities, with the aim to be able to suggest appropriate
counter measures for safe mobility. The cases documented were from
the violence survivor herself/himself and was recorded through a
‘case recording format’. Cases were documented from January 2013
to April 2014 in the locations that EMPHASIS worked. All the cases
during this period were captured. Even though, trained male and
female counsellors ensured confidentiality and an enabling atmo-
sphere for the violence survivors to talk, there may have been those
who never mentioned about their experience with violence and thus
were not captured in the formats (Table 10.9).
Cases of 228 individuals were documented across two migration
routes. Among them 76 per cent were documented on the Indo–Nepal
route and the rest (24%) from the Indo–Bangladesh route. Within
the Indo–Nepal route, 73 per cent were males and 27 per cent were

Table 10.9 Number of individuals whose experiences were documented

Indo– Bangla- Indo–

India– Nepal Nepal India– desh Bangla Total
NMP source route BSP source route cases
Male 43 84 127 0 9 9 136
Source 6 2 8 0 1 1 9
Transit 29 70 99 0 3 3 102
Destination 8 12 20 0 5 5 25
Female 40 7 47 3 42 45 92
Source 2 0 2 0 6 6 8
Transit 22 6 28 0 14 14 42
Destination 13 1 14 3 22 25 39
Total 83 91 174 3 51 54 228
(76.3%) (23.7%) (100%)
 Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’  149

females. In the Indo–Bangladesh route, however, a larger proportion

(83%) constituted of the females and was documented mostly in the
source country. Along the Indo–Bangladesh route most of the cases
happened at the transit and destination, but recorded at source when
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they are back home.

Indo–Nepal Route
Though it is generally believed that migrants from Nepal are less
vulnerable due to an open border, they do face violence during their
journeys and at borders. Incidence of theft, harassment for money,
threats of violence, and poisoning during the journey were reported
as the most common ones on the Indo–Nepal route (Graphic 1).
Among the incidents reported, about a quarter (24%) were robbed
(theft) and was followed closely by those reporting harassment for
money (19%). Thefts were mostly during travel during the jour-
ney back to Nepal. Among those who faced harassment for money,
named transport workers (rickshaw pullers and horse carriage driv-
ers, ‘tanga wallahs’) and stakeholders (whose support is taken for
exchanging Indian rupees in lieu of Nepalese rupees, such as hote-
liers, and exchange agents) as the main perpetrators. Threats (12%)
were faced by the migrants mostly at the border and at the desti-
nation, aimed at demoralizing them and not to speak out against
injustice. Poisoning was mentioned in 10 per cent of the cases and
occurred during the journey back to Nepal with the intention of
robbing money. These happened usually on the bus, through food
offered by fellow passengers.
The story of a Nepalese male exemplifies the issue on the border.

He was on his way to his hometown, when a co-passenger befriended, poi-

soned and robbed him. He was carrying over Rs. 2 Lakhs in cash on himself –
his own hard earned annual savings, as well as money he was carrying on
behalf of his friends and relatives back to their respective families in Nepal.
All the money and his possessions, with the exception of Rs. 2600 and a
mobile phone, which was kept in an inner pocket, were robbed. The last
he remembers is accepting water from another Nepalese travelling in the
same bus, after which he fell unconscious, only to wake up in a hospital in
Tanakpur, Uttarakhand. He was forced to return to Delhi without visiting his
family in Nepal, as he did not want to go home empty-handed.

Bribes (6%) were demanded along with verbal harassment mostly

on the border and the perpetrators were border customs or security
officials. The baseline study also found that migrants face harassment
 150  Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

in carrying back money from India to Nepal at the border, as there

are strong regulations (it is illegal to bring denominations of more
than 100 Indian rupees into Nepal), having to show receipts for all
their goods, which is not possible in many cases, and having to bribe
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border officials for smooth passage. As one Nepali male in India

explains:

We have to pay money for the goods we take with us to Nepal. Since we do
not have any bank accounts we carry a large amount of money we earned in
the form of 500 and 1,000 Indian rupee notes. We feel sad and unhappy to
hand over our hard-earned money in the form of bribes, saved under duress
and sacrifice to ensure security of our families back home.

Suspected trafficking cases (5%) were also documented (all on

the border). In these cases, stakeholders such as, hoteliers, trans-
porters, or police detected women and children moving in suspicious
circumstances and intercepted them. Further there were cases where
project staff found women or children at the border without a clear
idea of the destination or the means to go there. In all the cases, they
were referred and handed over to non-governmental organizations
(on the Nepal side of the border), who had adequate support services
for people requiring emergency support.
Transporters were stated as the perpetrators in almost one-third of
the cases (31%) of violence. These incidents took place during transit
across the long route from the source village to the destination local-
ity. Not all these violence cases were at the border alone; Mathura,
on the route from Nepal to Mumbai was stated by a number of peo-
ple as a location where it happens. People from the local community
in both source areas and destination areas were also identified as
the perpetrators in 19 per cent of the cases. In the source areas, it
was essentially with regard to harassment of the wife/family of the
male migrant, while at the destination it related to both males and
women. Poisoning and theft on the journey happened through fellow
passengers and fellow NMP and to certain extent through transport-
ers (Figure 10.1).
Almost three-fourth of the incidences of violence occurring
along the Indo–Nepal mobility route happened at the transit loca-
tions (Indo–Nepal border) and in places such as Mathura. Analysing
incidents by location shows that instances of monetary harassment
is most common at transit locations (38%). Theft occurs mostly at
source (27%) followed by at transit locations (17%), a higher pro-
portion of cases of verbal harassment are found at the destination.
 Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’  151

Figure 10.1 Types of violence and perpetrators at Indo–Nepal route

sexual harassment 2.1

sgma 2.1
domesc violence 3.8
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physical abuse 4.7

violence 4.7
suspected trafficking 5.1
bribe 5.6
verbal haraament 6
poisoning 10.3
threats 12
monetary harassment 19.2
the 24.4

hoteliers
landlord
custom officials
money exchange agents
broker
employers
family members
local police
fellow NMP
fellow passengers
people from local community
transport workers

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Likewise, cases of suspected trafficking are found mostly at source

(14%) and transit (14%), incidence of poisoning are more fre-
quented at transit (9%) as well as destination (8%). Across the cases
recorded for sexual harassment almost all cases (11%) occurred at
the destination and related to females. Incidents of theft, threats,
poisoning, and demand for bribe were more common on the Nepal
side of the Indo–Nepal border; while cases of harassment for money,
verbal harassment/abuse, suspected trafficking, physical abuse, and
sexual violence were higher on the Indian side.
 152  Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

Along the Indo–Nepal route, males were more vulnerable to mul-

tiple types of violence in one incident. While females constituted
37 per cent of the migrants on the Indo–Nepal route, their propor-
tion in facing multiple types of violence in one incident was only 19
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per cent. Males were clearly more vulnerable carrying money while
coming back home to Nepal, while females were more vulnerable to
sexual and verbal abuse.

Indo–Bangladesh Route
Unlike the Indo–Nepal border, the Indo–Bangladesh border is a
closed one and Bangladeshi citizens need passports and visas to enter
India, however, with very little chance of coming to India for work
through formal channels, many enter without documents. As the pro-
cess of mobility is undocumented, it is beset with fear and potential
for violence. The incidents of violence on the Indo–Bangladesh route
were reported mostly in Bangladesh by returnee male and female
migrants.
Incidents of sexual harassment of female migrants on the
Indo–Bangladesh was highest at (37%), followed by physical
abuse (22%). Both were reported by the female migrants. Among
the instances of sexual harassment more than half (58%) were at
the destination in India and one-third (32%) at the border transit. The
main perpetrators of sexual harassment involve landlords and bro-
kers. Besides this, physical abuse was another common form of vio-
lence at both transit and destination. As many of the females work as
house maids, the perpetrators were their employers/landlords. One
female migrant recounted her story to a field staff:

Everything was fine, until the employer’s son came back from university.
During his stay the son kept asking her for sex. She refused him several times.
One day when all family members were out the son repeatedly raped her.
Afterwards he threatened her about keeping her mouth shut. Another day the
son and some of his friends offered her money for sex. When she refused, they
again threatened her and forced themselves on her. She was gang raped. She
passed out. When she came to, there was nobody in the house. She gathered
up her things and left with whatever money she had.

Though the number of cases recorded on the Indo–Bangladesh

border was relatively lower, the majority of the migrants reported
more than one form of violence in the same incident. There were a
small proportion of cases (10%), which reflected the verbal abuse
 Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’  153

Figure 10.2 Types of violence and perpetrators on the Indo–Bangladesh route

the
bribe
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monetary harassment
violence
sgma
domesc violence
threats
verbal harassment
physical abuse
sexual harassment

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Money Exchange Agents

employers
people from local area
family members
fellow passengers
local police
security agencies
landlord
broker

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

faced at the source. There is also a common belief that females who
migrate to India engage voluntarily in commercial sex work once
there. As the baseline study found, she may, therefore, face stigma
and exclusion on their return, as a female returnee explains: ‘After
coming back to Bangladesh I felt that people here don’t like me, they
hate me. They said that I came from Mumbai; they whispered that
I am a sex worker. I lived in Mumbai, I should feel ashamed’. Another
states that she faces discrimination from health workers at source,
presumably because they judge her based on what they think she did
in India (Figure 10.2).
 154  Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

There were major differences in the type of violence encountered

by females and males on the Indo–Bangladesh route. Two-thirds of
the females experienced sexual harassment. Females experienced
more types of violence in one incident than males. While females on
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the Indo–Bangladesh route constituted 68 per cent, their proportion

in experiencing multiple violence in the same incident was 74 per
cent. Sexual harassment by the broker or security agencies on the
border was the most common type of violence.

Project response
The EMPHASIS project tried out specific strategies for reducing
violence and discrimination across the mobility continuum. These
strategies though initiated later in the project consisted of providing
informational materials, for safe mobility, training grassroots proj-
ect staff to respond effectively, enlisting stakeholders (many of them
perpetrators of violence) in creating an enabling environment for
the migrants, creating safe spaces, and mobilizing men and women
groups (EMPHASIS 2014). A total of 60 per cent of all cases of vio-
lence were addressed either by reporting the case to appropriate
authorities or by providing emergency support (Table 10.10).
Each time field staff interacted with someone who had faced vio-
lence, they ensured that the person is provided adequate support.
Among the cases, that were supported, about a fourth (27%) were
provided with psychological counselling. These counselling was car-
ried out by trained field staff, usually in the drop-in-centres set-up as
safe meting spaces by the project. Monetary support was provided to

Table 10.10 Percentage of cases addressed

Indo– Indo–
India– Nepal India– Bangla Total
NMP Nepal route BSP BD route cases
% % %
Male 38 54 92 72.4 0 1 1 11.1 93 68.4
Source 5 0 5 62.5 0 0 0 0.0 5 55.6
Transit 27 47 74 74.7 0 1 1 33.3 75 73.5
Destination 6 7 13 65.0 0 0 0 0.0 13 52.0
Female 29 6 35 74.5 3 6 9 20.0 44 47.8
Source 2 0 2 100.0 0 1 1 16.7 3 37.5
Transit 22 5 27 96.4 0 4 4 28.6 31 73.8
Destination 5 1 6 42.9 3 1 4 16.0 10 25.6
67 60 127 73.0 3 7 10 18.5 137 60.1
 Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’  155

20 per cent of the cases. This was possible due to the support from
migrant community groups at that location, who donated money as
emergency support. In the transit points where the frequency of cases
was higher, the local stakeholders instituted a specific fund (Akshay
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Patra) for support to migrants needing support. Another 20 per cent

of the people were referred to other service providers for support5.

Conclusion
Data from the EMPHASIS project provides information on Nepal-
ese and Bangladeshi migrants and their families in India, Nepal and
Bangladesh. The characteristics of migration and mobility across the
Indo–Nepal route and the Indo–Bangladesh route are very different.
There are differences with regards to the kinds of occupation that Nep-
alese in India have in comparison to Bangladeshis in India. Further,
these differences are even starker and provide varying degrees of pro-
tection depending upon whether one is a male of a female. Similarly,
the type of violence faced by migrants and their families differ accord-
ing to route and differ in type and intensity according to gender. For
example, female migrants from Bangladesh face more sexual and phys-
ical violence than any other category. Secondly, they are more likely to
face multiple types of violence in one incident than any other category.
The quasi-experimental study and project data validates the suc-
cess of project strategies in intervening with these populations and
the data provides valuable insights for implementers and policymak-
ers to take the lessons forward. Though the project started inter-
vening on vulnerabilities related to conditions of work, enabling
environment and violence at a later stage (after two-and-half years),
significant changes were visible. However, bringing about similar
levels of change especially for females at the destination and males
at the source may require a longer intervention period.
The extremely low levels of protection and entitlements enjoyed
by cross-border migrants within South Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal and
India), needs to be urgently raised and addressed by policy influenc-
ers and policymakers across the three countries. At a time when there
is much attention on migration from South Asia to other parts of the
world, it is also time to focus on migrants within South Asia.

Notes
1 Enhancing Mobile Populations Access to HIV and AIDS Services and
Support (EMPHASIS) was a five year initiative of CARE International,
 156  Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

supported by The BIG Lottery Fund, and was the only project in to
work with migrants across the mobility continuum (source, transit and
destination).
2 India and Nepal signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1950,
ensuring an open border and privileges for each other’s nationals.
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3 Nepali mobile population refers to Nepalese migrants to India and their

spouses back at home.
4 Bangla-speaking population (BSP) refers to Bangladeshi migrants
in India. The project used this term to enable research and project
intervention in India.
5 The EMPHASIS project did not provide services directly but strengthened
existing service providers and built their capacity for providing
migrant-friendly services. These service providers provided a range
of services (health and non-health) and belonged to both private and
government services.

References
Bhattarai, Raju. 2007. Open Borders, Closed Citizenships: Nepali Labor
Migrants in Delhi. The Netherlands: Institute of Social Studies. http://
[Link]/sites/default/files/publication/files/[Link].
EMPHASIS Learning Series: Towards Safety, Dignity and Better Health of
Migrants, CARE, 2014, EMPHASIS Regional Secretariat, Kathmandu.
National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South. 2011.
Nepal Migration Year Book 2010. Kathmandu: NIDS. [Link]
[Link]/sites/default/files/pdf/migration_year_book_2068.[Link].
Ravesloot, B. and L. O. Banwart. 2014. EMPHASIS End-line Survey Report.
Nepal: CARE.
Sultana, T., A. Das, M. Sultana, F. Samuels and M Niño-Zarazúa. 2011.
Vulnerability to HIV & AIDS: A social Research on Cross Border Mobile
Population from Bangladesh to India. EMPHASIS Project. Lalitpur,
Nepal: CARE.
Wagle, S., N. Bohidar, F. Samuels, M Niño-Zarazúa. and S. Chakraborty.
2011. Vulnerability to HIV & AIDS: A Social Research on Cross Border
Mobile Populations from Nepal to India. EMPHASIS Baseline. Lalitpur,
Nepal: CARE.
World Bank. 2011. Migration and Remittances Factbook, 2011, Second
Edition.
 11
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Adivasi women in India’s

migration story
Indrani Mazumdar

‘Namal Jaoa’ is the most commonly used term for seasonal agricul-
tural migration in the districts of Bankura, Puruliya and Medinipur
(West Bengal). Its literal meaning in the local language is – to go
to the east. It thus provides an ‘apt description’ of the phenomenon
of seasonal migration from the south-eastern reaches of the rolling
hills of the Chota Nagpur plateau located within the above three
districts, to the plains of Bengal further east. Namal was originally
restricted to a single community, viz. the Santhals and their brethren
of Kherwar origin, such as Deshwali Majhis.”1 Seasonal migration
to the plains of Barddhaman originated in the colonial period, and
the continuity and expanding destination areas was later maintained
due to increasing degradation of the source region as opposed to
increasing industrial and agricultural development of the destina-
tion points, particularly due to improvement in irrigation facilities.2
As irrigation expanded, so also did intensive rice cropping and the
practice of agricultural migration by adivasi labour that expanded
further in the post-independence period. In 1991, Banerjee and Ray
estimated that seasonal migrants accounted for 40 to 60 per cent of
annual agricultural labour days in the destination villages for Namal
goers. However, 10 years later, Rogaly et al. (2001) made a calcula-
tion for the Barddhaman district as a whole and arrived at the figure
of a requirement of half a million migrants for the Aman harvest
(November–December) and even more for the transplanting.
The source region for Namal had once been famous for its forest –
in what the Mughals and the British called Jungle Mahals, part of a
compact forest tract inhabited mainly by the Santhals and Bhumij.3
The forest had provided the wherewithal, food and land for subsis-
tence agriculture as well as other forest produce for supplementing
diets and incomes. Such a situation changed dramatically from the
late nineteenth century, when due to the rising value of timber with
 158  Indrani Mazumdar

the opening of the railway in Bankura and Puruliya, large areas of

forest were cleared of trees by several interest groups – the zamind-
ars, timber contractors and the people, both tribal and non-tribal – to
meet the demand of the rail companies and particularly the spikes
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in demand during the two world wars. Although officially declared

‘protected forests’, a second phase of devastatingly intensive defor-
estation came during the mid-fifties. This latter phase occurred dur-
ing the interregnum between the demise of private ownership claims
of the zamindars over forest lands (with zamindari abolition) and
before the government’s forest or revenue departments established
full control, a short period during which forest trees were open for
anyone to fell. Later experiments in joint forest management from
1988 remained of an ad hoc nature and at the discretion of the For-
est Department, for whom forest villages had become largely only a
source of labour. The longue durée of erosion of the balance between
the forest economy and cultivation that had marked the survival pat-
tern of tribals in the area, had thus long given rise to and sustained
the pressure for seasonal migration.
The specific tribal features of such seasonal migration are at the
same time inextricably linked to the reconfiguration of land tenures/
ownership and agrarian relations in the Jungle Mahals during the
colonial period. Although pioneer tribals had reclaimed virgin lands
in the area to make them arable, and were indeed encouraged to
do so by both rent-seeking zamindars and the revenue-hungry colo-
nial administration throughout the nineteenth century, most of the
good land at the bottom of the valleys did not ultimately remain
with them. In pre-colonial times, much of the Jungle Mahals had
remained inaccessible to the Mughal land surveyors and under the
Mughal zamindari system – in the area covered by the study – it
was the autochthonous Bhumij who had first set-up villages. These
villages were largely rent free or with token rent (paid to the zamin-
dar), under what was known as the Ghatwali system. A stratified
socio-political order thus emerged among the Bhumij with the chiefs
acquiring greater control over land and forest wealth. The Santhals,
on the other hand, were not autochthonous to the area, and were
associated with the Pradhani or Mandali system. In this system, a
band of settlers led by a pradhan or mandal, undertook to reclaim
jungle land by paying a stipulated lumpsum to the zamindar. The
Santhal reclaimers were not, however, the virtual owners of the
reclaimed land as was the case for the Bhumij.
With the entry of colonial administration and its systems of
land settlement and with trading and commercial concerns like
 Adivasi women in India’s migration story  159

the British-owned Midnapur Zamindary Company making inroads

into a developing local land market – vigorous measurement of
land holdings, payments of stiffer rents and revenues in cash, and
an associated enlarged presence of non-tribal moneylenders/trad-
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ers/peasants/artisans etc. played havoc with the non-competitive

mode of tribal existence.4 Rampant indebtedness among the tribals
and loss of land was the consequence. By the first quarter of the
twentieth century, the pradhani/mandali villages were completely
bought over by non-tribal proprietors of land converting the Santhals
into rack-rented tenants/sharecroppers or landless labourers, while
even the Bhumij chiefs/zamindars and Ghatwals became victims of
money-lending Mahajans, and finally lost their forests and surplus
land following zamindari abolition. Boxed into agriculturally less
productive land and with depleted access to forest produce, the tribal
peasants and agricultural labourers were left without sustenance in
their home villages for a large part of the year. The pioneer adivasi
settlers were thus pushed into survival oriented intermittent labour
migration as a way of life that continues till the present.5
While, there are indeed area- and tribe-specific features in the
above story of conversion of sections of the adivasi peasantry into
migratory labour, its essential processes – set in motion by colonial
rule and its practices – are repetitive across larger tracts and regions
in middle India. Addressing questions of tribal social transformation
at a wider level, Singh (1982) has argued that (1) the British survey
and settlement operations introduced in previously unsurveyed tribal
regions acted as an instrument for the transformation of tribes into
peasants, (2) the colonial system ended the relative isolation of the
tribal society; brought it into the mainstream of a new administra-
tive set-up, put an end to the political dominance of the tribes in the
forested territories they occupied, (3) tribal communities which had
earlier been spared the strain of surplus generation were roped the
into a new system of production relations, and (4) while following a
policy of strengthening the feudal crust of the tribal societies, formed
by the rajas, chiefs and zamindars, the colonial regime simultane-
ously created conditions in which their economy and political system
were undermined by ‘rampaging market forces’. Labour historians
tracking the migration of labour drawn from the Chota Nagpur tribes
(primarily Santhal, Munda and Oraon) for the Assam tea plantations
have pointed to the continual decay of an agrarian economy char-
acterized by monocrop rice cultivation, poor soil condition, lack of
irrigation and drainage facilities, soil erosion, and deforestation that
had made Chota Nagpur’s ‘peasants and tribesmen’ into a reservoir
 160  Indrani Mazumdar

of cheap labour and transformed the region into a ‘labour catch-

ment area’ (Das Gupta 1986). Drawing on detailed crop and arable
land data in some of its subregions (Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Sing-
hbhum), Mohapatra has shown that extension of arable land in for-
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ested landscapes (albeit unevenly), demographic pressures as well as

colonial land tenure arrangements, had also impacted the cropping
patterns of the tribal economy with rice gaining at the expense of
more drought-resistant crops in many areas.6 The shift in crop actu-
ally made local agriculture less resilient against failure of the rains
and more susceptible to famines and the heaviest outmigration from
Chota Nagpur in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was
actually from the areas of where the most rapid intensification of
arable farming had occurred (Mohapatra, P. 1991). In general, there
is agreement that arable expansion in tribal areas brought in a range
of non-tribal rentier interests and their retainers, who were soon able
to acquire land in the tracts that were earlier controlled by tribals.
Resistance to such depredations through a spate of tribal rebellions
was militarily crushed by the British and ‘pacification’ policies led
to the creation of an enormous population that had to move out of
their regions in search of livelihood (Kaushik Ghosh 1999). The colo-
nial policy of ‘pacification’ through sedentarization of semi-nomadic
tribes in defined areas and their actual expulsion from much of the
better quality lands thus both operated in tandem.
As the survival economy of tribal communities became more
tenuous and fraught, perennial mortgage of their land and labour
became a prominent feature of their integration into the broader
agrarian economy under colonial rule. These features persisted into
the twentieth century, despite belated experiments in protection of
their ‘customary’ rights in some designated areas.7 From the late
nineteenth century onwards, the ‘Agency system’ was put in place by
the British, whereby the normal operations of ordinary law were not
applied in ‘scheduled areas’ to protect tribal lands from takeover by
outsiders. Part of the ‘pacification’ drive in response to tribal rebel-
lions, such an enclaving policy was based on the principle of sup-
posed non-interference into the affairs of the tribals and isolation.
Yet, even where restrictions on alienation of tribal land to non-tribals
were enforced, market forces remained at work, and while mortgage
of land to non-tribals became impossible, intratribal stratifications
and transactions in land between tribals and tribals emerged, that
spawned the emergence of a class of tribal or ‘insider’ moneylenders
as well (Singh 1982). Further, exploitation of forests for timber and
related plantations through reorganized forest administrations in the
 Adivasi women in India’s migration story  161

latter half of the nineteenth century effectively transferred much of

the wealth of the forests out of the hands of tribal residents, and
pushed forward the conversion of the hitherto largely autonomous
tribal indigenes into a subordinate ‘coolie’ labour force.8
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Historical researches for the colonial period spanning the entire

middle India girdle of tribal homelands, have documented the pro-
cess of ‘dissolution of entire economies that were nomadic or forest
based, the conversion of land into a scarce commodity, and a grow-
ing ethnic cleavage in access to the means of production’ (Bates and
Carter 1992, p 208). Beyond Chota Nagpur, in the central prov-
inces (in the present day M.P., Chhattisgarh, western Orissa) too,
adivasis were ‘fairly consistently among the group who suffered
expropriation’ either during or shortly after the colonial settlement
period.9 Even when the rate of expropriation slowed, they were left
cultivating the worst quality soils, resulting in their becoming ‘one
of the most heavily coerced elements in the migrant workforce and
the first resort of nearly every recruiting agent’ (Bates and Carter
1992).10 Whether it was the Gonds and Baigas in the central prov-
inces and Berar, or the Bhils of Khandesh (Maharashtra), Malwa
(Madhya Pradesh) Mewar and Wagad (southern Rajasthan), the
broad contours of the story followed similar trajectories; as trib-
als lost their autonomous or semi-autonomous modes of existence,
large numbers became indebted peasants and agricultural labour-
ers; as their earlier survival patterns were eroded by deforestation
and restricted access to the forest commons and its products, many
of them were converted into subordinate ‘coolie’ labour and sea-
sonal migrants. The first super profits earned by the Europeans
from indigo production in Bengal and Bihar were to a great extent
dependent on the availability of cheap seasonal migrant labour
from the Chota Nagpur area, as was the spread of intensively cul-
tivated wet rice fields in the Bengal plains. Similarly, in the central
provinces and Berar agricultural development in the Narmada val-
ley wheat zone and the Nagpur–Berar cotton zone was made pos-
sible by the seasonal migration of primarily Gond tribals from the
upland regions, while Bhils were drawn upon to fulfil the seasonal
demand for labour in the cotton-growing areas of Khandesh as well
as the canal zones of the Bombay Deccan. It has been argued that
such seasonal migrant labour in fact played a pivotal role in the
continuing reproduction of agricultural underdevelopment in the
upland areas of tribal concentration as well as the greater levels
of development in the lowland areas that they migrated to (Bates
1985).11
 162  Indrani Mazumdar

In the first half of the nineteenth century, ‘Boonooahs’,12 ‘Dhan-

gars’13 or ‘Hill coolies’ were the terms used by the British to refer to
adivasi labour of Chota Nagpur (usually from Santhal, Munda and
Oraon tribes), who migrated seasonally during the winter months
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to various districts in Bengal (then including Bihar) for employment

in the indigo plantations and factories,14 for harvesting of the winter
rice crop, for road building and land reclamation around Kolkata.
‘Chaitharas’ was the popular name for the adivasi seasonal migrants
(predominantly Gond) in the wheat zone in the central provinces.15
‘Dhangars’ were among the first (if not the last) to be sent as inden-
tured labour to foreign lands, when following the abolition of slav-
ery, the global colonial plantocracy was in search of pliable and
controllable labour to replace their erstwhile slaves (Kaushik Ghosh
1999; Sanjukta Das Gupta 2012,).16 It was in the latter half of the
nineteenth century that the infamous recruiters of indentured labour
for Assam’s tea plantations turned to the Chota Nagpur area as the
‘favourite hunting ground’ for the so-called ‘jungly coolies’ who were
their labourers of choice (Samita Sen 2012),17 later extending their
field further south to the tribal populations of the central provinces
(Bates and Carter 1992). Tea plantation labour, however, was dis-
tinguished from the predominant pattern of circular migration of
tribal labour. Most migrants for tea plantations were permanently
divorced from their areas of origin, and their descendants in Assam,
now referred to as ‘tea tribes’, still constitute a major part of tea plan-
tation workforce both in Assam and the Dooars of West Bengal; they
are still located within enclaves that combine agricultural and indus-
trial characteristics, and also still largely socially segregated from the
rest of the local population.18
The indigo fields and factories have long disappeared, colonial
style land clearing/reclamation using tribal ‘coolie’ labour long
reached its historical limits, and the migration stream of middle India
adivasis to north-eastern tea plantations came to a close within a
decade or so after independence, but the legacy of conditions and
pressures that led to conversion of tribal communities into a sur-
plus labour force that is most easily corralled into and dependent
on labour migration for survival, continues to operate in contempo-
rary times. The adivasis still remain a significant social component
of particularly the rural migratory workforce of twenty-first-century
India, concentrated in hard manual labour based occupations. They
are today predominantly to be found in agriculture, construction and
brick kilns.
 Adivasi women in India’s migration story  163

The transformation into migratory wage labour is also a fea-

ture of some tribal communities, whose modes of life and suste-
nance were somewhat different from those mentioned above. The
nomadic lambadas/lambanis/Banjaras, e.g. were cattle raisers/trad-
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ers, long-distance transporters of goods, supplying grain to even the

Sultanate and Moghul armies in their campaigns (Shyamala 1984).
Recent research has outlined how the Lambadas’ encounter with
colonialism also economically displaced, dispossessed and converted
large sections of them into hired and even conscripted labour, albeit
along a more community specific historical route. When cotton and
salt, the two prized items, which the Lambadas traded throughout
the subcontinent, became an East India Company monopoly, the
Lambada trader/transporters were shunted out of their pre-eminent
role in long distance trade, and the establishment of faster modes of
transport, the railways, etc. finally forced them to completely aban-
don their merchant caravans and turn to cattle raising and agrarian
labour. Further, while legislations restricting access to forests and
pasture lands then made the raising/grazing of cattle more difficult,
the Lambadas were additionally subjected to ignominious physical
restrictions on their own movements and were declared criminals
under the infamous Criminal Tribes Act of 1871. Forced to settle
on the inhospitable uplands outside the normal village boundaries
(thandas) in the dry areas of the Deccan plateau, they were then con-
scripted and made to work as indentured labourers on colonial roads
and railway construction projects, albeit often under police escort
(Bhangya Bhukya 2010). The Criminal Tribes Act was repealed at
independence, and its notified tribes denotified shortly after, but
stigma and related social isolation of lambadas living in thandas
persists. The agriculturally unproductive terrain of their settlements
and chronic poverty has made for the community being a significant
contingent of the migratory construction workforce in Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra as well as other forms of nomad
labour such as the sugarcane harvesters in western India.

Tribal women’s migration in contemporary

times: a comparative profile
One of the distinctive features of tribal labour migration streams
has been the high participation of women. Significant numbers of
women were involved in the more permanent migrations of tribal
labour to the tea plantations of Assam and North Bengal as also in
 164  Indrani Mazumdar

seasonal or circular labour migration across a wider set of regions

and sectors from nineteenth century onwards.19 The habit of men
and women migrating for work together in family or even larger
tribal groups/gangs perhaps drew upon their heritage of moving
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together to reclaim land from the jungles for the establishment of

new settlements whenever the need was felt, the practice of shift-
ing cultivation, and nomadic/semi-nomadic ways of life. When
transformed from autonomous indigenes and peasants into subordi-
nate migrant wage labourers, many adivasis would still move or be
recruited in bands that included women. A lack of any tradition of
confinement/seclusion of women indeed distinguishes tribal society
from other communities in India, among whom graded hierarchies
are far more entrenched, and the seclusion of women has long been
linked to higher social status. Nevertheless, women were and are not
positioned as equals even within tribal society (Sinha 2005, Arch-
ana Prasad 2011). Further, in the wage economy, whether tribal or
non-tribal, women workers were paid lower wages than men and this
was true for migratory labour as well. Still, the traditional lack of any
severe internal restraints on women’s labour and personal mobility
in tribal societies has been an important factor in maintaining the
higher rates of female work participation among adivasis and their
relatively greater participation in wage labour based migration in
comparison to other social groups in colonial as well as independent
India.20
In general, female labour migration in contemporary India is
poorly recorded by the official macrosurveys and it is difficult to
derive a picture of tribal women’s work migration from these sur-
veys. Since they define migrants as those who have changed their
place of residence, women migrants vastly outnumber men in mac-
rosurveys because of the widespread prevalence of village exogamy
and patrilocal residence in marriage practices. Yet their estimates of
female labour migration have remained notoriously lower than what
field/ground experience/reports suggest. Since only one reason for
migration is asked for, a significant amount of labour migration by
women is camouflaged under other social reasons such as marriage
or family movement. Further, the definitions followed by the official
surveys have been slow to respond to the findings of microstudies
that women’s labour migration is predominantly short term and cir-
cular in nature, both of which tend to be poorly recorded in official
surveys. Even when special efforts have been made to bring tempo-
rary or short-term migration within the ambit of macrosurveys as was
 Adivasi women in India’s migration story  165

done for 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 by the National Sample Survey

Organisation (NSSO), changes of definitions between the two survey
rounds have made for difficulties in trend analysis. Nevertheless, the
three migration surveys conducted by the NSSO between 1993 and
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2007–2008 do provide some indications that a more significant pres-

ence of women is still a distinguishing feature of tribal labour migra-
tion, and also that tribal women’s migration for work is relatively
more temporary in nature and more concentrated in rural areas.
Firstly, the above three rounds of migration surveys (NSSO) con-
sistently show that the proportion of migrant households among
Scheduled Tribes (STs) is higher than among other communities.
Since migrant households here refer to households migrating within
a reference period of only one year preceding the date of survey, we
may safely assume that the higher proportion of migrant households
among STs is because more tribal women migrate alongside their
men folk in comparison to other social groups, among whom more
women may be left behind by male migrant workers or be migrating
to join their men folk only much later. This is notwithstanding the
fact that the overall female migration rates (i.e. proportions of the
female population who have changed their usual place of residence)
are lowest among ST women in comparison to women of other social
groups. In other words, the NSS surveys indicate that relatively lesser
proportions of tribal women effect more durable change of residence
(whether due to marriage or employment reasons), but greater
proportions of tribal women tend to migrate with their households
for employment.21 The 1999–2000 survey further showed that STs
were the single largest group among female temporary migrants for
employment in rural areas but not in urban areas.
Unfortunately the most recent migration report of NSS for
2007–2008 has not given the proportions of STs among the newly
defined category of short-term migrants for employment. We can,
however, fill some of the gaps in the report by referring to the find-
ings of a recent set of surveys that were conducted by the Centre
for Women’s Development Studies (CWDS) between 2009 and 2011,
across 20 states in India that have been consolidated to present a
mesolevel view of the broad patterns of women’s labour migration
in India (Gender and Migration, CWDS 2012). The CWDS surveys
again provide evidence of the relatively greater involvement of tribal
women in female labour migration in contemporary times. They
show that STs were over 26 per cent of the migrant women workers
in rural destinations and 21 per cent in urban, which is close to 3
 166  Indrani Mazumdar

times their share of the general female population in rural areas and
close to 10 times in urban areas.
With the application of a more nuanced typology of migration,
some of the distinguishing aspects of tribal women’s migration that
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are only hinted at in the macrosurveys came out very sharply in

the CWDS surveys. They showed that the most distinctive feature
of adivasi women’s labour migration is their concentration in short
term and circulatory migration – i.e. migrating and returning to their
native villages every year or several times in a year. In comparison
relatively smaller proportions of tribal women workers are involved
in long-term- or medium-term migration for settlement or more
durable residence in urban areas. Table 11.1 presents the consoli-
dated findings of the CWDS surveys in relation to the distribution of
types of migration among women migrant workers from different
social groups.22
As Table 11.1 clearly shows, among the types of migration, the
weight of short-term migration, circulatory migration of longer dura-
tion and circulatory migration of shorter duration is greater among
ST women migrant workers than among all other communities/
social groups. When taken together, it is most striking that the great
majority (59%) of migrant women workers from STs are involved in

Table 11.1 Distribution of women migrant workers by type of migration (%)

Type of migrant General OBC MBC SC ST

Long-term migrant 44.51 41.56 21.51 25.98 20.81
Medium-term 30.02 22.98 30.11 17.36 10.48
migrant
Short-term migrant 3.93 11.91 10.75 14.54 25.16
Irregular short-term 6.42 1.13 1.08 1.08 1.45
migrant
Circulatory migrant 2.90 9.93 5.38 19.52 22.10
of longer duration
Circulatory migrant 4.55 6.95 4.30 6.06 10.00
of shorter duration
Daily/weekly 4.97 3.69 25.81 14.67 8.71
commuters
Migrant for family 2.69 1.84 1.08 0.81 1.29
care
All 100 100 100 100 100
Short-term and 17.81 29.93 21.51 41.18 58.71
circulatory
combined
Source: CWDS, 6/1/20152012.
 Adivasi women in India’s migration story  167

short-term- and circulatory migration. This is a significantly greater

proportion than the 41 per cent of such short-term- and circulatory
migrants among SC women migrants, almost double the 30 per cent
among other backward class (OBC) women and more than three
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times the proportion (18%) among the general/upper caste women

migrant workers. Related to this high share of short-term- and circu-
latory migration is another finding of the CWDS surveys, namely that
the destination areas of a majority of the tribal women migrant work-
ers (56%) are rural in contrast to the majority of women migrant
workers from the upper caste and OBC origin, among whom 71 per
cent and 54 per cent, respectively were found to be migrating to
urban destinations. Only among migrant women workers of SC back-
ground is the 62 per cent share of rural destinations higher than
among tribals.
The CWDS study found that types of migration were very closely
correlated with sectors and occupations. Service occupations (white
collared, intermediate combinations of mental and manual work, as
well as menial services such as paid domestic work) and manufactur-
ing (factory based or home-based) are more linked with long-term
and medium-term migration. On the other hand, heavy manual
labour based seasonal occupations in the primary or secondary sec-
tor that are generally attached to the most degraded conditions of
work and where the figure of the labour contractor/recruiter/agent
looms large, are more closely correlated with short-term- and circu-
lar migration. At an overall level, the CWDS study showed labour
migration by women had led to limited occupational diversification
and in fact had propelled their concentration in a relatively narrow
band of occupations. Within this overall picture, tribal women were
further concentrated in three sectors/industries, namely agricul-
ture, brick kilns (in rural areas) and construction (in both rural and
urban areas). These are the principal sectors/industries driving the
short-term- and circulatory types of migration by women in contem-
porary times and for which recruitment, particularly in rural des-
tinations is often of male female pairs or family units rather than
individuals of any one sex (which partially explains why migrant
households are more among STs).23 On the other hand, tribal
women were found to be virtually absent in textile/garment facto-
ries, which have otherwise drawn in women workers from all other
social groups/communities. The CWDS surveys showed that among
tribal women migrants in urban India, it is not manufacturing, but,
construction that featured as the most prominent employment, while
in the feminized occupation of paid domestic work, adivasi women
 168  Indrani Mazumdar

migrants were prominent among the ‘live-ins’, i.e. those who resided
in their employers’ homes, but relatively insignificant in the larger
sea of ‘live-out’ domestic workers who generally live with their own
families in destination areas. Finally, although, the small sample of
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mine workers in the CWDS surveys did not reveal much, it is perhaps
significant that the few mine workers covered by the survey were
predominantly of adivasi origin.24
A corollary to the high share of short-term- and circulatory migra-
tion among ST women, was the finding that white collar services
accounted for a mere 18 per cent of ST women migrant workers,
among whom young women from the northeast were more promi-
nent than the adivasis of middle India. The low proportions of
ST women in white-collared employment was roughly the same as
that of SC women migrants (19%), but strongly contrasted with the
66 per cent of upper caste women migrants and 36 per cent of OBC
women migrant workers in white collar employment.
Table 11.1 and the data it holds follows the constitutionally
defined social group categories. The ST category thus makes no dis-
tinction between different groups of tribes or their differing social
and regional histories. To our minds, however, there is indeed a need
to differentiate between the migrants from the tribes endogenous to
the northeast of the country and the adivasis from middle India since
their migration and employment patterns are quite different. The
CWDS surveys found, e.g. that women migrants from the north east-
ern tribes were actually more concentrated in urbanwards medium
term migration for modern service sector employment that is salaried
and requiring relatively higher educational levels (salesgirls, office
workers, beauticians, etc.).25 Lack of opportunities in the north east-
ern states has no doubt propelled the relatively recent but noticeable
phenomenon of work-/education-based migration by young women
from the northeast to large cities in other parts of India. Studies have
shown that their conditions of work are exploitative, stereotyped, dif-
ficult and trying, (Singmila Shimrah 2007), and often compounded
by race- and culture-based targeting. Nevertheless, their relatively
stronger educational backgrounds, their services oriented occupa-
tional profile and perhaps their initial context of exclusive rights over
larger amounts of land and territory (relative to population) in their
relatively more autonomous tribal homelands, has made for a quali-
tatively different social location from where women from the tribes
of the northeast have made their entry into urban life in comparison
to other adivasi migrant workers.
Migrant women workers from the middle India tribes in urban des-
tinations are more concentrated in casual labour in construction and
 Adivasi women in India’s migration story  169

prominent among live-in domestics, and are even more concentrated

in migration to rural destinations for agriculture, brick kiln work and
again construction. Related to such a process of concentration are
the other features of adivasi women’s labour migration – namely cir-
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cularity, a greater level of involvement of intermediaries – labour

contractors and recruiters, and a continuing living relationship with
the agrarian tribal social order that is rarely sundered by migration.
These features were spawned by the particularities of development
of commercialization and enclaved capitalist enterprise under colo-
nial rule. Why they should persist more than 60 years after inde-
pendence, the specific role given to adivasi women’s labour and the
differential manner in which they continue to be concentrated in the
lowest echelons of the migratory semi-proletariat, are questions that
cannot be answered without reference to continuities/changes in the
sphere of labour processes and the impact of accumulation regimes
on tribal labour, as well as the particular location of tribal popula-
tions in the broader agrarian economy and social order.

Conclusion
Tribal community practices and cultures, particularly the lack of tra-
ditional restrictions on women’s work and labour, have indeed been
a significant factor in bringing larger proportions of tribal women
into more mobile forms of labour in comparison to other social
groups in India. However, the higher propensity to labour migration
among tribal women has not fundamentally altered their conditions
of historical disadvantage in the agrarian economy, and in fact has
integrated adivasi women in the developing labour market under
capitalist development at several levels of additional disadvantage. It
would appear that the predominantly survival oriented circular and
short-term pattern of contemporary tribal women’s migration predi-
cates a regularized mobility for irregular employment that simulta-
neously constrains and constricts possibilities of social, cultural and
educational advance.
British administrative systems had ended the isolation and politi-
cal autonomy of tribal society, brought them into a system of pro-
duction relations and surplus generation geared to colonial/feudal
interests and extractive capital accumulation, and transformed even
low population density tribal areas into labour-surplus economies.
In the process, large segments of tribal populations faced resource
dispossession, pauperisation and debt-based manipulation of their
lives and labour. As peasants increasingly confined to agriculturally
poor lands with a single agricultural season, and with reduced access
 170  Indrani Mazumdar

to forest resources, adivasis were the most easily drawn into mort-
gaging their labour and intermittent migration that enabled greater
commercial agricultural development in areas other than their
own. The broad contours of such a constrained and disadvantaged
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social and economic location of tribal populations have persisted

in independent India providing a continued basis for the dominant
pattern of survival-oriented migration as opposed to social develop-
ment oriented migration. Labour migration by tribal women in the
post-independence decades has, however, served the interests of a
wider range of classes than was the case in colonial India, enabling
as well as pushing forward a greater level of class differentiation in
Indian society since independence.
Predominantly temporary or circular types of migration vests the
majority of tribal women migrant workers with the dual character-
istics of retaining agricultural origins even as their occupations may
have become in great part industrial. Such a dual characteristic is par-
tially linked to the value attached to agricultural livelihoods despite
being unable to derive a living from such agriculture. At the same
time, the particularly degraded conditions of tribal women’s migra-
tory employment in agriculture and non-agriculture, the chronic
cycle of debt-/advance-based recruitment, low incomes, wage reduc-
ing dependence on contractors, and related unfreedoms does not
seem to be capable of providing any security of livelihood or settle-
ment outside agriculture. Jan Breman’s formulation that migration
has engendered a shift from local feudal bondage to neo-bondage in
the developing capitalist systems of production most appropriately
applies to tribal women’s experience of labour migration in contem-
porary India.

Acknowledgements
This chapter was extracted from Occasional Paper 60, 2014 of the
Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi.

Notes
1 Santhals are the largest tribal community in West Bengal (third largest tribe
in India). In 2001, Santhals, numbering 2.28 million, constituted 52 per
cent of the ST population in West Bengal. Deshwali Majhis (a community
of largely Santhal origin who underwent religions transformation during
the Kherwar movements of the late colonial period and became more or
less assimilated into Hinduism) are considered semi-tribal, although they
are officially classified as OBC.
 Adivasi women in India’s migration story  171

2 Banerjee and Ray point out that by the end of the nineteenth century,
more than 20 per cent of Barddhaman district’s population was supported
by industry, commerce and other service professions. A form of seasonal
migration for coal mining is also referred to in Dagmar Engels’ paper on
Adivasi Women in Bengal (1993) where she mentions that Santhals and
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Bauris (Bauris are an SC, considered by colonial anthropologists to be a

‘tribal caste’, i.e. having been only tribal till very recently) formed the bulk
of the labour force from the beginnings of coal mining in Bengal. The first
coalfields in Raniganj, Burdwan were established in 1774, but regular
mining actually began in 1820. Many of these workers used to back to
their villages for agricultural operations, and in fact a substantial number
were settled as agricultural tenants in nearby lands by the nineteenth
century coal companies, thus maintaining an agricultural identity.
3 The Bhumij are a semi-Hinduised community of Mundari origin
autochthonous to the area and forming even zamindaris (in the erstwhile
estates of Manbhum, Barabhum and Dhalbhum in the present day
Puruliya and Bankura). In 2001, the Bhumij numbered 336,436 in West
Bengal, constituting around 8 per cent of the ST population in the state.
4 These were all areas where the Permanent Settlement (1793) was
implemented by the British East India Company whereby the former
landholders and revenue intermediaries (zamindars) were granted
heritable, rentable and alienable proprietary rights (effective ownership)
to the land they held and the land tax was fixed in perpetuity. Under the
Permanent Settlement, on one side the landlord class acquired greater
power than earlier, while on the other the Company’s policy of auction
of any zamindari lands deemed to be in arrears created a market for
land which previously did not exist. Intermediary rentiers proliferated
increasing the rent and debt burden on tenant cultivators who were also
unprotected from eviction/replacement by others.
5 The Bankura district Human Development Report of 2007, which
highlights the otherwise rapid development of the district yet records
the continuance of seasonal migration from the uplands. Government
of West Bengal, District Human Development Report Bankura, 2007,
[Link]
Bankura_india_hdr_2007.pdf
6 It is of course well known that rice can support more people per unit of
land than most other staples (see Cambridge World History of Food).
7 K. S. Singh points out that it was in these enclaves that the concept of
protection of the tribes as an ethnic community developed in stages.
8 The Tana Bhagat movement among the Oraon, in fact, arose started with
a refusal by one Jatra Oraon to accede to the demand by the local police
for unpaid coolie labour by the Oraon tenantry. This was at a time when
the Oraon of that area (Bishanpur in the present day Gumla district,
Jharkhand) were being subjected to excessive requisition of labour for
the construction of the summer residence of the Lieutenant Governor on
the Neterhart plateau (Sinha, S.P. 1993).
 172  Indrani Mazumdar

9 In the central provinces, under the malguzari settlement system,

ownership was conferred on those who had acquired a proprietary
status on quasi-feudal conditions as jagirdar or talukdar (malguzars),
including some tribal chiefs or their relatives, grantees of state revenue
and others, but in contrast to Bengal, some measure of tenant right was
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also included.
10 For example, Bates and Carter have shown that the settlement regime
in Mandla district granted proprietary rights to the Gond tribals, who
constituted over half the population in the 1860s, in only 432 out of a
total of 11,430 villages. The Baigas, who were 4 per cent of the population
were granted only 20 villages. This pattern was repeated in all of the
tribal districts in central provinces. In Betul, Seoni and Chhindwara where
tribals constituted 35–40% of the population, less than 1 in 7 villages
were allowed to remain in tribal hands. Within 20 to 30 years after these
settlements, 270 villages were transferred in Mandla – mostly to Marwari
moneylenders, while between 1869 and 1912 the number of Gond villages
fell from 294 to 129 in Raipur (Bates and Carter p.213–214).
11 For the cotton zone across the districts of Nagpur, Wardha, Amraoti,
Yeotmal, Buldana, and Nimar, based on cotton and other crop output data
for 1890–91, Crispin Bates has calculated that the labour requirements
of cotton in the late nineteenth century exceeded the capacities of local
agricultural labour, at a time when cotton accounted for 30 per cent of
the gross cropped area (GCA) and argued that the importance of migrant
labour must have become of even greater significance over the next few
decades as cotton rose to cover 44 per cent of GCA in the same zone
by the 1920s. For the wheat zone of the Narmada Valley, Bates refers
to specific contemporary descriptions of the intergenerational annual
migration of Gond Chaitaharas from the Rewa Hills for 1867, 1901 and
1911. (Bates, 1985, ‘Regional Development and Rural Development in
Central India: The Pivotal Role of Migrant Labour’, Modern Asian Studies,
Vol. 19, No. 3.)
12 Writing on indigo labour, Van Schendell described ‘Boonoah’ workers
as primarily seasonal labour, and quotes a nineteenth century observer
Machell as writing, “the Boonooahs are the inhabitants of the Boons or
the Jungles . . . They are very ingenious in making mats, nets, baskets
&c., and are supposed by some to be the aborigines of Hindoostan.”
Willem Van Schendel, 2012, ‘Green Plants into Blue Cakes: Working for
Wages in Colonial Bengal’s Indigo Industry’ in Marcel van Linden and
Leo Lucassen (ed) Working on Labour: Essays in honour of Jan Lucassen,
Brill, Leiden.
13 John Mackay, an indigo planter over a period of 28 years till 1836, with
plantations in ‘Jessore, Dacca and Nuddea in lower Bengal; Patna, Tirhut
and Bhaugulpoor in the province of Bahar’, claimed to have employed up
to 500 ‘Dhangars’ at a time. He described these workers in the following
words, “There are no mechanics among them, unless assistant brick
makers may be so considered; many of them are good hands at mixing the
 Adivasi women in India’s migration story  173

clay for brickmakers, and expert in forming tanks, but I would consider
the Hill Coolies as fittest to be employed as labourers of the ground. . .
[they] will travel a distance of 500 miles in, search of employment, and
know the value of money, and carefully, save the wages they earn to
carry back to their country to spend with their families.” John Mackay,
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Minutes of Evidence on Indian and British Immigration, House of

Commons Papers, 1838, Vol. 22, p. 186.
14 Van Schendel, 2012, Working on Labour: Essays in honour of Jan
Lucassen.
15 The term Chaitharas comes from the season of Chait (March–April),
when the wheat crop is harvested.
16 For Dhangar and Hill Coolies, see House of Lords, Session papers, Session
1837–38, Vol. VIII, p. 44.
17 Between 1879 and 1890, 53.36 per cent of workers in Assam tea
plantations were from Santhal Parganas and Chota Nagpur.
18 Despite being adivasis, “Tea Tribes” do not have ST status in Assam as
they do in their states of origin.
19 Sugata Bose has shown that in the Jalpaiguri tea gardens (North Bengal
Dooars), women in fact outnumbered men. In 1921 there were 65,938
female workers in the plantations of Jalpaiguri Dooars in comparison
to 56,745 males. In the Assam tea plantations too, women ultimately
constituted the majority of the workforce. Similarly Bates has shown
that in the cotton belt, seasonal migrants were largely women and
children. By his calculations, in the 1930s, typically 11.24 man-days and
17.74 woman-days were hired per acre in the Berar plains compared to
average deployment of 3.88 man-days and 1.42 woman-days of family
labour. For the post-independence period, Banerjee and Ray show that
tribal women clearly led the way for women from other communities in
seasonal migration to the rice plains of Bengal.
20 NSS’ 61st round employment survey for 2004–2005 shows that female
work participation rates among STs stood at 44.4 per cent in comparison
to 30.8 per cent among SCs, 29.9 per cent among OBCs and 21.4 per cent
among others.
21 The lower migration rate among tribal women is, however, changing at
a rapid pace. Between 1999–2000 and 2007–2008, the increase in the
migration rate was highest among tribal women, having jumped from
35.7 per cent to 44 per cent bringing it much closer to the national
average of a 47.7 per cent migration rate for the female population as a
whole than before.
22 Source: CWDS, Gender and Migration: Negotiating Rights, A Women’s
Movement Perspective, (Key Findings), 2012.
23 The CWDS survey showed that 42 per cent of rural women migrant
workers had been recruited as part of a unit of labour that was either a
pair or family based.
24 Most of the women workers encountered in mining areas of Jharkhand
and Chhattisgarh during the field work were of course descendants of
 174  Indrani Mazumdar

earlier migrants like in the tea plantations, which are also not drawing
any fresh migrants.
25 Young women from the north east were also working as beauticians in
more organized beauty parlours.
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References
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Bates, Crispin and Marina Carter. 1992. ‘Tribal Migration in India and
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Sen, Samita. 2012. ‘Kidnapping in Chotanagpur’: Recruitment for Assam Tea

Plantations in a ‘Tribal’ Area, in Sanjukta Das Gupta and Raj Sekhar Basu
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pp. 179–214. New Delhi: Primus Books.
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Shyamala, B. Devi. 1984. ‘Class and Caste Differences among the Lambadas
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 12
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Gender dimensions of migration in

urban India
Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and
R.B. Bhagat

Introduction
The gender dimension of migration is crucial as women have notably
different migration intentions, motivations, patterns, options, and
obstacles from men. Men and women tend to experience migration
differently; the challenges of renegotiating work and care in a new
setting often lead to a ‘feminization’ of women’s roles, as women
find themselves taking up more traditional gender roles as wives and
mothers (Ho 2006). In many cases, men make autonomous decisions
while women migrate as part of family strategies where they are not
in full control (Boyd 1989; Hugo 1995). The most common cause
for female migration in India is considered to be marriage (Srivas-
tava and Sasikumar 2003) and largely explained by the twin factors
of marriage and dependency on the principal breadwinner (Premi
1980). Internal migration in India is highly differentiated, and wom-
en’s involvement in geographic mobility is also highly variable. The
tendency to migrate and forms of migration depend on social and
economic positions at origin, cultural differences and prescriptions
for female behaviour and demand for female labour (Palriwala and
Uberoi 2008).
There is a need to focus on gender-specific migration in the cur-
rent discourse on migration as women constitute an overwhelming
proportion of migrants, although largely characterized by marriage
and associational migrations (Premi 1980; Shanthi 1991; Banerjee
and Raju 2009). Rural women were most mobile although urban
women have picked up over the decades in form of gender-specific
pattern of labour movement (Gulati 1997; Banerjee and Raju 2009).
Changes in the rural economy also have contributed to this increased
female migration. Increasing productivity in agriculture has been
 Gender dimensions of migration in urban India  177

associated with decreasing opportunities for wage employment in

agriculture for women as compared to that of men (Shanthi 2006).
One of the biggest changes for gender roles in migration is the result
of shift of the locus of work from the home to somewhere else (Davis
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1984; Yabiku et al., 2010). There is no doubt that migration is gen-

dered and it has been well established in the global migration lit-
erature (Hoang 2011) and gender matters in our consideration of
migration and mobilities (Mahler and Pessar 2006; Lutz 2010). Nev-
ertheless, issues pertaining to gender aspects are absent in much of
the earlier migration literature in India, as of till now, migration is
assumed to be mainly a movement dominated by men, with women
either residual in the process or dependent followers (Bhatt 2009;
Mazumdar et al., 2013). Migration of women is also validated by
the fact that women are ready to work for low wages, and perceived
as passive and docile, they are in great demand, contributing to
feminization of labour migration (Shanthi 2006). Moreover, women
migrate because there is an increasing educational level among them
who do not like to be confined to household chores. On the other
hand there is another group of women who migrate along with their
husband and any other family member. There is a need to under-
stand the characteristics of different types of women who migrate
and also emerging trends in their migratory processes. Therefore,
present study attempts to explore the gender dimension of migration
in urban India and mainly focuses on the changes in the process of
migration and tries to identify the possible reasons for migration in
urban India. In addition to this, the changes in the factors influencing
women’s migration are also focused.

Data and analytical strategies

In India, there are two major data sources of migration: Census of
India and Indian National Sample Survey (NSS). The former pro-
vides the detailed information on trends, patterns and differentials
of migration by socio-demographic characteristics based on complete
enumeration but not possible to analyze factors influencing migra-
tion (Kundu and Sarangi 2007). On the other hand, the later can be
utilized for this purpose. The present study, therefore, utilizes the
unit level data from 55th and 64th rounds of the NSS. The 55th
round of the NSS was conducted during July 1999 to June 2000. It
collected data on migration particulars of the members of the sample
households, as a part of the ‘Employment–Unemployment’ schedule
(we have utilized the data of schedule 10 only). This survey covered
 178  Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and R. B. Bhagat

a sample of 1,20,578 households (71,417 in rural and 49,161 in

urban areas) (NSSO 2001). Similarly, the 64th round also collected
data on migration in its survey of ‘Employment & Unemployment and
Migration Particulars’ (Schedule 10.2) for the period July 2007 to
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June 2008 which covered a sample of 1,25,578 households (79,091

in rural areas and 46,487 in urban areas) (NSSO 2010). Both data
sources of NSS are used in this study.
It is relevant to consider demographic compositions, which
reflect the household’s exposure to risk and the household’s abil-
ity to respond to risk while examining the gender dimension of
internal migration and evaluating the migration decision in India.
From the neo-classical model, individual characteristics influence
the migration decision in a number of ways. First, characteristics,
such as education, experience, gender, and age, may influence the
income and employment opportunities at each location. Secondly,
individual characteristics as well as social conditions and technolo-
gies may influence the cost of migration (Massey et al., 1993; Davis
and Winters 2001). Moreover, gender differences in the economic
determinants of migration become relevant if the causes and patterns
of female migration are significantly different from male migration
(Davis and Winters 2001).

Results and discussion

This section is divided into five subsections namely temporal changes
in migration in urban India, reasons for migration, socio-economic
status of migrants, work status of migrants, and finally factors influ-
encing the migration in urban India excluding marriage as a reason
for migration.

Temporal changes in migration

There has been marginal decline (0.8 per cent) in male migrants
during 2007–2008 as compared to 1999–2000, whereas there was
an increase of 4.8 per cent among female migrants (Figure 12.1).
Therefore, while male mobility has declined, female mobility has
increased and the overall mobility has increased from 26.6 per cent
to 28.5 per cent during 2000–2007. Declining male mobility seems
to be an important development in the emerging pattern of migra-
tion in India.
As urban areas are the main destination of migration, it would
be interesting to see age composition of migration in urban areas.
Overall distribution of migrants in urban areas by age group and
 Gender dimensions of migration in urban India  179

Figure 12.1 Percentage of migrants, India, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008

50 47.2
45 42.4
40
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35
30 28.5
26.6 Male
25
Female
20
Total
15 11.7 10.9
10
5
0
1999-2000 2007-2008

Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

Table 12.1 Distribution of migrants in urban India by age group, 1999–2000

and 2007–2008

Male Female Total

Age 1999– 2007– 1999– 2007– 1999– 2007–
group 2000 2008 2000 2008 2000 2008
0–14 13.5 12.9 6.9 6.3 9.5 8.7
15–24 18.5 18.6 15.6 14.2 16.7 15.8
25–34 19.7 20.8 25.9 24.2 23.5 23.0
35–44 19.5 17.8 22.1 20.8 21.1 19.7
45–59 19.9 19.8 18.7 22.9 19.2 21.8
60+ 8.9 10.1 10.9 11.7 10.1 11.1
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100
Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

sex shows that in each age group there has been a decrease in the
percentage of migrants from 1999–2000 to 2007–2008, except for
45–59 and 60+. Age pattern of migration by sex is not very different
but the share of elderly migration (60+) has increased among both
males and females (Table 12.1).
Table 12.2 illustrates the streams of migration by sex during 1999–
2000 and 2007–2008. The rural-to-rural stream of migration shared
32 per cent among male migrants in 1999–2000 against 27 per cent
in 2007–2008 while distribution of women migrants remains more
or less the same. In contrast, among men, rural to urban stream of
migration is dominant in both the rounds. There is 5 per cent increase
in rural to urban migration among men and similar decline in rural
to rural migration during 1999–2000 and 2007–2008, whereas
 180  Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and R. B. Bhagat

Table 12.2 
Distribution of migrants in India by streams of migration,
1999–2000 and 2007–2008

Male Female
Stream 1999–2000 2007–2008 1999–2000 2007–2008
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Rural to rural 32.3 27.1 70.3 70.0

Rural to urban 34.3 39.0 14.4 14.8
Urban to rural 10.7 8.9 5.2 4.9
Urban to urban 22.6 24.8 10.1 10.3
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

Table 12.3 Distribution of migrants in urban India by reasons for migration,

1999–2000 and 2007–2008

Male Female Total

Reasons for 1999– 2007– 1999– 2007– 1999– 2007–
migration 2000 2008 2000 2008 2000 2008
Employment1 58.0 55.9 4.2 2.6 25.8 22.9
Marriage 1.6 1.4 58.5 61.2 35.5 38.4
Studies 4.1 6.8 1.4 2.2 2.5 4
Others 36.3 35.9 35.8 33.9 36 34.7
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Note: 1Employment-related reasons: In search of employment, in search of better
employment, business, to take up employment/better employment,
transfer of service/contract, proximity of work.
Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

women’s migration has remained more or less identical. In case of

urban to rural stream there is a decrease in migration for both men
and women in 2007–2008 compared to 1999–2000. On the other
hand urban to urban migration has increased among both men and
women during 2007–2008 compared to earlier rounds.

Reasons for migration

Table 12.3 shows that employment appeared as the main reason for
males to migrate, whereas marriage seemed to be the main driver of
female migration in urban India. This shows that employment related
female migration is much lower than that of males, which led to a
reversal of the declining sex ratio of migrants in recent times. This
suggests that males in the recent past may have benefited more than
women from the growing prosperity and employment opportunities
 Gender dimensions of migration in urban India  181

(Bhagat 2010). Furthermore, there is a decline in employment-

related migration from 1999–2000 to 2007–2008 among both men
and women.
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Socio-economic status of migrants

Migration in India is mostly influenced by social structure and pat-
terns of development. Table 12.4 suggests that there is not much dif-
ference among men, whereas women show considerable differences
by their social status. Among women migrants, the others category
of social groups constituted 43 and 48 per cent of all urban migrants
in 1999–2000 and 2007–2008, respectively and the highest increase
in migration is observed by others category of social group followed
by scheduled castes, other backward classes and scheduled tribes.
Results suggest that the migration of women of others category are
more mobile compared to scheduled castes/tribes and other back-
ward classes.
Several migration studies have found a positive relationship
between education and migration, particularly in urban areas (Tod-
aro 1997). Education, though qualitatively is a very significant social
factor, the wide ranging impact of education is possibly the most
important matter to be considered in inducing rural–urban migra-
tion (Caldwell 1969). However, the linkage between migration and
education is very context specific (Harttgen and Klasen 2011). It
not only helps people to migrate for better job opportunities, but it
can also improve access to education and educational outcomes in
urban areas. Table 12.5 suggests that at macrolevel the propensity
of migration is increasing with rising level of education. However,
when compared with men, illiterate women have higher propensity
to migrate than illiterate men.

Table 12.4 Percentage of migrants in urban India by social groups, 1999–2000

and 2007–2008

Male Female
Social group 1999–2000 2007–2008 1999–2000 2007–2008
Scheduled tribes 28.2 28.8 41.1 43.0
Scheduled caste 22.5 23.5 39.3 44.7
Other backward 23.7 23.0 41.7 43.8
castes
Others 27.6 29.0 42.6 47.7
Total 25.7 25.9 41.8 45.6
Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.
 182  Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and R. B. Bhagat

Table 12.5 Percentage of migrants in urban India by education level,

1999–2000 and 2007–2008

Male Female
Educational
level 1999–2000 2007–2008 1999–2000 2007–2008
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Illiterate 16.7 16.7 43.7 47.2

Literate but 21.5 20.6 32.5 35.2
below middle
Middle but 26.5 26.9 44.0 47.8
below
secondary
Secondary 33.7 31.9 48.5 47.8
or higher
secondary
Graduate and 39.3 37.8 52.9 55.4
above
Total 25.7 25.9 41.8 45.6
Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

Table 12.6 Percentage of migrants in urban India by MPCE, 1999–2000 and

2007–2008

Male Female
MPCE 1999–2000 2007–2008 1999–2000 2007–2008
Lowest 12.8 12.0 34.5 38.5
Lower 19.1 16.8 39.6 42.0
Medium 23.4 25.2 41.7 46.6
Higher 31.7 32.4 45.5 48.9
Highest 40.1 41.8 48.4 52.8
Total 25.7 25.9 41.8 45.6
Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

Information on migrants by monthly consumer expenditure of the

households in urban India is presented in Table 12.6 which provides
quite approximate view of economic conditions of the households
in the absence of income data in the sample surveys (Keshri and
Bhagat 2010, 2013). Results show that there is a clear gender gap in
migration by income in urban areas. Among men the per cent distri-
bution of migrants increases with rising economic status, whereas it
decreases among women migrants. This situation holds true for both
the rounds of survey with corresponding income categories.
 Gender dimensions of migration in urban India  183

Work status of migrants

In economic parlance, migration takes place when a person is likely
to engage in a remunerative activity in a place where he or she is not
a native or national. Therefore, the current work status of migrants
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by their income level in urban India is presented in Tables 12.7a and

12.7b for male and female migrants, respectively. Overall, urban
migrants recorded about 69.5 per cent and 18.7 per cent of men and
women as current working status, respectively, in 1999–2000 com-
pared to 69.7 per cent and 14.3 per cent in 2007–2008. In addition to
this, the per cent distribution of men migrants in self-employed and
casual labour category decreases with rising income status, while
among regular salaried men it increases with rising income status in
both the rounds of the NSS. Interestingly, women migrants also pres-
ent the similar trend regarding work status as found among men. In

Table 12.7a 
Percentage of male migrants in India by MPCE according to
current work status, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008

1999–2000 2007–2008
Self- Regular Casual Non- Self- Regular Casual Non-
MPCE employed salaried labour working employed salaried labour working
Lowest 25.8 16.8 22.6 34.8 29.4 18.8 19.4 32.5
Lower 25.5 28.1 16.5 30.0 26.4 28.4 16.2 29.1
Medium 24.6 34.2 11.1 30.1 22.8 36.1 10.2 30.9
Higher 21.6 41.6 7.2 29.6 21.2 44.1 7.1 27.6
Highest 17.7 48.7 3.0 30.6 19.8 46.4 2.1 31.8
Total 21.8 38.3 9.4 30.5 22.4 39.0 8.3 30.3
Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

Table 12.7b Percentage of female migrants in India by MPCE according to

current work status, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008

1999–2000 2007–2008
Self- Regular Casual Non- Self- Regular Casual Non-
MPCE employed salaried labour working employed salaried labour working
Lowest 13.3 3.4 10.7 72.7 7.8 4 7.7 80.4
Lower 11.5 4.5 5.4 78.7 7.1 4.4 4.4 84.0
Medium 9.3 3.9 3.9 82.9 4.7 4.3 2.6 88.4
Higher 6.6 5.3 2.4 85.7 3.9 5.5 1.1 89.5
Highest 4.6 10 0.5 84.9 3.6 10.5 0.4 85.4
Total 8.8 5.9 4.3 81.3 5.3 5.9 3.0 85.7
Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.
 184  Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and R. B. Bhagat

a nutshell, the share of working women migrants (i.e. self-employed,

regular salaried and casual labour) decreased from 19 per cent in
1999–2000 to 14 per cent in 2007–2008 and non-working women
migrants increased from 81.3 per cent to 85.7 per cent respectively
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(Table 12.7b). Undoubtedly, working status of migrants is highly

gendered as huge disparity exists between men and women migrants
in their current work status.
After analyzing current working status of migrants it is also
important to understand the changes in work status between pre
and post-migration periods, which explicitly focuses on those whose
status continued to be that of workers prior to and after migra-
tion as well as current work status of migrants (i.e. after migra-
tion work status) in 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 (Table 12.8). In
1999–2000, out of total working male migrants, 90.8 per cent are
those who had worked prior to migration as well as after migration,
whereas about 9 per cent migrants lost their jobs after entering in
urban areas. The similar scenario again prevails in 2007–2008 in
case of male migrants for their working status. In contrast, out of
total non-working male migrants, about half of the migrants con-
tinued their job and half of them slack their jobs after migration
in 1999–2000 while it is 53.4 and 46.6 per cent, respectively in
2007–2008. On the other hand among women, out of total work-
ing women, 61.1 per cent women sustained their working status,
whereas 38.9 per cent lose it after migration during 1999–2000.
Furthermore, 55.7 per cent women continued their work after
migration while 44.7 per cent lose their jobs after migration in
2007–2008. Contrastingly, out of total non-working women, only

Table 12.8 Changes in work status of migrants in pre- and post-migration

period in urban India, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008

After
migration
Male Female
1999–2000 2007–2008 1999–2000 2007–2008
Before Non- Non- Non- Non-
migration Working working Working working Working working Working working
Working 90.8 9.2 90.5 9.5 61.1 38.9 55.7 44.3
Non- 51.0 49.0 53.4 46.6 14.7 85.3 10.7 89.3
working
Total 69.5 30.5 70.9 29.1 18.7 81.4 14.4 85.6
Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.
 Gender dimensions of migration in urban India  185

14.7 per cent women started working after entering in urban areas,
while a large proportion of women migrants (85.3 per cent) remain
as non-working. The situation worsened in 2007–2008 as only 10.7
per cent women engaged in work force after migration compared to
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14.7 per cent in 19999–2000.

A comparison with earlier round shows that the working status
of male migrants is more or less same but among women migrants
it is reduced in 2007–2008 compared to 1999–2000. Probably,
this can be attributed to increasing levels of education in rural
areas, as a result migrant especially women are engaged in studies
rather than work. A recent study on employment trend in India
suggests that the improvement in the employment situation is also
confirmed by the unemployment estimates which remain high for
men but has declined considerably for females in rural as well as
in urban areas.

Factors associated with migration in urban

India in the age group of 15–59 (excluding
marriage as a reason for migration)
Results of multivariate analysis are presented in Table 12.9 to exam-
ine the association of key socio-economic factors with migration in
urban India. Since migration of women is highly dominated in the
form of post-nuptial migration, hence we have excluded those per-
sons who migrated because of marriage. Results suggest that among
male migrants persons who belonged to highest MPCE quintile are
about five times more likely to migrate as compared to lowest MPCE
quintile (OR: 5.35, p<0.001), whereas medium and higher quintiles
of MPCE have respectively two times and three times more likely
to migrate compared to lowest quintile of MPCE in 1999–2000.
Similarly, in 2007–2008, men who belonged to highest, higher and
medium MPCE quintiles are six times, four times and two times more
likely to migrate respectively as compared to lowest quintile (OR:
6.53, 4.18 and 2.44, p<0.001). Also among women, probability of
migration increases with rising income in both rounds of the sur-
vey, though the odds for women’s migration are relatively low as
compared to men. In case of educational attainment, results show
that both among men and women the odds for educational attain-
ment decreases with increasing level of education. Men and women
of scheduled castes are less likely to migrate compared to other social
groups. Moreover, in case of women migration the values of odds for
social groups were higher in 1999–2000 as compared to 2007–2008.
 186  Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and R. B. Bhagat

Table 12.9 Odds ratios of factors influencing the migration in urban India for
age group of 15–59 (excluding marriage as a reason for migration),
based on Binary Logistic Regression Analysis, 1999–2000 and
2007–2008
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Male Female
Background
characteristics 1999–2000 2007–2008 1999–2000 2007–2008
MPCE Quintiles
Lowest®
Lower 1.51*** 1.60*** 1.24*** 1.09**
Medium 2.12*** 2.44*** 1.51*** 1.43***
Higher 3.31*** 4.18*** 2.05*** 2.05***
Highest 5.35*** 6.53*** 3.08*** 3.00***
Educational
attainment
Illiterate®
Literate but below 0.90*** 0.93* 0.72*** 0.65***
middle
Middle but below 0.69*** 0.69*** 0.65*** 0.49***
secondary
Secondary or higher 0.68*** 0.57*** 0.61*** 0.47***
secondary
Graduate and above 0.61*** 0.50*** 0.53*** 0.40***
Social status
Scheduled tribe®
Scheduled caste 1.27*** 1.35*** 1.76*** 1.55***
Other backward 1.31*** 1.25*** 1.86*** 1.50***
class
Others 1.34*** 1.30*** 2.03*** 1.68***
Religion
Hindu®
Muslim 0.55*** 0.59*** 0.39*** 0.42***
Others 0.68*** 0.61*** 0.79*** 0.72***
Marital status
Single®
Married 1.60*** 1.73*** 1.58*** 1.92***
Age
15–24®
25–34 1.12*** 1.18*** 1.68*** 1.55***
35–44 1.19*** 1.17*** 1.87*** 1.62***
45–59 1.27*** 0.91** 1.90*** 1.29***
No. of observations 73132 64869 44239 40809
Log likelihood –40236.94 –36450.21 –23389.57 –22971.38
Pseudo R2 0.0687 0.0735 0.0837 0.0902
Notes: *p<0.10, **p<0.05, ***p<0.001, ® = Reference category.
Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.
 Gender dimensions of migration in urban India  187

However, both rounds of data support the fact that women belonging
to higher social status have higher probability to migrate. It is worth-
while to emphasize that while rising economic and social status is
associated with higher level of both men’s and women’s migration in
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urban areas, same is not true for rising educational status. The rising
educational status is associated with lower level of migration. This
may be due to the fact that with higher level of education and associ-
ated skills, it is possible to get job in situ and one need not migrate
elsewhere. On the other hand, men and women with lower level of
education but higher level of economic and social status have ability
to migrate in the event not getting jobs locally. Thus, the educational
level and associated skills are crucial factors determining migration
into the urban areas.

Summary and conclusion

Migration is the hallmark of modern times closely linked with the
process of development. In recent times, women have been the pio-
neers in migration not only due to marriage but also in search of bet-
ter livelihood for themselves and their families (Thapan et al., 2014).
However, women’s migration brings issues of restricted movement,
vigilance and control (Cresswell and Uteng 2008; Klugman and Mar-
ton 2013). These restrictions, vigilance and control act as obstacles on
women’s migration especially in the Indian society. The present study
aims to enhance the understanding of migratory process with special
focus on gender dimension utilizing two migration related NSS rounds
(55th and 64th). Changes in migration at the macrolevel reveals that
migration of men is lower than that of women, however, there has
been increase in women’s migration in recent times. Migration from
rural to urban is more dominating than urban to urban streams. When
we exclude marriage as a reason of migration, high economic status,
higher educational status and higher social status are found to be criti-
cal factors associated with women’s migration in urban India. However,
the direction of these factors is not unilinear as the level of education
is negatively associated with female migration. It means that highly
educated women are less mobile for employment, business, education,
and other related purposes as they could compete for the local jobs. On
the other hand, women with low level of education and if they belong
to higher economic and social status, then they are more mobile. It
seems that such women cannot compete for locally available opportu-
nities but have means to move elsewhere. Also, this study shows that
migrant men’s participation in work remained stable while migrant
 188  Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and R. B. Bhagat

women’s participation has decreased after migration into the urban

India. This reflects the phenomena of defeminization of female work
force in recent times. However, a considerable quantum of women
migrate due to economic reasons, this fact suggest that women are not
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only dependent followers of men in terms of their migration, conse-

quently, the policy regarding the job opportunities of migrants should
be such that there may not exist any kind of bias at work place regard-
ing gender preferences, i.e. women migrants must also be given equal
and fair chance as their male counterparts and proper trust should
be maintained over them. Since migration and work experiences are
often quite different for men and women, therefore policy should aim
to eradicate gender discrimination. Hence, there is a need to change
our mindset to appreciate that the women’s migration is a natural out-
come and they have also right to migrate. Along with male migra-
tion, women’s migration should be seen as an outcome of accelerated
economic growth and urbanization and also potentially shaping the
nature of development and well-being of human society.

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Confined to the margins

Female migrant workers in urban areas
Neetha N

During the past two decades, there have been enough evidences of
women migrating to urban areas for employment, as captured in many
microlevel studies. Their absorption in labour intensive manufactur-
ing sectors such as textiles and garments and electronics and later in
the booming service sector is well evidenced though at the macrolevel
female labour migration is yet to receive due recognition. The simplistic
understanding of female migration as subsequent to marriage is an issue
which feminist scholars and activists has long been debating and ques-
tioning. The overall changes in the economy following the policy shift
have not only deepened some of the concerns arising out of such limited
understanding of female migration but also have raised newer issues.
Female migration is known to account for a large proportion of
population migration with marriage occupying a key position. Esti-
mates of the National Sample Survey (NSS), 2007–2008 suggest that
327.7 million people in the country are internal migrants, which is
roughly about 29 per cent of the population. However, 80 per cent of
migrants are female, and they accounted of 48 per cent of the rural
female population and 46 per cent of urban females, respectively.
What is noteworthy in this context is the increase in the rate of female
migration over the years. Thus, in 1993, only 40 per cent of the rural
and 38 per cent of urban female populations were migrants. The
case of female migration becomes all the more interesting in com-
parison to the changes in male migration. Male migrants in the rural
population declined from 6 per cent to 5 per cent between 1993 and
2007–2008, and increased by only 2 per cent (from 24 per cent to 26
per cent) in urban areas. During the recent decades with increasing
urbanization and on ongoing rural crisis, urban-bound migration has
been of particular interest and focus, both from the context of devel-
opment as well as policy interventions.
Marriage accounted for 61 per cent of female migrants followed by
associational migration (29 per cent) in urban areas in 2007–2008.
 192  Neetha N

Though at the overall level, the pattern was same in 1993, marriage
accounted for only 31.7 per cent of migrants with associational migra-
tion leading at 49.5 per cent. Migration for employment-related reasons
in urban areas, a phenomenon which has been reported by micro level
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studies, has shown a decline from 4.9 per cent to 2.7 per cent. For this
reason, female migration is often analysed as demographic movements
and female labour migration is assumed insignificant.
The present chapter explores some of the contemporary features
and characteristics of female migration and the relationship between
female migrations and economic changes – particularly in the con-
text of employment. It is argued that while on the surface there are
apparently growing opportunities for migration-based employment
for women, such employment-related regimes of work/residence
may actually reduce the scope for autonomy, growth and develop-
ment for women. This argument is developed and substantiated
through an analysis of the experiences of live-in domestic workers in
Delhi who have migrated from tribal pockets.
The chapter is based on both macro as well as microlevel data. The
chapter based on the NSS unit level data on migration for the last two
rounds (1999–2000 and 2007–2008) provides insights into the central-
ity of migrant women workers, the broad patterns of female migration,
profile of workers, and the sectoral and occupational dimensions of
migrant women. Since the data on female labour migration is known to
have its limitations, the analysis in the chapter is based on the employ-
ment status of women who have reported that they are migrants (place
of residence different from last usual place of residence). The analysis
is limited to the age group of 15–60 and this category constitute for
almost 97 per cent of all migrant female workers in 2007–2008. Work
participation rate among these migrants is also higher with 19.36 per
cent as against 17.2 per cent for all women migrants and 13.8 for total
urban females (both migrants as well as non-migrants)1. While mac-
rodata is used to underline some of the emerging trends and broad
patterns of urban female migration, specific aspects of female migra-
tion processes are examined based on the primary survey of women
migrants from select occupations in urban areas.

Female migrant workers in urban areas

Possibility of increased opportunities for work with migration is a
well-acknowledged phenomenon. For women, the proportion of
non-working category remains high even after migration though some
increase in work participation is noted (Banerjee 2009). Whereas the
proportion of migrant women in employment before migration was
 Confined to the margins  193

only 9 per cent, their work participation increased to 19 per cent after
migration.2 Thus, whatever be the reason for migration, the fact is
that a section of women migrants are in employment and their work
participation rate is higher than that of all women, which is 13.6 per
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cent in 2007–2008. In recent literature, female migration is linked to

gender-specific patterns of labour demand in urban areas and cities.
It has been argued that it is the opportunities available to women
in the services and industrial sectors especially with the opening up
of the economy that has resulted in a high female labour mobility.
In the context of India, at the overall level there has been a stagnation
of female work participation rate in urban areas alongside sectoral
concentration of women (Neetha 2009). These overall dimensions
will definitely be reflected in the context of migrant workers also.
Given the overall lower status of migrant workers in general, the
macropattern may get more pronounced for migrants.

Expanding opportunities with increased segregation

The data shows that self-employment is critical even after migra-
tion with the share of women self-employed as high as 44 per cent.
Though the proportion of self-employed increases after migration, the
structure of self-employed changes – with the share of unpaid helpers
declining alongside an increase in own account workers. This struc-
tural change within self-employment is noteworthy with own account
workers constituting for more than half of the self-employed while
for men the proportions have remained almost stagnant (Table 13.1).

Table 13.1 Proportion of migrants across status of employment: before and

after migration

Difference between 2007–2008

2007–2008 and 1999–2000
Before After Before
migration migration migration After migration
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Own account 25.6 9.2 25.7 22.9 –1.1 –1.4 0.21 –2.21
worker
Employer 1.3 0.1 2.5 0.7 0.7 –0.6 1.27 0.06
Helper 9.6 23.5 3 20.3 0.7 6 –0.6 –1.11
Regular 37.6 29.4 56.9 36.2 –2.6 –1.9 0.43 6.18
workers
Casual 25.9 37.8 11.9 19.8 2.1 –2.3 –1.31 –3.03
workers
Source: Migration in India, Unit level data, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008.
 194  Neetha N

Whether, this shift in employment structure reveals a move

towards better employment cannot be judged at this point as the sec-
tor of employment is critical. Regular work is another category which
has shown an increase. While regular work has increased in the case
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of male workers also, this has not been the case with own account
work. When unpaid helpers are removed the broad structural dis-
tribution of male and female worker does not show much variation
with regular work leading the distribution.
A comparison with 1999–2000, however, gives the changing
trends over time which shows a decline in the share of own account
work for women and a noticeable increase in regular work, which
seems to have increased by 6.2 percentage points over time. For men,
the trend does not show much change. The growing importance
of regular work in urban female employment is a notable feature
during the last two decades and this pattern seems to be true with
migrants also.
The industrial distribution of women before and after migration
reveals further the gender specificities of migration to urban areas.
Figures for male and female migrants are quite diverse with male
migrants showing a diverse occupational profile, compared to females
which show more concentrations. Agriculture is a major sector from
where many females have migrated, the data shows that male migrants
are from a diversified set of occupations. However, agriculture consti-
tute for only a small proportion of total migrant workers as a much
larger proportion are drawn from unemployed women, who would
have been engaged in household domestic duties (CWDS 2012).
This nature of concentration of women before migration seems to
have influenced their choice of labour market entry in urban areas.
Women migrants are more concentrated in manufacturing and allied
activities, with education, trade, hotels, and restaurants sharing the
bulk of the service sector jobs. What needs to specially noted is the
proportion of women engaged in the category private households
with employed persons, who are largely into domestic work. At the
overall level, there is substantial diversification of female employment
after migration despite a high degree of concentration in specific sec-
tors. Microlevel studies have further indicated that the structure of
the female migrant workforce is far more dominated by unskilled/
semi-skilled manual work than the male migrant workforce, whether
the destination of migration is rural or urban (Figure 13.1).3
A comparison across the two periods, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008
gives further insights into the overall concentrations in the employ-
ment profile of women migrants. Segments that have increased
 Confined to the margins  195

Figure 13.1 Distribution of migrant workers across broad industrial sectors:

before and after migration

Mining and quaring 0.2

Electricity, gas and water supply 0.30.2 0.3
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Transport and communicaons 1.3

Private households with employed persons 1.9
Construcon 3.3
Public administraon and defence 3.4
Other community social and personal services Aer migraon
3.6
Financial services and business 4.3 Before migraon
Trade, hotels and restaurants 5.3
Health and social work 5.5
Educaon 10
Manufacturing and recycling 14.6
Agriculture and related service acvies 46.3
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Source: Migration in India, Unit Level Data, 2007–2008.

its share over time are manufacturing, health and social work and
private households with employed persons. In contrast to these,
declines have been across a number of sectors such as trade, hotel
and restaurants, construction, education, public administration, and
miscellaneous services. Thus, though migration have opened up
more possibilities of employment, over time there are tendencies of
concentration, especially within the service sector occupations.
The above analysis provides the broad employment picture of
migrants. A comparison of distribution across status of employment
of migrant and non-migrant workers shows that though the over-
all pattern is similar for both though the proportions vary. Though
share of migrants are higher in all categories, given the hierarchy
of employment status, the figure clearly shows the concentration of
migrant women worker in the lower categories. Thus, the share of
migrant women is the highest in helper category and declines as
it move upward with regular work showing almost an equal share
(50.6%). The above trends need to be analysed against the sectors of
employment to provide further insights on its implication for female
labour migration and migrants (Figure 13.2).
The sectoral picture is revealing with manufacturing and related
activities accounting for the largest share of female migrant work-
ers (25.4%); followed by trade, hotels and restaurants (12.4%) and
education (11.1%) and private households with employed persons
(7.7%).4 Construction accounted for about 5.2 per cent of urban
female migrant workers. The importance of these two sectors in
terms of migrant women is further clear from migrant–non-migrant
 196  Neetha N

Figure 13.2 Proportion of migrant and non-migrant women across status of

employment

Total
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Casual workers
Migrant
Regular workers Non-migrant
Migrants' share
Helper

Self-employed

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Source: Migration in India, Unit Level Data, 2007–2008.

women’s share in these sectors. In 2007–2008, female migrant share

was estimated to be lowest in manufacturing clearly showing the
increased presence of local labour. On the other hand, domestic work
and construction shows highest values for female migrant shares,
which is a reflection of the poor conditions of work in these sectors
which deters entry of local workers.
Domestic work was found to top the list of occupations for urban
female migrants in a multilocational study carried out by CWDS;
accounting for more than 27 per cent of urban female migrants.
Construction accounted for another 16 per cent making these sec-
tors/occupations the destination of some 43 per cent of female
migrant workers in urban areas (CWDS 2012). The importance of
these two sectors in terms of migrant women is further clear from
migrant–non-migrant women’s share in these sectors. In 2007–2008,
female migrant share was estimated to be lowest in manufactur-
ing clearly showing the increased presence of local labour. On the
other hand, domestic work and construction shows highest values for
female migrant shares, which is a reflection of the poor conditions or
work in these sectors which prevent entry of local workers.
What is interesting across the period from 1999–2000 to 2007–2008
is the changing shares and importance of various sectors. Thus, while
manufacturing and private households with employed persons (who
are largely paid domestic workers) increased their share of migrant’s
workers across periods, education, trade and hotels show a decline. Of
these sectors of migrant employment, paid domestic work is now well
acknowledged as a fast growing sector of female migrant workers.
 Confined to the margins  197

Profiling migrant women workers

in urban areas
The above analysis clearly shows the increasing importance of female
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migrant workers in urban areas though with sectoral concentrations.

Migration and related processes needs to understood and analysed in
the context of those who migrate. Not much information, however,
is available on the profiles of migrant women workers. Few micro-
level studies have provided some understanding on the specificities
of women migrants in select sectors. Based on NSS data, a basic pro-
filing of migrant workers is given in Table 13.2.

Table 13.2 Profile of migrant workers

Categories 1999–2000 2007–2008

Female Female Male
Age cohorts 15–18 2.83 1.99 2.70
19–25 13.14 12.32 16.81
26–40 51.79 51.63 46.98
41–50 22.09 23.42 21.64
51–60 10.15 10.64 11.86
Marital status Never married 5.55 7.56 20.33
Currently married 79.47 77.32 78.72
Widowed 13.22 12.75 0.83
Divorced/separated 1.76 2.37 0.12
Social group ST 5.45 4.33 2.93
SC 20.08 18.37 13.61
OBC 36.32 40.26 33.32
Others 38.15 37.04 50.15
Educational level Not literate 49.20 38.57 10.84
Literate without 7.70 0.40 0.58
schooling
Literate with formal schooling 7.37 6.11
below primary
Primary 8.60 10.18 11.06
Upper primary/ 9.40 11.97 18.40
middle
Secondary 7.50 7.39 16.77
Higher secondary 5.00 5.00 9.78
Graduate-13 11.22 16.04
Postgraduate and above-14 5.20 6.05
Graduate and above 12.70 16.42 22.09
Diploma/certificate course-12 2.69 4.38
Source: Migration in India, Unit Level Data, 2007–2008.
 198  Neetha N

A large segment of women migrant workers are in the age cohort

of 26–40, which is normally the working age group for most women.
Though for men also this is the age group which have the highest
proportion, the values are lower compared to women. Currently mar-
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ried women account for almost more than three-fourth of all migrant
women workers with a declining proportion over the two periods.
It needs to be noted that, though the share of unmarried women is
small, the share show an increase over the period. What is striking
when male–female comparisons are made is the higher values for the
category of widowed – for men this category is negligible. Social group
profiles of migrants do not match with the overall high level of work
participation among Scheduled Castes (SCs). Lower social and caste
status propels/compels greater involvement of women in paid work.
However, in the context of urban women migrant such a pattern is
not visible. This clearly means that more diversified and less stigma-
tized service occupations in urban areas have obviously opened up
more opportunities for upper caste women than for traditional female
workers, who are drawn more from SC and Scheduled Tribes (ST).5
What is interesting is the relatively higher share of other backward
castes (OBCs) among female migrants and its increase over time. The
greater proportions of women from OBC backgrounds in urban migra-
tion perhaps reflects the greater levels of internal differentiation that
has taken place within the large omnibus category of OBCs.
The educational profile of women migrant workers reflects the
nature of work available for women in urban areas. The largest chunk
of women is illiterate. Interestingly, their share shows a decline across
the two time periods by around 14 percentage points. Though there
has been simultaneous increase across many educational categories,
proportion of graduate and above show the maximum increase of
5 percentage points, followed by upper primary and middle. This
clearly points to the emerging opportunities and segregation in
urban areas with the illiterate and poorly educated taking up less
skilled, less paid jobs like domestic work casual labour in construc-
tion and manufacturing or that of vendors and helpers. The middle
layer constitute for the less educated, filling up the demand that arise
in urban areas with the coming up of organized trade, changing life
style of the urban middle class such as beauticians, etc. At the top
of the hierarchy, are the well educated, skilled whose demands are
related to the expansion of service sector outsourcing and emergence
of financial and insurance industries in urban areas.
Profile of both male and female workers across technical educa-
tion show a weak outcome with about 94 per cent of females and 90
per cent of male having no technical education. What is intriguing is
 Confined to the margins  199

the small decline, by 1 per cent, in the proportion across the period
for females. It is true that in many of the service sector jobs that are
expanding, technical education is not the requirement.
The patterns that emerges from the profile of women migrants
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and their educational profiles are reflective of the demand side. The
proportions of workers are high among the less educated and the
highest educated with middle-level educated having the lowest. The
nature of urban jobs that are open to migrant women seems to draw
either from the bottom, or require those with higher skills.

Better or worse: the question of autonomy

and agency
Migration is often assumed to have liberating influence on women.
‘Women migrants moving on their own’ as they are frequently
labelled, are though numerically a minority, in the discussion on
female migration this segment assumes special significance. Thus,
the role of women as remittance senders and the role of migra-
tion in reshaping gender power relations has become an important
research theme in recent years. The often assumed direct relation-
ship between migration and empowerment are criticized for its
failure in accounting the complexity of female labour migration in
terms of context, pattern, social, and economic processes involved
in migration and the employment dimension of such mobility. In
the context of internal migration also autonomy and empowerment
dimensions have acquired growing importance though a large seg-
ment of female labour migration is known to have largely been asso-
ciational in nature. The fluidity of the notion of empowerment makes
it difficult to analyse. This becomes especially problematic given the
understanding that women who venture to migrate independently
may already be more empowered.
In this context it is important to highlight the findings of the CWDS
study. The study finds that a large section of migrant women workers
(about 80%) in urban areas to have chosen their destination, clearly
revealing their role in migration decisions. Not all such women actu-
ally could be the sole decision-makers but surely had some role in
migration. Information gathered on the mode of migration by the
study indicates the prevalence of strong independent motivations
involved in migrating to urban areas, with about 81 per cent reporting
their movement as independent. Women’s employment prospects in
the destinations could be an important factor that contributed to such
an overwhelming proportion suggesting independent motivations.
Thus, it indicates that majority of migrant women workers migrated
 200  Neetha N

with clear intentions of finding employment, even though they have

moved with the family for associational reasons. These insights are
suggestive of an increased role of women in migration, which in turn
strengthens the celebratory status of migrant women workers and the
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related aspects of agency and autonomy as against their vulnerability

concerns. The urge to change the conditions of their life and work is
evident in the proportions of migrants especially declaring that they
themselves decided to migrate. These, do indeed indicate a wave
of social assertion and aspirational motivation. However, the larger
question is as to whether the existing employment options provides
any scope for challenging and transforming gender relations.
Women’s entry into wage work and its impact on women’s over-
all social status are debated issues, especially in the contemporary
context. The economic and social roles of women prior to wage work
and the nature of current employment are important parameters in
delineating the overall impact of any such change. If new categories of
wage employment are based on a regressive gendered ideology or are
extensions of existing social values, the overall impact of such changes
on women are bound to be adverse. Based on analysis of secondary
data, it is clear that migrant women are employed in greater numbers
in unskilled jobs, which would mean that they earn lower wages.
Discussions on autonomy and agency have been largely in the
context of new forms of service sector employment such as that of
information technology, financial services, hospitality, etc. However,
women in low paid informal sector employment are also often drawn
into such discussions. Migration for domestic work, especially those
of unmarried girls is of particular relevance in this context. Migration
of young, unmarried girls from tribal pockets to cities to undertake
domestic work as live-in workers has been an acknowledged develop-
ment during the present phase of large-scale rural–urban migration.
Being single women, who are young migrants, the case of such workers
are often located in the context of discussion on agency and empower-
ment. Migration has both direct and indirect effect on empowerment
of women. Direct effects are a consequence of an increase in women’s
incomes as a result of migration. Indirect effect has to do with the
social, cultural and family effect on women. In the following section,
through examining the lives of tribal women domestic workers in the
context of Delhi these issues are further explored.6

Liberation through gendered house work?

Explanations on migration of single women who are categorized as
‘moved on their own’ have ranged over a number of issues. Apart
 Confined to the margins  201

from the usual economic argument, escape from hard work, quest for
independent life, and charm of the city have also been noted. What-
ever be the reasons for migration, economic aspect is central to these
considerations. The possibility of economic empowerment though is
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still a debated attribute; however, access to cash income is a real-

ity. As wages are not substantial, with variations across workers,
the average income comes around Rs 3,000 per month (Neetha and
Mazumdar 2009). Since accommodation and other living expenses
of the worker are met by the employers this income supports the fam-
ily back home. The initial plan of many workers is to work for shorter
span mostly a year or more and earn some cash and then return (IST
1993). However, many workers soon realize that with poor salaries,
their savings in the city are insufficient to meet the financial needs
of their family. Further, the expectations or demands on them also
increase which leaves them trapped for many years.
Even when such migrations of tribal women are termed as ‘inde-
pendent migration’, there is a high dependence on recruitment
agents and placement agencies, often leading to rampant exploita-
tion. These questions the notion of autonomy involved in such migra-
tion. The conditions of employment and the exploitative nature of
work have been documented to be one of the worst among all infor-
mal sector occupations with high degree of informality. As they are
live-in workers, they are on call 24 hours a day.
More than the economic aspect of domestic work, it is the social
aspect of this occupation that needs exposition in this context. Inter-
actions between social groups do not always undermine, but often
enhance, the boundaries that divide them. Migrant domestic workers
are the perfect example of the intimate other – they are recruited by
urban households as substitutes for women in housework. Spatial dif-
ference is clearly displayed in the employer households (Kaur 2004).
Often, there is a clear-cut earmarking of space and other facilities.
Migrant tribal workers are normally instructed to eat separately – at
different tables or in different rooms, with different plates, once the
employers finish their meal. In general, other than her bedroom (if
she has one7), the deemed appropriate spaces for a domestic worker
to occupy include the kitchen, the balcony and sometimes the chil-
dren’s playroom.
Apart from these issues, tensions around moral and sexual behav-
iour of these workers are noted. In many houses, domestic workers
are prohibited or controlled from wearing make-up, jewellery, nail
polish, or perfume. Dress codes with a must ‘dupatta’ to suppress
their femininity, thereby checking any threat suggest the tension that
surround the employment of young domestic workers in general. The
 202  Neetha N

insistence on ‘simple and clean’ dress code by some agencies and

employers, are also in tune with such tensions.
On the whole, the work life and working conditions do not indicate
any positive change in the lives of women with degraded working
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conditions. The nature of work and housework not only reinforces

the gendered division of work but also social identities of women
who are engaged in paid domestic work.

Changing life styles and the home community

As young migrants to urban areas, these workers are confronted with
whole range of adjustment and adaptation problems. Tribal women
live-in workers tend to reside between two cultures. They are trans-
planted into another society where they are expected to assimilate
or reaggregate into the new culture. The exposure to urban life does
have significant imprints on their life styles. Their spending habits
and change in outfits do suggest their aspirations for imitating the
life style of the middle class. Western outfits, which are only a recent
entry even among the middle class women, are the most imitated
dressing style – trousers, pants, jeans, and tops are the most accepted
outfits among the young workers. Such outfits clearly clashes with
the orthodox image of poorly clothed, tribal women and also of the
domestic worker. Dress could probably an important and easy way
to transcend their stigmatized social position in urban locations. The
crave for the latest and expensive mobile phones, even though the
use of many of the elaborated functions are unknown and possibly
beyond comprehension do suggest the extent of such imitations of
the middle class. These are indications that these workers do culti-
vate and actively practise dress styles associated with cosmopolitan-
ism, urbanity and femininity to counter the stigma of being tribal and
to promote the image of a modern service class woman.
These changed life styles, however, are not accepted so easily by
the employers and tensions around dress code and their conduct
inside as well as outside employers’ home are common. This even
affects their employment prospects – cases of counselling, warnings/
scolding, cut in wages/holidays, and even termination of employ-
ment are commonly reported. Many placement agencies try through
their weekly meetings to check such changes in life styles thereby
reinforcing their tribal/religious identities.
The flow of money from the migrants to their home communi-
ties ensure that their social standing at home is validated, even if
they are not present. This concern for status is also consistent with
 Confined to the margins  203

decisions on how wages are spent. A considerable proportion (and in

many cases even the full amount) of their earnings is sent to support
the family in the rural areas. This income, apart from meeting the
daily expenses of the family, is mostly used to settle debts or for the
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education of the siblings. Yet another major expenditure is towards

annual visit to their homes. Domestic workers prepare for these trips
by going on major shopping sprees to buy clothes for themselves and
to get gifts to various members. With these material markers, they try
to project an urban, fashion-conscious, sophisticated, and feminine
image back in the rural areas. After all these expenses, even for those
workers, who are working for many years in the city, the savings are
normally zero or little, leaving no money for any productive invest-
ment for a better future.
The return of tribal migrant women to take up domestic works
after a break due to marriage or otherwise is much more complex.
In some cases, the marriage would not go smoothly while in other
cases the women find it difficult to adjust to married life and the life
styles of the tribal societies, which eventually prompt many of them
to return to the cities. After working in a modern kitchen using gas
and gadgets such as pressure cooker and automatic grinders, some
do clearly express their dissatisfaction about cooking in the tradi-
tional way using fire woods. Apart from this, regular cash income
has facilitated some independent decisions on expenditure especially
related to clothing, jewellery, etc. The dependence on others for such
expenditure is also factor that was noted favouring their return to
domestic work in the city. Few workers also reported loss of dignity
without earning cash income – both at home as well as in the com-
munity. The sudden unwanted feeling within home community was
shared by many reentrants. This has also made many to realize the
need to save money for their future resulting in declined remittances
to families. Aversion to manual agricultural work with no possibility
of using their newly acquired skill back home are also issues that
underlie the return to domestic work. Economic necessity, earning
for the survival of the family – sometimes, the new family after mar-
riage – trigger all return migrations.

Summing up
On the whole, from the foregoing discussion, it is evident that the
entry of tribal women to urban domestic work has lead to the trans-
formation in their roles and status in the home community alongside
changes in values, life styles and perceptions. This reconfiguration
 204  Neetha N

provides new foundations for gender differentials and inequalities.

Migration for domestic work did not yield any direct empowerment
to these women – with degraded working conditions at one end, and
with stereotyped and gendered notions of docility being the primary
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axis for their preference in household labour and social reproduction

process. The confinement of tribal women strictly into the realm of
reproductive labour (though paid) contributes to the devaluation of
women’s economic status in the host societies. By this, their status
and roles become more akin to the larger and general social under-
standing of women’s role – underlined by detention to reproduc-
tive labour and the resultant subordination. Quite often the altered
norms of socialization and familial relations acquired from the city
life makes them incompatible in their own societies leading to situ-
ations of social exclusion. Stuck between distinct societies and cul-
tures, they live through situations of acute identity crisis and social
isolation.

Acknowledgement
The author acknowledges comments from Babu P. Remesh.

Notes
1 Almost half of the female migrant workers are in the age group of 26–40.
2 As stated earlier, in the following analysis, all the women migrants who
were reported in employment are taken irrespective of their reason for
migration to urban areas.
3 The CWDS study found 59 per cent of the women migrants with urban
destinations in unskilled/semi-skilled manual work in comparison to 52
per cent of the male migrants.
4 The share of domestic workers in urban female employment is clearly an
underestimate as domestic workers as a category are often not captured
in large surveys due to multiple factors, which is evident from many
microlevel studies.
5 This is more marked in the context of male workers – upper castes
account for about half of the total migrant male workers.
6 The studies conducted by the author on domestic workers in Delhi in
2000 and 2008 are the main sources of data. Supplementary information
was gathered through informal interviews and discussions with domestic
workers, placement agencies, organizers of domestic workers, and so on.
7 The servants’ quarters or the servants’ room if it exists, in contrast to the
spacious house of the employer, are small rooms with bad ventilation,
and are normally at the attic or basement.
 Confined to the margins  205

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CWDS. 2012. Gender and Migration: A Women’s Movement Perspective.

Mimeo, New Delhi: Centre for Women’s Development Studies.
IST. 1993. The Tribal Domestic Workers at the Cross Roads: A Search for
Alternatives, a Report of the Status of Tribal Delhi Domestic Working
Women in India. Delhi: Indian Social Institute.
Kaur, Ravinder. 2004. ‘Empowerment and the City: The Case of Female
Migrants in Domestic Work’, Harvard Asia Quarterly, pp. 15–24. Summer
2004, VIII(2).
Neetha, N. 2009. ‘Women’s Work in the Post Reform Period: An Exploration
of Macro Data’, CWDS Occasional Paper, No. 52, New Delhi: Centre for
Women’s Development Studies.
Neetha, N. and Indrani Mazumdar. 2009. ‘Conditions and Needs of Women
Workers in Delhi’, Unpublished Research Report, New Delhi: Centre for
Women’s Development Studies.
 14
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Understanding female migration

pattern in India
Exploring the driving forces
Sandhya Rani Mahapatro and K. S. James

Introduction
Female migration pattern in India encompasses enormous eco-
nomic and social diversity. While much of the traditional short dis-
tance marriage migration continues, increased education, prospects
for off-farm employment, emergence of new small towns result in
a more complex pattern of female migration in recent years. While
marriage remains to be the primary reason, economic transformation
intersecting with other sociocultural changes are persuading women
migrate for work, education and improving the quality of life. How-
ever, emphasizing the role of women as associational mover (Nangia
and Nangia 1990; De Hann, A. 2000; Mitra and Murayama 2008)
studies, in general, overlooked the underlying motivations associated
with female mobility particularly in recent decades.
It is possible that most often, the underlying reasons for migration
among female after marriage are also for employment or education.
The prevailing sociocultural practices and the methods of collecting
migration data in surveys, however, under represent the actual moti-
vation of female migration in a different manner. First, the surveys
ask the respondent to elicit only the main reason for migration. In
the case of females, marriage is always intertwined with migration;
hence, it is believed that female migration is the by-product of mar-
riage only. Second, the respondents in survey and census are the head
of the household who are generally males which result in underes-
timation of economic role of women related to migration. Thirdly,
married females who are working before and also after migration
also not counted as employment-oriented migration. This indicates
the culturally determined roles of women restrict them to divulge the
actual reason and hence leads to underestimation of their economic
motivations in migration process. Studies also argued that the under-
lying reasons for women to choose an urban partner for ­marriage
 Female migration pattern in India  207

also links to their future employment prospects (Shanti 2006). Thus,

marriage migration in many cases also includes economic motivation
which the survey fails to capture. The increasing labour force partici-
pation of women after migration as evident from the National Sample
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Survey (NSS) data is another manifestation of this.

Although the studies recognize the limitation of data in under-
standing the actual reason for female migration, no serious attempt
is made to scrutinize the data more intensively to bring out the real
motivation for female migration. It is possible that with the genera-
tion of female centric employment opportunities at post-liberalization
period, females are increasingly motivated to migrate to work in tex-
tiles and garment industries, construction sector, brick-kiln industry,
sugar cane farming as domestic servants, and in many other informal
services (Neetha 2004; Shanti 2006; UNICEF 2012) as these sectors
enable women to augment family income. A number of microstudies
finds there is a discernible increase in poverty-induced migration (Rao
1982; Sharma 1986; Shanti 1991; Gracia 2000; Sundari 2005; Chat-
topadhyay 2005; Arya and Roy 2006) of women. This signifies female
migration for economic reasons are confined to lower economic strata
has been the focus of the studies till now.
Perhaps, it is important to re-examine the validity of such pat-
terns in recent times. For instance, with expansion of information
technology sector in recent years most of the female migrated to
enter into software-related services. Besides, set-up of technical and
professional institutions which were not available in all places moti-
vating them to migrate to pursue higher education so that in the
long run they will earn good income through better employment.
The data drawn from the latest National Sample Survey Organi-
zation (NSSO) also shows that there is a spurt increase in mobil-
ity of female for educational attainment. However, the empirical
understanding of this emerging complex pattern of female migra-
tion remains negligible. Hence, the traditional pattern of poverty
induced female migration needs a re-examination with latest pat-
terns of migration.
Addressing the gaps in existing literature and empirical analysis
on female mobility the present chapter intended to deal with two
major issues. First, criticizing female mobility always associated
with marriage, the chapter attempts to understand role of female in
migration beyond as marriage migrants. Secondly, the chapter analy-
ses the complex pattern of female mobility emerged in recent years in
the course of development of the country.
The remainder of this chapter addresses these aspects. In the sec-
tion on ‘Data source’, we discuss the data set used for analysis. In the
section on ‘Female migration in India: trends, flows and reason’, we
 208  Sandhya Rani Mahapatro and K. S. James

present the trends, flows and reasons for migration. In the section on
‘The underlying reasons for female migration’, we provide an under-
standing of underlying reason for female migration. In this section
the pre- and post-employment status of migrants, the current pat-
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tern of female mobility and its differences from life time migrants in
terms of their socio-economic characteristics are presented. Besides,
the findings from empirical analysis are also presented. The section
on ‘Discussion and conclusion’ concludes this chapter.

Data source
The unit level data of the NSS 64th round on migration, employment
and unemployment is used for the analysis. Although it is known that
the NSS data is not as robust as the census for aggregating migration
due to underestimation of population, but the NSS provides addi-
tional information on monthly consumption expenditure (a proxy of
income) that measure poverty level of household, remittances, activ-
ity status, etc. Besides, census results for migration are available only
till 2001, whereas the NSS results are available till 2007–2008; hence,
to understand the current pattern the analysis is based on NSS results.
The information provided in the NSS on reasons for migration,
monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE), educational
characteristics, pre- and post-employment status of migrants, dura-
tion of migration, etc. are used extensively in this chapter to under-
stand the female mobility. For analytical purpose, female migrants
are classified as life time migrant1 and recent migrant2. To capture
the short-term fluctuation and contemporary pattern of migration,
life time migrants are compared with recent migrants.

Female migration in India: trends, flows

and reasons
Estimates from census as well as the NSS show a continuous increase
in female migration in India. According to the 2001 census of 309 mil-
lion migrants, 70.7 per cent were female. Further, the NSS estimates
also give a similar picture in terms female dominance by 80.4 per
cent. Migration data for different NSS rounds shows a substantial
increase in female migration rate from 35 per cent in 1983 to 47 per
cent in 2007/08 and hence, the increase in migration rate is solely
attributed to female migration. Rural to rural constitutes the major
reason for migration among females due to high prevalence of mar-
riage migration. However, with time, the rural to urban and urban to
 Female migration pattern in India  209

urban migration is increasing for employment, education and other

reasons. The disaggregation of female migrants according to the rea-
sons shows marriage constitutes the major reason for migration with
84 per cent. While female reporting marriage as the reason is 91
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per cent, in rural it is 61 per cent in urban. Consequently, in recent

years a steady increase in migration of female for education is also
observed. Migration of female for education increases from 0.6 per
cent in 1999/00 to 1 per cent in 2007/08 and the increase is high in
urban area from 1.3 per cent to 2.3 per cent.

The underlying reasons for female migration

The overwhelming representation of female for marriage in macro-
level data as presented in the above section underestimate the actual
motivation of their migration. It is pointed out already that the per-
sisting social cultural norms restrict women’s freedom to divulge
the actual motivation of their migration. Therefore, analysis of data
directly on the reasons for migration may not help much in under-
standing the underlying motivation. To overcome the deficiency and
to understand how far the economic reasons are intertwined with
other reasons behind female migration, the labour force participa-
tion of females by the pre- and post-migration status is analysed. The
labour force participation status of female migrant by marital status
and by reason for migration is presented in Figures 14.1 and 14.2.

Figure 14.1 Labour force participation of female migrants by migration status

(less than five years)
25
20.35
19.5
20
17
15.77 15.79
15
Percentage of
10.56
female migrant
10 Pre Mig
Post Mig
5

0
Currently Others Total
married
Marital status
Source: NSSO, 64th round, 2007–2008.
 210  Sandhya Rani Mahapatro and K. S. James

Figure 14.2 Labour force participation status of female reporting marriage

and family moved as reason for migration
35 30.2
30
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25
18.3 19.8
20 16.4
13.7
15 10.5 Pre Mig
9.08 8.5
10 Post Mig
5
0
Marriage Family move Marriage Family move
Life me Recent
Source: NSSO, 64th round, 2007–2008.

The data in Figure 14.1 is presented by marital status of female

who have migrated in the last five years from the period of survey.
While 20 per cent of migrant women are currently in labour force it
was 16 per cent before migration. Among married female migrants
the participation rate increased from 17 per cent to 20.3 per cent and
for others it increases from 10.6 per cent to 15.7 per cent. The small
increment in participation rate could be due to the control for dura-
tion that is the last five years. Whatever the increase, it can be said
that better opportunities and intention to join labour market to some
extent intertwined with associational movement as well, and hence
leads to increase in participation rate.
Further, the labour force participation status of female who are
reporting main reason for their mobility is marriage or family moved
is presented to explore the economic motivation (Figure 14.2). An
increase in labour force participation rate after migration for both the
categories of associational movers is observed both for life time- and
recent migrants.
While for life time migrants, the increase is observed from 18.3
per cent to 30.02 per cent for marriage migrants, in the case of recent
migrants the shift is from 16.4 per cent to 19.8 per cent. The same
pattern is noticed for female moving with family.
Despite labour force participation, migration of female for educa-
tion also is a reflection of economic motivations as well because in
the long run higher education may increase the chances of better
employment. It is evident from the NSSO data that the proportion of
female who migrated in the last five years and reported education as
 Female migration pattern in India  211

the major reason increases from 2.2 per cent in 1999/2000 to 4.4 per
cent in 2007/08. Thus, increasing migration of female for education
itself indicates the pattern of female mobility is changing over time.
The increasing mobility of female for education further indicates that
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female migrates not only out of poverty but also a significant share
of female from better off group also migrates in order to enhance the
quality of life. Thus, migration of female is taking place from both
ends of socio-economic stratum in recent years. This can be further
understood by examining their educational profile and economic
status.

Is female mobility poverty induced?

Many studies pointed out that a majority of female migrants belong
to poorer sections of the society (Rao 1982; Shanti 1991; Araya
and Roy 2006) having low levels of literacy and high incidence of
poverty, hence, a compulsion rather than a choice. Although, it has
been there in the past, as observed from different studies, it is not
clear whether such pattern continues to exist as India is experiencing
rapid economic and social changes. Some of the recent studies also
show that the female mobility is positively associated with education
(Mitra and Murayama 2008; Mahapatro 2011).
To understand the variation in migration pattern over time the
data is presented across the educational group (disaggregated by
reasons) in Table 14.1 both for life time- and recent migrants.
It appears that for recent migrants, migration rates are progres-
sively higher across educational categories. While 5.6 per cent female
migrated from illiterate category, it is as high as 20 per cent for highly
educated one. However, in the case of life time female migrants,

Table 14.1 Percentage of female migrants across level of education

Recent
Life time migrants migrants
Educational
status of Excluding marriage Marriage and Duration less
migrants and family move family moved Total than 5 years
Illiterate 1.87 52.64 54.71 5.61
Primary 2.00 31.35 33.60 7.18
Sec/HS 3.58 45.29 49.13 13.89
Graduate+ 7.59 49.86 57.65 20.17
Total 2.46 44.51 47.20 8.36
Source: NSSO, 64th round, 2007–2008.
 212  Sandhya Rani Mahapatro and K. S. James

there is no significant difference observed between illiterate and

those with higher educational attainments as it varies from 54.7 per
cent for illiterate to 57.7 per cent for graduates and above. The disag-
gregation of life time migrants by the reasons for migration indicates
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that for female migrating other than marriage and family moved,
the migration rate increases with increase in education where as an
equal proportion of female migrate out as associational migrants
both from illiterate category as well as from higher-educated group.
Overall the data also indicate nearly a ‘U-’shape pattern of female
migration with educational status in the case of life time migration.
This is not observed; however, in the case of recent migrants rather
a linear relation with upward trend is noticed. This indicates while
illiteracy and poverty dominates as the major cause of female migra-
tion in the past, such trend is slowly changing in recent times.
To further investigate this point, migration rate by economic sta-
tus of the households are also considered in the analysis. Table 14.2
presents percentage of female migrants by MPCE computed in five
quintiles. Q1 presents the lowest quintile while Q5 is the highest
quintile.
For life time migrants the incidence of migration is higher in the
case of lower MPCE group followed by the higher-economic class.
The data presented shows that the percentage of female migrants is
50.5 per cent in Q1 class and 48.75 per cent in Q5 class indicating the
proportion of migrant is highest in poorest class. This pattern is same
for both the groups of life time migrant. On the other hand, female
who migrated recently, in the last five years the pattern is slightly
varied. The proportions of migrants are higher in higher-economic
class, that is Q5 and Q4 class followed by the poorest (Q1) class.

Table 14.2 Percentage of female migrants across MPCE classes

Recent
Life time migrants migrants
Expenditure Excluding marriage Marriage and Duration less
quintiles and family move family moved Total than 5 years
Q1 3.15 47.12 50.51 8.53
Q2 1.93 43.12 45.26 6.93
Q3 1.82 42.80 44.80 7.34
Q4 2.08 44.05 46.40 8.58
Q5 3.30 45.22 48.75 10.39
Total 2.46 44.47 47.16 8.35
Source: NSSO, 64th round, 2007–2008.
 Female migration pattern in India  213

Overall from a careful examination of likelihood to migrate from

the entire economic group, it can be inferred that migration rate of
female seems to be more from both ends of economic spectrum.
The analysis of pattern of both the types of female migration as
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emerged from the discussion above highlights females’ migration

is not always poverty induced rather female from educated and
higher-economic group also migrates. In the changing socio-economic
scenario of the country sometimes female is compelled to migrate
due to the factors that constraints income-generating opportunities.
At the same time to achieve social status, independence and other
prospects female from higher socio-economic class migrates.
Therefore, to confirm whether the recent shift is towards bet-
ter off group or not, two sets of regression model were utilized
(Table 14.3). The main purpose of the analysis is to find out whether

Table 14.3 Results of multivariate analysis for female migrated in the last five
years and for life time migrants, 2007–2008

Recent migrants
(duration<5 year) Life time migrants
Model 1 Model 2
Odds Standard Odds Standard
ratio error ratio error
Economic variable
MPCE (poorest/poor)
Middle/rich 1.252*** 0.029 1.052*** 0.016
Rich/richest 1.671*** 0.050 1.181*** 0.024
Labour market variable
Employment (not in labour force)
Self-employed 2.359*** 0.131 1.146*** 0.040
Regular salaried/wage worker 1.143*** 0.055 1.024 0.028
Casual labourer 1.827*** 0.149 1.091 0.063
Unemployed 1.167*** 0.039 0.936*** 0.018
Social variables
Educational status (illiterate)
Primary 0.867*** 0.021 0.805*** 0.013
Secondary and above 1.084*** 0.028 0.702*** 0.012
Caste (others)
SC/ST 0.889*** 0.022 0.820*** 0.013
OBC 0.907*** 0.020 0.873*** 0.013
Religion (Hindu)
Muslim 0.579*** 0.015 0.501*** 0.009
Others 0.979*** 0.033 0.793*** 0.017
(Continued)
 214  Sandhya Rani Mahapatro and K. S. James

Table 14.3 (Continued)

Recent migrants
(duration<5 year) Life time migrants
Model 1 Model 2
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Odds Standard Odds Standard

ratio error ratio error
Demographic variables
Age 1.005 0.004 1.187*** 0.003
Age square 0.998*** 0.000 0.998*** 0.000
Marital status (NM/others)
Currently married 36.151*** 1.157 6.878*** 0.112
HHSIZE 0.872*** 0.004 0.936*** 0.002
Dependent 1.080*** 0.021 1.172*** 0.015
Regional variables
Region (North)
Central 1.171*** 0.035 1.342*** 0.027
East 0.578*** 0.017 0.657*** 0.013
North east 0.153*** 0.006 0.087*** 0.002
West 1.145*** 0.036 1.132*** 0.025
South 0.881*** 0.026 0.572*** 0.011
Place of residence (rural)
Urban 0.923*** 0.019 0.861*** 0.012
Pseudo R2 0.3191 0.3823
LR Chi2(22) 42418.2 123347.6
Log likelihood –45251.9 –99648.463
N 146490 233080
Note: *** p<0.01 and * p<0.1.
Source: NSSO, 64th round.

the recent migrants are disproportionately drawn from higher strata

of the society compared to the past. Model 1 explains the migratory
behaviour of female who have migrated in the last five years and
Model 2 explains the migratory behaviour of life time migrants which
explains the past scenario. A set of socio-economic and demographic
variables is taken as a control variable that deals with characteristics
migrants at destination.
The odds of migration is higher for higher MPCE class (a proxy
measure of poverty) for recent migrants as well as for life time
migrants indicating migration of female takes place from better off
group. However, it is difficult to draw inference for life time migrants,
because after migration, perhaps enhancement of income-earning
capacity increases the economic status of household. Hence, it is
difficult to capture actual economic status of life time migrant at
 Female migration pattern in India  215

the time of migration. However, for recent migrants it is possible

to establish the relationship, since short time period may not bring
significant change in the economic condition of household. From
Model 1 it is evident that the odds of migration are 1.25 and 1.67
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for higher-economic group. This indicates in recent years, relative

to poor, the likelihood to migrate is higher for female belonging to
higher-economic quintile.
This can be further elaborated based on the relation between migra-
tion and education. The findings show the influence of education is
different for both the categories of female migration. In the case of
life time migrants’ the odds of migration is 0.80 for primary and 0.72
for higher-educated group. The higher likelihood of migration in the
case of illiterate implies female with low levels of education, adopt-
ing migration as a survival strategy. This finding is consistent with
the other studies that in order to respond to the economic constraints
faced by families females adopt migration as the strategy (Model 2).
On the contrary for females who migrated in the last five years,
the odds of migration are higher (1.08) for females having second-
ary and above education. These results signify that female migration
pattern gradually moving towards educated people of recent time
(Model 1). Earlier female mostly migrates from illiterate group – out
of poverty and for survival – but in recent years, female also moves
for higher education and for better employment. In this regard, stud-
ies shows that increased education seems to encourage more migra-
tion of women (UNESCAP 2003a; Mitra and Murayama 2008) and
in turn foster greater education of females. This suggests migration
pattern is slowly gravitating towards better off socio-economic class.
With regard to labour market variable, the current employment
status of migrant has been taken into account. A significant differ-
ence is noticed between the two models with respect to this variable.
In the case of life time migrants, the odds of migration are higher for
self-employed relative to female who are not in labour force. How-
ever, it is difficult to argue whether the migratory behaviour of life
time female migrant is related to economic opportunities because
although they migrate out of marriage but the factors at the place
of destination may persuade them to join labour force. On the other
hand for recent migrants, the likelihood to migrate is higher for female
engaged in different types of employment compared to female who
are not in labour force. Here it can be argued that female migration
also influenced by economic facts because for the recent migrants the
conditions may not vary significantly after migration. In the process
of development, the opportunities for female to join the workforce
 216  Sandhya Rani Mahapatro and K. S. James

are expanding. At the same time, the changing pattern of life styles
of people has resulted in the emergence of women-centred occupa-
tions with a positive impact on female migration for employment.
Creation of female oriented employment opportunities motivates
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females to participate in migration for employment. Studies pointed

out increase in female migration in parts of the Asian region has been
associated with expanded employment opportunities in industrial
and service sector occupation and opening up of export processing
zones, that linked to gender-specific pattern of labour demand in cit-
ies (Shanti 1991). Thus one can argue in recent years females migra-
tion is related to expanding economic opportunities and hence will be
considered as economic migrants rather marriage migrants.
However, for other socio cultural and demographic variables, the
pattern of female mobility does not vary with respect to life time and
recent migrants. Age variable is consistent with life course perspec-
tive for the life time migrant. However, for recent migrants age is
positive but not significant.
The higher odds of migration for currently married (reported
marriage as the reason for migration) women indicating significance
of marriage. Nevertheless studies shows that apart from being an
associational mover, female belonging to this category migrate along
with their husbands in search of employment (as domestic servants,
as vegetable vendors, flower vendors in front of the temple, etc.) and
they are the primary or equal earners, with male employment often
being irregular and uncertain. While entry barriers are many in male
jobs and the waiting period is long it is not so in the case of female
jobs where they have easy entry and exit in domestic service and
personalized services (Shanti 1991; Meher 1994; Premi 2001). The
increasing labour force participation of women after migration also
reflects this. Even female reporting marriage as the reason for migra-
tion is considered as an associational move but studies also shows
that marriage itself is used as an economic strategy (Thadani and
Toadaro 1984; Fan and Haung 1998).
The deterring effect of household size on female migration as
evident from results indicates the influence of socially prescribed
role of women as care giver (De Hann 1994; Deshingkar and Start
2003). Nevertheless, with increase in the number of dependents in
the household, the likelihood of female to migrate increases. In the
context of life time migrants it is difficult to argue because it might
possible that after migration the dependents – children or elderly
(joined family member) – in the household increases. However, the
association between number of dependents and the recent migrants
reflects the role of women as economic migrants quite significantly.
 Female migration pattern in India  217

Regarding the regional dummies, the odds of migration is higher

for central and western region implying Maharashtra, Gujarat, etc.
are the most attractive regions in respect of female migrants while
the odds of migration are lower for females belonging to the eastern,
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north-eastern and southern regions. There are studies showing that

regional differences in women’s mobility (Basu et al., 1987) where
migration among women in South India is higher than their northern
sisters who live in a cultural milieu that is similar to West Asian and
North African Arab countries. However, after controlling for other
factors, it has been found that female from northern region have
higher migration tendency than southern states. This outcome is
consistent with the view that regional imbalances in development
including subsequent creation of employment opportunities in the
globalization era, motivating female to migrate from backward
region and hence reflects the role of economic factors in migration.
In the case of life time migrants, the lower odds of female migration
in respect of urban areas indicate that the inflow of female migrants to
urban areas is low compared to the rural areas. This indicates female
mobility largely entails short movements. On the other hand place of
residence is not significant in the case of recent migrants.
The findings emerged from both the multivariate analysis show
that a combination of socio-economic- and demographic factors sig-
nificantly influences the female migration. However, there are cer-
tain discrepancies observed regarding the variable influencing life
time migrants and the recent migrants. The factors associated with
life time migrants suggest that female migrants are largely illiter-
ate and hence adopt migration as a livelihood strategy. However,
in the case of recent migrants, besides migrating for higher educa-
tion females are now going for regular and salaried jobs. This sug-
gests that female migration which is largely from low socio-economic
class earlier gradually shifting towards better off group in pursuit of
higher education and better living standards.

Discussion and conclusion

The complex pattern of female mobility that is emerging in recent
years and the forces that drive female migration beyond marriage
reason are addressed in the present chapter. To examine this, two
categories of female migrants – life time migrants and females who
have migrated in the last five years has been taken into consideration.
Since examination of the factors that are associated with female life
time migrants will not able to capture the actual motivation, females
 218  Sandhya Rani Mahapatro and K. S. James

migrated in the last five years have been analysed to understand the
complexity. The chapter, hence, presents the following findings.
First, there is an increase in labour force participation after migra-
tion has been observed. Although opportunities at destination moti-
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vate/forces them to join labour force, in the case of life time migrant,
but for recent migrants higher Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR)
signifies the importance of economic motivation at the time of migra-
tion Expansion of economic opportunities, set-up of educational insti-
tutions, infrastructure development, social networking, etc. facilitate
the sense of economic independence and desire for social advancement
that are intertwined with the decision of associational movers. Thus it
also gives an indication of economic motivation prior to their migration.
Second, two different patterns of female migration have been
observed with respect to life time female migration and for recent
migrants (female migrated in the last five years). In the case of life
time migrants, female from both ends of socio-economic spectrum spe-
cifically from poorer class migrates more. However, over time the pat-
tern of female migration is changing and the share of female migrant
is significantly drawn from richest section as well in recent years.
Third, an examination of the determinants of female migration
shows that for life time migrants economic compulsion emerged as
the major reason since illiterate females are more likely to migrate
as compared to higher-educated class. Contrary to this, pattern of
migration emerging out of examination of the recent migrants sug-
gests the significance of aspiration-related factors influencing female
migration. In recent years, migration of female takes place from
higher-educated group and better off class.
From the analysis above it can be inferred that the pattern of
female migration is gradually moving from poverty-induced migrants
to migration from higher socio-economic strata. Thus, female mobil-
ity which is mostly attributed to livelihood reason in the past, in recent
years for self-improvement, economic betterment and for enhanc-
ing quality of life female from higher socio-economic group also
migrates. In this manner these finding challenges the conventional
view point that female migration is the outcome of marriage only.
Moreover, in conclusion, the empirical findings presented in this
chapter support the argument that female migration followed a
bimodal pattern in recent years. Besides, the study also highlights the
significance of economic motivations behind the associational move-
ment as well. This has the implication that the role of women in the
migration process is gradually changing over time. Hence, the tradi-
tional notion of marriage migration is slowly losing its importance.
 Female migration pattern in India  219

This calls for a critical examination of the role of women in migration

decision. Further, there is also a need to have better-quality indica-
tors to be developed in survey data to understand the economic role
of female in migration process.
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Notes
1 The person moved to place of enumeration any time in the past from
period of survey.
2 The person moved to place of enumeration in the last five years from the
period of survey.

References
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 15
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The missing men

Sex ratios and migration
Chinmay Tumbe

Introduction
The construction and analysis of population sex ratios has played an
important role in guiding gender studies and the feminist movement
in India. The landmark Towards Equality report in 1974 discussed
sex ratios and the possible reasons for its decline over the twentieth
century (GoI 1974). Since then, over 200 studies have analysed the
determinants, patterns and trends of sex ratios at the national and
subnational levels. This scholarship has dealt with the theme of ‘miss-
ing women’, a term coined by Amartya Sen (Sen 1990), reflecting
female deficits arising due to gender discrimination through excess
female mortality and sex-selective abortion.1 The literature on India
has focused mainly on child sex ratios in order to cut out the effect of
sex-selective migration at higher-age groups (Miller 1981, Dyson and
Moore 1983, Agnihotri 2000).
As a consequence, the sex ratio migration linkages in India
have rarely been explored. Male-dominated migration streams for
instance, raise the female–male sex ratios in source regions and
depress sex ratios in destination regions.2 The converse is true for
female-­dominated migration streams. A classic example is interna-
tional migration to countries in the Persian Gulf where male-dom-
inated migration streams have depressed the female-to-male sex
ratio to such an extent that the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) exhibit the lowest sex ratios in the world (UN 2013).
­Figure 15.1 shows how male immigration depresses sex ratios in
GCC countries, particularly in the working age group of 15–49 years.
This male surplus reflected in the sex ratios of GCC countries should
correspond to male deficits or ‘missing men’ in the source regions of
migration.3 Cross-country data reveal little information on this phe-
nomenon as these regions are hidden within national statistics at
 222  Chinmay Tumbe

Figure 15.1 Sex ratios across age groups, global scenario

1400
Europe
Sex rao (females per 1000 males)

1300
World
1200
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1100 Less developed

regions
1000 India
900
China
800
GCC countries
700

600
0 14 15 49 50+
Age groups
Source: UN 2013, File POP 8/1, 2 and 3 (data for year 2000); Census 2001,
India, Table C-14 (data for year 2001). GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council)
countries = Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United
Arab Emirates. LDR = Less Developed Regions.

Figure 15.2 Sex ratios across age groups, India and Kerala
1400
Sex rao (females per 1000 males)

1300
Malappuram
1200 district
1100
Kerala
1000
900 India
800
700
600
0 14 15 49 50+
Age groups
Source: Census 2001, India, Table C-14.

subnational levels. One such region is the state of Kerala in southern

India. Figure 15.2 shows how mass migration to the Gulf has affected
the sex ratio profile of the state, with a large jump between the 0–14
and 15–49 age group sex ratios.4 Within Kerala, the district of Malap-
puram shows an even larger jump in sex ratios, as it has an extremely
high rate of outmigration (Zachariah and Rajan 2012).
 The missing men  223

The few studies that have noted the sex ratio migration linkages in
India have been confined to specific geographical regions (Mohanty
1992, Bose 2000, de Haan 2002, Iversen and Ghorpade 2011). Gosal
(1961) provided a useful discussion of sex ratios at the all-India dis-
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trict level that covered migration but abstained from empirical analy-
sis.5 Thus, despite the extensive literature on sex ratios in India, this
will be the first attempt to systematically study the sex ratio migration
(internal and international) linkages at the all-India district level.6
The study has two goals. First, we attempt to ascertain if
sex-selective migration is indeed so substantial that it is well cor-
related with higher age group sex ratios. That is, a low correlation
would imply that other factors such as sex-differentials in mortal-
ity outweigh the effect of migration. We document high and robust
correlations and show the staggering scale of the phenomenon of
‘missing men’ in core working age groups in the source regions of
male-dominated migration streams. ‘Missing men’ is significant in
regions covering over 200 million people of India. This fact alone
should stimulate further research on the causes and consequences of
‘missing men’ and its interaction with the phenomenon of ‘missing
women’ in Indian gender studies.
Our second goal is methodological in nature. The question we ask
is: How can population sex ratios be utilized to infer migration pat-
terns and trends? This question is significant for at least two reasons.
First, sex ratios are computed from data on basic population counts
of males and females that are more likely to be collected than direct
data on migration. These counts occur through the census or can be
estimated from representative household surveys that do not neces-
sarily cover migration. As a result, sex ratios could provide indirect
information on migration when migration data is absent. Second,
sex ratios can be used to externally validate migration data when
they are directly available. However, the question is also difficult to
address because the migration impact on sex ratios has to be sepa-
rated from other factors such as sex-differentials in mortality. This
chapter illustrates how population sex ratios can provide valuable
information on migration patterns, networks and trends, in regions
with highly sex-selective migration streams.7

Migration and sex ratios in India

Migration, if understood simply as movements, is overwhelmingly
dominated by females in India due to the practice of village exogamy
whereby women move out of their native villages upon marriage. As
a result, nearly every married woman in India is a ‘migrant’ woman,
 224  Chinmay Tumbe

and this is clearly reflected in the census or National Sample Survey

(NSS) migration statistics. However, because marriage migration is
largely reciprocal in nature, it does not affect working age sex ratios
in any meaningful way.8
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On the other hand, migration for work is largely dominated by

males and does affect working age sex ratios. Just like the Kerala–Gulf
migration corridor discussed above, migration for work within India
also has a strong masculine bent. Estimates vary but the number of
migrant workers in India is clearly above 70 million and men con-
stitute over 80 per cent of this migrant workforce (Mazumdar et al.
2013, Srivastava 2011, Deshingkar and Farrington 2009).
As a result, many urban centres in India have depressed sex ratios
in the 20–49 age group, resembling ‘male towns’ (Boserup 1970).
Correspondingly, sex ratios are inflated because of missing men in
the source regions of migration, for instance in the Himalayan region
(Bose 2000). The source regions of work-related migration in India
are depicted in Figure 15.3 which shows strong regional clusters
shaped primarily by population densities and historically formed

Figure 15.3 Out migration for work in India

 The missing men  225

migration networks (Tumbe 2012b). Apart from the Himalayan

region in the North, the middle Indo-Gangetic basin covering Eastern
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and much of coastal India are major source
regions of work-related migration.
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To analyse the relationship between migration and sex ratios, we

use three different measures of migration in this chapter.

(a) Male outmigrant ratio (%) = Male outmigrants/Male

population
(b) Net outmigrant ratio (%) = Male outmigrant ratio minus
female outmigrant ratio
(c) Net migrant ratio (%) = Net outmigrant ratio minus net inmi-
grant ratio where the net inmigrant ratio is similarly defined
as the net outmigrant ratio with the focus on inmigration.

We calculate these ratios for nearly 600 districts in India using

data from the 64th NSS round on migration that sampled over
125,000 households in 2007–2008. A district in India on average has
a population of 2 million people. The NSS data is preferred over the
census because it is the only all-India database that provides suffi-
cient information on both outmigration and inmigration (the census
does not cover international outmigration at the district level).9
There are, however, three issues with the NSS data. First, female
inmigrants outnumber female outmigrants within India by a large
proportion due the peculiarities associated with marriage migration.10
To correct this anomaly, only non-marriage related migrations for
both females and males have been taken into account in the analysis.
Second, the NSS does not pick up the presence of (male) armed forces
that lie mostly along India’s international border. To correct this, dis-
tricts with an international border are excluded from the analysis, thus
restricting the sample to around 530 districts. Third, the NSS does
not adequately capture international migration to non-Gulf countries.
We therefore assume that these migrations are fairly gender-balanced
and do not affect our analysis substantially. This is plausible as migra-
tion to the US, the most significant non-Gulf destination by a large
margin, is fairly gender-balanced (World Bank 2011).
Table 15.1 presents the descriptive statistics of the migration vari-
ables. The mean female outmigrant ratio is low at 1.6 per cent. Com-
pared to this, the mean male outmigrant ratio across districts is quite
high at 6.7 per cent. Almost all districts have male outmigrant ratios
higher than female outmigrant ratios and the average net outmigrant
ratio is 5.1 per cent. To place these magnitudes in perspective, it
 226  Chinmay Tumbe

Table 15.1 Migration variables descriptive statistics

Variables Observations Mean Std. deviation

Female outmigrant ratio, % 534 1.6 2.0
Male outmigrant ratio, % 534 6.7 5.9
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Net outmigrant ratio, % 534 5.1 5.0

Net migrant ratio, % 534 3.7 6.1

Figure 15.4 Correlations between migration variables and age group sex ratios
across districts
0.8

0.7 Male outmigrant rao

0.6

0.5
Correlaon coefficient

Net outmigrant rao (net of

0.4 female outmigraon)

0.3
Net migrant rao (net of in-
0.2 migraon and female migraon)
0.1

-0.1

-0.2
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-74
75-79
80+
0-4
5-9

Age group

Notes: Correlations are between migration ratios and age group female to male
sex ratios across 534 districts. Excludes districts that have a large presence
of (male) armed forces as they are not captured in the NSS migration data.
Source: Sex ratio data from Census 2001 Table C-14 and migration data computed
from unit level 64th round NSS data (2007–2008).

is worth pointing out that a figure over 5 per cent is considered to

denote ‘mass migration’ (Hatton and Williamson 1998: 9–10). Thus
non-marriage related outmigration is of high magnitude and heavily
male dominated in nature in India. When inmigration is taken into
consideration, the net migrant ratio often turns negative in urban
districts and so the mean value of the net migrant ratio is even lower
at 3.7 per cent. The geographical spread of the migration variables is
nearly identical to the map on work-related migration (Figure 15.3)
as most non-marriage related out migration is for work.11
These migration measures are then compared with different dis-
trict level age group sex ratios, computed using Census 2001 data.
Figure 15.4 shows that the migration measures are strongly corre-
lated with each other and the core working age group population
 The missing men  227

sex ratios. The correlation between the migration measures and

sex ratios across over 500 districts covering over a billion people, is
practically nil in the 0–15 age group and rises to as high as +0.7 in
the 30–34 age group. Correlation coefficients fall steeply again after
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45–49 age group and are back to zero in the 60+ age group. These
patterns are in line with the phenomenon of adult male dominated
migration streams distorting working age group sex ratios and return
migration streams beginning in the 40-age profile restoring adult sex
ratios to levels unaffected by male migration.
Table 15.2 presents pairwise correlations between various sex ratio
variables and some factors that affect the sex ratio. It is clear that the
0–19 sex ratio is strongly affected by sex differentials in child mortal-
ity with a correlation coefficient of –0.64 (Figure 15.5). However,
aggregate sex ratios correlate stronger with the migration variables
than the variable on sex-differentials in child mortality. The correla-
tions are also stronger with the 20–49 age group than the 0–19 age
group despite a lower demographic weight attached to the 20–49 age
group. Thus migration appears to be even more important than sex
differentials in child mortality in explaining the cross-­sectional varia-
tion of aggregate sex ratios at the district level in India.
Two additional sex ratio variables are constructed to identify the
impact of migration more closely. The percentage difference between
the 20–49 and 0–19 age group sex ratio – called ‘prdiff’ – should rise
with higher outmigration rates. The percentage difference between
the aggregate sex ratio and the 0–6 ratio, as the Indian census pro-
vides only the 0–6 age group population data at the village level. Both
these measures presumably strip out some aspects of sex differentials
in mortality though both are also adversely affected by the recent
declines in sex ratios at birth in India. As a result, these adjusted sex
ratio measures have similar or smaller correlation coefficients with
the migration variables than the simple 20–49 age group sex ratio.
These results show the clear significance of sex-selective migra-
tion in distorting core working age group sex ratios across many
districts of India. It is difficult to arrive at a single estimate of the
number of missing men in India as compared to estimates on the
number of missing women. Conservatively, over 50 million men
are working away from their homes, and most of them are without
female migrants from their households.12 More generally, regions or
districts covering over 200 million people face adverse sex ratios in
the core working age groups or take the value of ‘prdiff’ over 10 per
cent when the median value of the variable across all districts is only
413 per cent. The scale of the ‘missing men’ phenomenon is thus large
and deserves greater attention in gender and migration studies.
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Table 15.2 Pairwise correlation coefficients of key variables

Variables (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k)
(a) Aggregate sex ratio 1
(b) 0–6 sex ratio 0.46 1
(c) 0–19 sex ratio 0.73 0.78 1
(d) 20–49 sex ratio 0.91 0.25 0.46 1
(e) 50+ sex ratio 0.65 0.08 0.26 0.52 1
(f) % difference between 0.52 –0.24 –0.15 0.81 0.39 1
20–49 sex ratio & 0–19
sex ratio (prdiff)
(g) % difference between 0.68 –0.35 0.14 0.75 0.61 0.74 1
aggregate sex ratio &
0–6 sex ratio
(h) Sex ratio of under 5 –0.38 –0.53 –0.64 –0.12 –0.23 0.30 0.04 1
mortality rates
(i) Male outmigrant ratio 0.42 0.00 0.16 0.59 0.15 0.59 0.46 0.14 1
(j) Net outmigrant ratio (net 0.44 0.04 0.19 0.62 0.14 0.60 0.46 0.13 0.95 1
of female outmigration)
(k) Net migrant ratio (net of 0.46 0.08 0.19 0.64 0.13 0.64 0.45 0.12 0.82 0.87 1
female migration and
inmigration)
Notes and sources: Variables (a) to (g) refer to female to male sex ratios, computed from Census 2001 Table C-14 and N= 593 districts.
Variable (h) is from GoI (2009) and excludes Kerala and N = 579 districts. Variables (i) to (k) are computed from unit
level 64th round NSS data (see text for discussion) and excludes districts with large army presence (mostly along the
international border) and N = 534 districts.
 The missing men  229

Figure 15.5 Sex ratio of child mortality rates and juvenile sex ratios
Sex rao of under-5 mortality rates (F/M)

1800
1700
1600
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1500
1400
1300
1200
1100
1000
900
800
800 850
900 950 1000 1050
Sex rao 0-14 age group (F/M)
N=579 districts and Correlaon = ‒0.7
Notes: F/M is female-to-male ratio (multiplied by 1,000). Does not include data
for Kerala (14 districts) as data on sex-differentials in child mortality is
unreliable due to low levels of mortality compared to other regions (GoI
2009). The correlation coefficient for all districts, or N = 593, is –0.6.
Source: Year 2001 data from Census Table C-14 and GoI (2009).

Sex ratios in migration research

Sex ratios and migration patterns
Migration statistics enable researchers to discern patterns such as
the variation of migration propensities across regions, social groups,
religions, and other dimensions. In regions affected by sex-selective
migration, sex ratios are also distorted across those dimensions
such that inferences on migration patterns can be made through the
medium of sex ratios.
Figure 15.6 shows the strong positive relationship between the
net migrant ratio and district level aggregate sex ratios for the state
of Kerala in India with a correlation coefficient of +0.83. However,
statistics capturing the scale of international emigration from Kerala
at the district level began to be collected systematically only since the
late 1990s. Census data on sex ratios, in contrast, have a much longer
history such that sex ratios can potentially provide valuable informa-
tion on the regional variation of outmigration propensities in Kerala
for the preceding time period.
Further, the relationship between migration and sex ratios
extends to the subdistrict taluk level. Figure 15.7 shows the posi-
tive relationship between the outmigrant ratio and sex ratios at the
 Figure 15.6 Migration and sex ratios in Kerala’s districts
25

20
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Net migrant rao, %

15

10

0
980 1000 1020 1040 1060 1080 1100
Sex rao 2001 (F/M)
Correlaon = + 0.83
Notes: F/M is female-to-male ratio (multiplied by 1,000). Net migrant ratio is
the male outmigrant ratio net of inmigration and female migration.
Source: Census 2001 Table C-14 and migration data computed from 64th round
NSS unit level data, 2007–2008.

Figure 15.7 Migration and sex ratios in Kerala’s taluks

25

20
Emigrant rao %

15

10

0
980 1000 1020 1040 1060 1080 1100 1120 1140 1160
Sex rao year 2001 (F/M)
Correlaon = + 0.6
Notes: F/M is female-to-male ratio (multiplied by 1,000). Emigrant ratio = Total
emigrants/population.
Source: Census 2001 Primary Census Abstract for districts in Kerala. ‘Total
emigrants’ from the Kerala Migration Survey of 2007 (Zachariah and Rajan
2012). Denominator in emigrant ratio refers to 2001 population values.
 The missing men  231

taluk level using data from the Kerala Migration Survey of 2007.14
As migration statistics are not available at the sub taluk level but
sex ratio data exist at the village/town level, it follows that sex ratio
data can be used to understand broad migration propensities at the
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lowest regional units of analysis. Migration patterns across other

dimensions (religion, social groups, etc.) can similarly be assessed
using sex ratios or adjusted sex ratio measures in the absence of
migration data.
This is not a particularly Indian phenomenon either. Raphael
(2013) shows the clear linkage between international emigration
and sex ratios at the district level in Mexico and uses sex ratio data
from various censuses to map the effect of migration on a variety of
variables.

Sex ratios and migration networks

Migration for work is a networked phenomenon where networks
play an important role in passing on information to prospective
migrants. This leads to chain migration where current migrants
build on networks formed earlier. Empirical studies often attempt
to identify these networks by comparing current migration statistics
with historical migration statistics, which can be problematic in the
absence of the latter. However, many countries have recorded data
on sex ratios at a microlevel for over a hundred years that can permit
an analysis of migration networks in areas known for sex-selective
migration.
Consider the region of Tamil Nadu, a southern state in India with
a population of over 70 million people. This region witnessed large
scale international emigration in the late nineteenth century and the
first half of the twentieth century and continues to have extensive
migratory links in various destinations. Figure 15.8 shows the strong
positive association between district level aggregate sex ratios and
the net migrant ratio as per recent data with the correlation coef-
ficient of +0.6.15 Figure 15.9 then shows the same relationship with
sex ratio data of the year 1901 reflecting the strong persistence of
regional variation in sex ratio migration linkages.16 Sivaganga dis-
trict, e.g. had the highest sex ratio in 1901 reflecting high male defi-
cits and has the highest outmigration rate today. An empirical study
of outmigration in Tamil Nadu can thus fruitfully use historic data on
sex ratios to capture migration networks. In fact, research shows that
the most important predictor of remittance-based migration in con-
temporary India is the extent of outmigration in 1901, as captured in
data by sex ratios (Tumbe 2012a).
 232  Chinmay Tumbe

Figure 15.8 Migration and sex ratios in Tamil Nadu districts, 2001
25

20
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Net migrant rao, %

15

10

-5

10
900 950 1000 1050 1100
Sex rao year 2001 (F/M)
Correlaon = + 0.65.

Notes: F/M is female-to-male ratio (multiplied by 1,000). Net migrant ratio is

the male outmigrant ratio net of inmigration and female migration.
Source: Census 2001 Table C-14 and migration data computed from 64th round
NSS unit level data, 2007–2008.

Figure 15.9 Migration and sex ratios in Tamil Nadu districts, 1901
25

20

15
Net migrant rao %

10

10
800 850 900 950 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200
Sex rao year 1901 (F/M)
Correlaon = + 0.61.
Notes and sources: 
Same as for Figure 15.8, except Census 1901 instead of
2001 data.

Sex ratios are particularly useful to capture migration networks in

source regions of migration because even when migration statistics
are available, as in the census, they are often based on the inmigra-
tion definition that omits international emigration.
 The missing men  233

Sex ratios and migration trends

Finally, sex ratios can also reveal migration trends over the long run.
Figure 15.10 shows the evolution of sex ratios from 1901 to 2011
for India and two districts – Ratnagiri and Udupi – on the west coast
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of India. Today, directly available migration statistics from the NSS

reveal that the net outmigrant ratios for these districts are over 15
per cent, signifying mass migration. The sex ratios of these districts
never fell below 1,090 for the last 110 years, a remarkable aspect
in a country where district aggregate sex ratios generally lie in the
range of 900–1000. This signifies the persistence of mass migration
for over a century. The chart for Ratnagiri is also revealing in that sex
ratios sharply decline in the Census of 1931 and 1981, two impor-
tant dates in the districts’ migration history as outmigration declined
because of the impact of the Great Depression in the 1930s and the
textile industry crisis of Mumbai in the 1980s. Migration, however,
has not ceased since then, but only fallen from extremely high levels
of outmigration between 1951 to 1981 to high levels of outmigration
today. These sex ratio trends could have alternative explanations
rooted in changes in sex differentials in mortality or the changing sex
selectivity of migration streams but are ruled out in this particular
case based on a reading of general and migration age-specific sex
ratios in recent data.
Figure 15.11 shows the case of sex ratios in Italy where mass
emigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was
extremely male dominated in nature (Golini and Brindelli 1990).
The jump in sex ratios, especially in the 25–29 age group between

Figure 15.10 Sex ratios for India and selected districts, 1901–2011
1300
1250
Sex rao (females per 1,000 males)

Ratnagiri district
1200
1150
1100 Udupi district

1050
1000
950
900
India
850
800
1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011
Census Year

Source: Census data for various years. See Tumbe (2012a, b).
 234  Chinmay Tumbe

Figure 15.11 Sex ratios for Italy, 1861–2009

1200
Age of mass migraon
Sex rao (females per 1,000 males)

1150
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1100

1050 Age 25 29
Age 15 39
1000 Total sex rao
Age 0 14
950

900
1861
1871
1881
1901
1911
1921
1931
1936
1951
1961
1971
1981
1991
2001
2009 Year
Source: Computed from ISTAT Italy – Times Series of the Italian Historical
Statistical Repository, Table 2.2.1. Census data, according to reference
year borders.

1881 and 1911 is large and depicts the extent of sex selectivity in the
‘age of mass migration’. Since sex ratio data is available at the micro-
level, researchers can use the regional variation in sex ratios within
Italy as a potential instrument for migration in historical empirical
research.

Conclusion
Population sex ratios provide valuable information on migration and
this aspect has received little attention in gender or migration stud-
ies. This study shows the significance of missing men, especially in
regions covering over 200 million people of India. A few studies have
analysed the impact of missing men at the household level (Gulati
1993, Desai and Banerji 2008) but given the scale of the phenom-
enon, more sustained research at the community and regional level
is required.
The geographical spread of ‘missing men’ differs substantially
from that of ‘missing women’ but future research could shed impor-
tant light on possible linkages between the two phenomena. For
instance, Hoshiarpur district in Punjab experiences ‘missing women’
in younger age groups and ‘missing men’ due to migration in older
age groups. These two phenomena could interact and affect labour
 The missing men  235

markets and nuptial conditions in different ways. Researchers have

recently drawn attention to the consequences of ‘missing women’
(Kaur 2013) and this line of research would be enriched if it also
integrated the phenomenon of ‘missing men’. Thus population sex
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ratios should be studied by scholars on gender to understand the

causes and consequences of both missing women and missing men.
This chapter also demonstrates the utility of sex ratios in migra-
tion research. When migration data is directly available, the utility of
sex ratios to understand migration diminishes though it can still be
used to externally validate migration statistics. However, migration
statistics are often unavailable in many parts of the world and in his-
torical settings. Even when migration data is collected, they often do
not yield information on outmigration and migration statistics below
a particular regional unit of analysis. In these cases, sex ratios play
an important role in understanding migration in regions known for
sex-selective migration. For example, sex ratios can be used to assess
migration patterns and trends right down to the village or town level
in certain regions where migration statistics are absent or presented
at higher regional levels.
This chapter has focused primarily on India where work-related
migration tends to be extremely sex selective and creates a situation
of ‘missing men’ in the source regions. Similar examples of ‘missing
men’ can be found in other countries of South Asia, especially Nepal,
many parts of Africa and Mexico. Historically, much of labour migra-
tion in Asia and parts of Europe also tended to be male dominated
in nature. However, ‘missing men’ is not the only possibility as
female-dominated migration streams, as in contemporary Philippines
(CFO 2013), lead to female deficits in source regions of migration,
and can also be suitably studied using sex ratios.
In regions with exceptionally high levels of sex differentials in
mortality in core working age groups such as in Russia and Eastern
Europe, sex ratios are unlikely to reveal significant migration pat-
terns and should be used with extreme caution. In other regions,
however, as this chapter has shown, a careful reading of population
sex ratios juxtaposed with demographic considerations, can provide
valuable information on migration patterns, networks and trends.

Notes
1 Recent studies on estimates of ‘missing women’ or ‘missing females’
include Bhat (2002), Anderson and Ray (2010) and Klasen and Vollmer
(2013).
 236  Chinmay Tumbe

2 Throughout this chapter, sex ratios are defined as females per 1,000
males, the convention followed in India.
3 The term ‘missing men’ has been used by researchers to express
the phenomenon of male deficits in population groups due to male
outmigration (O’Laughlin 1998, Bose 2000); excess male mortality
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(Bethmann and Kvasnicka 2013) and enumeration errors (Valentine and

Valentine 1971). This chapter uses it in the migration context.
4 That this jump is mainly due to migration should be apparent later in
Figure 15.6.
5 As an aside, the chapter preceded the seminal work of Visaria (1971) but
has unfortunately been overlooked in the Indian sex ratio literature in
the past three decades.
6 Several studies have studied sex ratios from the perspective of missing
women/girls at the all-India district level. See Guilmoto (2008) and the
references therein.
7 The chapter explores the linkages between general population sex
ratios and migration. This is in contrast to recent research work that has
analysed migrant sex ratios (Donato 2012).
8 Marriage migration in response to skewed child sex ratios in other
regions (Kaur 2004) can potentially affect sex ratios in selected regions
of India. However, our analysis suggests very low association between
female migration rates and 20–49 age group sex ratios. Female migration
rates are, however, associated with child sex ratios, because of the
North-South divide in kinship patterns that affect both variables.
9 NSS district level migration estimates are externally validated with data
from larger household surveys in Kerala (Tumbe 2012a). NSS migration
data are underestimates but provide accurate information on regional
variations of semi-permanent migrations.
10 Women are more likely to report themselves as migrants after they have
moved than be reported as outmigrants by native household members
because after marriage, in most parts of India, they are considered to be
a part of the husband’s family.
11 The correlation is 0.8 between the migration variables and the variable
denoting outmigration for work at the household level.
12 From the above cited figures: 80 per cent of the estimated 70 million +
migrant workers.
13 ‘prdiff’ can also be high due to sex differentials in mortality in the 20–49
age group or due to recent declines in child sex ratios. However, for
districts with ‘prdiff’ greater than 10 per cent, the correlation between
core working age sex ratios and the migration variables exceeds 0.7,
suggesting that it is indeed a migration effect.
14 This correlation is stronger when an adjusted sex ratio measure (%
difference between aggregate and 0–6 ratios) is used.
15 The correlation between sex ratios and sex differentials in childhood
mortality (prevalent in pockets of northern Tamil Nadu) is considerably
weaker.
 The missing men  237

16 The drop in Tamil Nadu’s aggregate sex ratios between 1901 and 2001
primarily reflects the reduction in outmigration rates over the century.

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 16
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Survival, struggle and the promise

of a new future
Living and working conditions of migrant
workers in Kerala
S Irudaya Rajan and Sumeetha M

Introduction
Rural–urban migration in India has accelerated during the last half
of the century. Even though migration is primarily undertaken with
the objective of a better and secure employment, among interstate
migrants only a small minority has been able to find work in the
formal sector. This makes employment precarious and their posi-
tion in the labour market vulnerable. Despite such conditions of
work and insecurity in the workplace there has been no abatement
of internal migrants particularly to the informal sector throughout
the country. From the 1950s with the increasing speed of urbaniza-
tion in the developing countries, a negative attitude towards internal
migration developed. This increased because of the fear that modern
economy, local government would be overwhelmed by the increasing
inflow of migrants with the spread of slums, and shantytowns (Har-
ris 2005). The negative attitude towards migration propagated strin-
gent rules and draconian legislations to ensure immobility of labour.
However, post-1990s, the agenda of developing countries has been
transformed to an effort to reduce poverty and therefore government
policies have shifted focus to facilitating mobility and protecting the
migrant population.
Post-liberalization interstate migration has accentuated in both
magnitude and intensity. Microstudies across India reveal interest-
ing patterns of labour migration throughout the length and breadth
of the country. The focus of these studies, however, has been the
eastern belt, parts of South India and Western India. Manual work-
ers in rural India are informally contracted, sometimes through
 Survival, struggle and the promise  241

intermediaries and like most rural workers worldwide do not have

collective bargaining mechanisms or legal protection from harsh
employment practices (ILO 1996). Official information on the extent
of seasonal outmigration is non-existent even at the local level, mak-
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ing the planning of development interventions difficult. (Rogaly

1998). The migrant worker is almost always in a disadvantageous
position – not knowing the actual wage rate, being illiterate and not
maintaining his own accounts (Anand 1986).
The forces of globalization have brought about large changes in
the organization of the production economy, resulting in the emer-
gence of multiple locations of labour and therefore, a plurality of
labour capital contradiction. There is a change in the nature of work,
i.e. an implicit shift in emphasis from workers as a class to workers
as individuals (Nayyar 2007).

Migration scenario in Kerala

Interstate migrants in Kerala are from different parts of India. They
have even come from Jammu and Kashmir. The spread of migrants
shows an interesting trend. Migrants from different parts of the
neighbouring states dominated earlier internal migration, especially
interstate migration. After a long gap of about 60 years, Kerala is
now becoming an inmigrating state. The pattern of emigration
from Kerala has shown a distinct style. Most of the emigrants to the
Middle East were non-agricultural labourers with very little educa-
tion. These emigrants also included a few masons, carpenters and
electricians. The unemployment scenario in the state altered with
the emigration of unskilled workers. The remittances from abroad
spurred a consumption boom in the state leading to an increase in
construction activities thereby reducing further unemployment. In
the early stages, emigration of skilled labour did not create signifi-
cant impact in the local labour market. However, the continuous out-
flow of skilled labour created a scarcity of labour in the state, thereby
escalating wage rates. The wage rate in Kerala is the highest among
all states in India.1
Continuing stagnation in agriculture has led to a shortage of
employment opportunities in this sector. Plantation sector in Ker-
ala employs large number of migrant workers. With agricultural
inputs becoming costlier and lack of a fair price for agricultural
products, there has been a constant shrinkage of labour in this sec-
tor. Plantation is the only segment in agriculture that is run as an
organized industry and is characterized by corporate ownership and
 242  S. Irudaya Rajan and Sumeetha M.

management. Plantation Labour Act (1951) does not provide neces-

sary facilities to temporary/casual labour.2 This, in turn, makes the
position of migrant labourers vulnerable to exploitation. The inter-
state difference in wage rate attracted workers from different parts of
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the country to Kerala. Workers from other states began to be engaged

as casual labourers in the construction sector. According to census
2001, 1.3 per cent of the population of Kerala is migrants (by place of
birth) from other states. The largest number of migrants to Kerala is
from Tamil Nadu. About 49.1 per cent of migrants from other states
are female migrants.
Kerala which is located at the South-western part of India, for a
fairly long period of time has not been fancied as an employment-
generating destination, as a result of its location and its economic
characteristics. Moreover, with very few industries in the state the
process of absorbing migrant workers has not been common. Over
the years, Kerala’s migratory pattern has been emigration to the
Middle East by semi-skilled and skilled workers. This was observed
during the late 1970s and continues till date. Though recently the
intensity of migration to the Middle East has eased, there are still
workers ready to emigrate. This pattern of emigration over the years
coupled with the social strides that Kerala has made in the education
sector has resulted in the shortage of semi-skilled and skilled work-
ers in the state. Educated youth moreover are reluctant to do man-
ual jobs and refrain from physical labour in Kerala. All these factors
fuelled migration to Kerala. In the early 1980s if it was migrants from
the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu who dominated the scene, the
post-1990s has seen an increase in internal migrants from differ-
ent parts of the country to the state. This includes migrants from
Orissa, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and other parts of
north-eastern India. This is manifested at its maximum for construc-
tion sector workers who are brought to the state by intermediaries.

Data source
In such a context, mapping the internal migration dynamics becomes
a crucial but formidable challenge. This chapter is an effort to map
the living and working conditions of migrant workers who come in
search of better opportunities in Kerala from other parts of India. The
sweat and toil they endure is because of a promise for a better future.
Thus, everyday struggles in the form of wage struggle, struggle for
better working and living conditions becomes a part of migrant life.
Given the paucity of data on the internal migration dynamics in
 Survival, struggle and the promise  243

India and the necessity to grasp the intensity of internal migration

in Kerala, an intensive study on the migration dynamics in Kerala
has become crucial. The primary data source for this chapter is the
Inter-state Migrant Survey, Kerala (ISMS. 2012.) conducted by the
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Centre for Development Studies and funded by the Ministry of Over-

seas Indian Affairs. The survey was conducted from January 2012 to
June 2012, with the help of a structured questionnaire. The data gen-
erated was from a structured questionnaire administered to workers
across selected sectors in the Kerala economy, across four districts
in Kerala. The districts included Thiruvananthapuram, Eranakulam,
Thrissur, and Kozhikode.
Five major sectors across four districts in Kerala were chosen for
the survey (see Moses and Irudaya Rajan, 2012; Sumeetha, 2014).
This included construction, casual work, gold industry workers, self-
employed, industry workers, and domestic workers. The sample size was
500 distributed across these districts (totally, 2,000 individual migrants).
The choice of these sectors resulted from the basic premise that it was
difficult for migrant workers to find work in the organized sectors of the
economy and hence migrants would be located in large numbers in the
unorganized sectors like those mentioned above (Table 16.1).
The migrant population belongs to the young age group. The
average age of male migrant workers across all sectors is 28 years.
The mean age of female migrants is 30 years. Some of the women
are associated migrants, who have accompanied their husbands to
Kerala and then joined the workforce. Women in construction sec-
tors are exceptions because they are often single women brought in
by agents. The pattern of temporary migration in India gets reflected

Table 16.1 Sample distribution across sectors and districts, 2012

Sector Ernakulam Kozhikode Thrissur Trivandrum Total

Construction and 112 129 103 103 447
repair
Self-employment 48 61 99 93 301
Casual worker 101 109 50 105 365
Industrial worker 97 59 52 91 299
Gold industry 20 83 178 31 312
Domestic worker 101 78 51 132 362
Total 479 519 533 555 2086
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and Department
of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.
 244  S. Irudaya Rajan and Sumeetha M.

in the age composition of the migrant workers. The young male

workforce moves across long distances in search of employment and
therefore makes migration a gendered process.
Table 16.2 reveals interesting caste dynamics of migrants in each
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sector. The general picture that emerges is that it is the other back-
ward caste (OBC) that emerges as the most important category of
migrants in each sector. The general caste criteria (upper caste group)
generally end up in government jobs or tend to find jobs within their
own village. Nearly 51 per cent of migrant workers in construction
and road repair are OBC. This sector also has the highest share of
Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) workers (Table 16.2).
Domestic workers/helpers have a large portion of OBC workers. The
analysis therefore primarily confirms to the fact that internal migra-
tion to long distances are often undertaken by caste groups who have
some means to garner certain essential resources in order to migrate.
The most down trodden or the poorest of the poor find it difficult to
migrate (given the percentage of SC/ST workers in each sector).
One of the important reasons for internal migration in the Indian
context is the huge family, which has to be provided for. It is not
only the children who are dependents but also aging parents and
other members of the extended family who have to be financially
supported. On an average, migrants in all sectors have a family of
more than five workers. Nearly 33 per cent of the workers in the
construction and road repair sector have a family of more than 10
members. Nearly 34 per cent of workers engaged as casual labourers
also have a family of more than 10 members to support (Table 16.3).
Thus migration and family size has a direct positive correlation, the

Table 16.2 Caste profile of migrant workers, 2012

Sector General OBC SC/ST Others Total

Construction and 14.3 50.4 32.1 3.3 100.0
repair
Self-employment 12.9 58.9 24.6 3.6 100.0
Casual worker 11.5 60.0 24.1 4.4 100.0
Industrial worker 14.0 53.8 30.8 1.3 100.0
Gold industry 27.4 37.5 20.9 14.1 100.0
Domestic worker 11.1 66.2 21.0 1.7 100.0
Total 14.8 54.8 25.9 4.5 100.0
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and Department
of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.
 Survival, struggle and the promise  245

Table 16.3 Family size of the migrant workers, 2012

No. of
family Construction Self- Casual Industrial Gold Domestic
members and repair employment worker worker industry worker Total
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1 member 0.4 0.7 0.0 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.4

2 members 0.4 0.3 0.3 1.3 1.0 0.0 0.5
3 members 2.9 2.7 1.9 3.0 4.5 1.9 2.8
4 members 8.5 10.0 8.5 8.4 10.3 9.1 9.1
5 members 22.6 19.3 22.2 28.4 17.3 28.5 23.1
6 members 25.5 20.9 28.2 30.1 12.2 25.7 24.0
Up to 10 32.7 39.2 33.7 24.4 42.0 28.7 33.3
members
Up to15 6.0 5.0 4.9 3.7 9.6 3.9 5.5
members
>15 0.9 2.0 0.3 0.3 2.6 1.7 1.2
members
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and Department
of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.

Table 16.4 Educational profile of the migrant workers, 2012

Never Knows basic

went to reading and
Sector school writing Primary Secondary Others Total
Construction and 27.7 23.9 33.1 13.6 1.6 100.0
repair
Self-employment 24.6 37.2 28.2 8.3 1.7 100.0
Casual worker 23.8 47.9 13.4 13.7 1.1 100.0
Industrial worker 18.1 33.1 31.4 15.1 2.3 100.0
Gold industry 37.8 28.8 23.7 8.3 1.3 100.0
Domestic worker 21.0 30.9 32.9 9.1 6.1 100.0
Total 25.6 33.3 27.3 11.5 2.3 100.0
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and Department
of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.

more members you have to care for the more you search for alterna-
tive employment opportunities.
Most of the workers have some basic reading and writing skills.
These skills necessarily do not grant them a better position in the
labour market. Of the migrants surveyed, a large percentage of work-
ers have completed their primary schooling. Among migrants, there
 246  S. Irudaya Rajan and Sumeetha M.

are very less who have acquired education beyond secondary level
(Table 16.4). The migrant workers position becomes precarious in
the labour market because their level and understanding of labour
rights, formal contracts and labour regulations are negligible. Their
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ignorance about their own rights has perpetuated their exploitation

in the labour market.
Most of the migrants engaged in self-employment have a work-
ing knowledge of the local language (Malayalam). This is important
because vendors and other similar occupation people pick up the
local language because they are in direct contact and conversation
with the local people. The construction and road repair workers on
the other hand are a more mobile section of migrants and there-
fore they do not learn the local language. Only 155 of these work-
ers have a working knowledge of Malayalam. Most of the workers
remain in the construction sites and rarely interact with other work-
ers (Table 16.5).
Though majority of migrant workers come to the state in groups,
they end up successfully in the labour market only when individual
job searches are carried out. This reflects the kind of jobs and the
nature of informal sector jobs that absorb migrant workers. Informal
sector employment throughout the country allows easier entry into
the labour market. The employment conditions and contract does not
guarantee security of income or employment for informal sector work-
ers. About 75 per cent of the total migrant workers search for jobs
individually (Table 16.6). Nearly 19 per cent of the total workers find
jobs through contractors or agents. Direct recruitment by employers
constitutes only 6 per cent of the total migrant workers surveyed. This
mainly includes workers in construction and road repair.
Accommodation is one of the important issue that the migrant
workers find challenging. Majority of the domestic workers (61%)
stay in the households itself to offer their services. About 45 per cent
of gold workers and 42 per cent of industrial workers stay back in
workshop itself (Table 16.7). This is an important strategy on the part
of the employer because it enables him/her to have entire control
on the migrant worker. Since the working and living space becomes
the same the proportion of women workers who find employment
in these sectors are far less than male workers. In the case of casual
labourers, they live together as a group. They find a cook to prepare
their meals and have a common dining area. Often such rooms are
cramped and have unhygienic living conditions.
The survey results show that less than 1 per cent of migrants
reside in their own houses (Table 16.8). These are migrant workers
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Table 16.5 Language skills of migrant workers, 2012

Mother tongue Mother tongue,

Working and working Hindi and working
Only mother knowledge in Mother tongue knowledge in knowledge in
Sector tongue Hindi Malayalam Others and Hindi Malayalam Malayalm Total
Construction and repair 20.8 25.7 12.3 1.8 17.9 14.8 5.6 100.0
Self-employment 21.6 6.3 12.3 4.7 18.9 29.2 7.0 100.0
Casual worker 22.5 9.3 13.4 0.5 15.6 32.1 6.6 100.0
Industrial worker 18.4 19.4 8.0 1.3 26.4 22.4 4.0 100.0
Gold industry 31.1 8.0 3.5 1.0 15.7 25.3 15.4 100.0
Domestic worker 27.6 9.9 12.2 2.2 15.5 31.2 1.4 100.0
Total 23.6 13.8 10.5 1.9 18.1 25.4 6.5 100.0
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and
Department of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.
 248  S. Irudaya Rajan and Sumeetha M.

Table 16.6 Mode of recruitment

Sector Contractor Employer Self Agents Total

Construction and 32.0 1.3 62.2 4.5 100.0
road repair
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Self-employment 10.6 4.7 83.4 1.3 100.0

Casual worker 3.6 2.5 89.6 4.4 100.0
Industrial worker 12.4 9.0 69.2 9.4 100.0
Gold industry 8.3 12.2 68.3 11.2 100.0
Domestic worker 0.6 13.8 77.3 8.3 100.0
Total 12.1 6.9 74.6 6.4 100.0
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and Department
of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.

Table 16.7 Accommodation facilities of the migrant workers, 2012

Sector Outside In workshop Total

Construction and road repair 61.3 38.7 100.0
Self-employment 64.8 35.2 100.0
Casual worker 73.2 26.8 100.0
Industrial worker 57.9 42.1 100.0
Gold industry 55.8 44.2 100.0
Domestic worker 39.2 60.8 100.0
Total 58.7 41.3 100.0
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and Department
of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.

who have been living and working in Kerala for more than 15 years.
Most of them across all sectors (49%) live in rented houses. Further,
26 per cent of the workers have their house rent paid by the employ-
ers. Nearly half of the casual workers find accommodation in slums.
This is the cheapest possible option for them, for casual work results
in constant fluctuations in wages. In the case of self-employed work-
ers, most of them prefer rented houses for stay.
Nearly 63 per cent of the workers surveyed notes that food is not
provided by the employer. The provision for food in such cases is
either through the workers’ own income or is included as a portion in
his/her wages provided by the employer. The only exception for food
being provided by the employer on a regular basis is for domestic
workers. Thus 95 per cent of domestic workers are provided food by
the households they serve. This is because most of them stay with the
households they serve.
 Survival, struggle and the promise  249

Table 16.8 Housing arrangements of the migrant workers, 2012

House rent paid

Sector Rented house Slum by employer Own house Total
Construction and 47.8 25.2 26.6 0.4 100.0
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road repair
Self-employment 63.1 32.8 3.1 1.0 100.0
Casual worker 45.4 49.2 5.3 0.0 100.0
Industrial worker 32.4 3.5 63.6 0.6 100.0
Gold industry 66.1 4.6 28.2 1.1 100.0
Domestic worker 40.1 10.6 49.3 0.0 100.0
Total 49.3 23.9 26.4 0.5 100.0
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and Department
of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.

Even though the migrants are provided food by the employers in

some cases, the provision of food supply is not regular. Less than 7
per cent of workers get three meals a day. The data reveals that most
of them (about 64 per cent) get only dinner. Thus, the general trend
shows that though the employer may provide food, the supply of
food is not at regular interval and does not confirm to any particular
pattern.
This question was directed only to migrants who made their own
arrangements for food. About 96 per cent of the workers who cooked
their own food relied on private shops for provisions. Only among
domestic workers a small number (nearly 2%) relied on government
subsidized shops and ration shops for provisions. The remaining
migrant workers relied on local stores. The universal provision of
food envisioned by the government does not concern migrant work-
ers. Thus, government subsidies and schemes are in no way benefi-
cial for these workers. Most them have no permanent residence proof
and therefore do not have their own ration cards to access subsidized
provisions. Some of them are not even aware of the existence of fair
price shops.
About 85 per cent of the workers claim that travel expenses to
their hometown and back are borne by themselves. Even for domestic
workers only 15 per cent reported that the employers covered their
travel expenses. Further, 91 per cent of casual workers spend a cor-
pus sum of money as travel expenses since they are not attached to
a particular employer for a larger amount of time. Thus the informal
nature of organization of employment puts the migrants in a difficult
position as they cannot raise necessary funds from the employers.
 250  S. Irudaya Rajan and Sumeetha M.

For most of the construction workers the workers travel in a group

and are often bought to the new destination for a particular work
Majority of the workers (67%) go home during festival season.
However, 74 per cent of gold industry workers go to their hometown
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during Durga Puja (majority of these workers are from West Bengal).
At least 29 per cent visits home at least once a year. Only less than 1
per cent reported that they have not gone back home (Table 16.9).
In general, migrants make it a point to go back to their hometowns
during festivities like Puja, Ganesh Chatturthi, Diwali, and Eid. The
employers too are ready to part with their services during this period.
Some of them stay in their villages for more than two months before
they come back to the workplaces.
Access to health services is very important for all kinds of work-
ers engaged in different activities. It is often difficult and expensive
health services for migrant workers particularly due to two promi-
nent reasons, one being the lack of knowledge about the available
health services and the other being the lack of resources to access the
services. About 65 per cent of migrants across all sectors relied on
government hospitals when they fell sick. Except for self-employed,
who are relatively in a better position rest of the workers, did not go
in for private medical services. Only 33 per cent of the total migrants
relied on private medical services. Less than 1 per cent went back
home when they were sick. The picture clearly shows how migration
becomes a necessity for the labouring poor.
Nearly 70 per cent of the total workers in construction fall in the
income group of Rs 5,000–10,000. Another 22 per cent of the work-
ers in construction are under the Rs 10,000 to 15,000 income group.

Table 16.9 Frequency of visits home by migrants, 2012

During Once in a Has never

Sector festival year gone back Others Total
Construction and 53.0 36.2 10.3 0.4 100.0
road repair
Self-employment 68.1 28.2 3.3 0.3 100.0
Casual worker 55.6 38.1 6.0 0.3 100.0
Industrial worker 60.2 33.4 6.4 0.0 100.0
Gold industry 74.4 18.5 4.9 2.3 100.0
Domestic worker 67.1 29.6 3.0 0.3 100.0
Total 62.4 31.2 5.9 0.6 100.0
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and Department
of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.
 Survival, struggle and the promise  251

This points out for such group of workers migration is an important

means of saving. Some of the construction workers are also brought
in for government work like laying down roads and water pipelines.
The sewage plant at Muttathara, Trivandrum is one such example.
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The entire project, which is under government supervision, has a het-

erodox set of workers – from Jharkhand, Rajasthan, West Bengal,
and Uttar Pradesh. These workers have worked in similar projects in
other parts of India. There are a large number of women workers too
in this group (Table 16.10). Among self-employed workers 62 per
cent of the workers fall in the income category of Rs 5,000–10,000.
Interestingly, self-employment is a category which shows 4 per
cent of the workers earning above Rs 20,000. This is because such
migrants have established their business over the years. For indus-
trial workers, 70 per cent of the workers fall in the income category
of Rs 5,000–10,000. Another 13 per cent of workers in industries
fall in the income category of less than Rs 5,000. For gold industry
workers 56 per cent of the workers fall in the income category of
Rs 5,000–10,[Link] domestic workers and hotel industry workers,
24 per cent of workers fall in the income category of below Rs 5,000.
This is because the nature of the work makes the worker substitut-
able and also can be easily inducted to the workforce without any
training. Only 0.7 per cent of the migrant workers fall in the income
category of Rs 20,000 and above. This reinforces the fact that upward
mobility is difficult in the case of migrant workers.
Migration literature has emphasized on the significance of remit-
tances. Remittances are sent to the villages by different channels
(Table 16.11). The survey indicates that the concept of financial

Table 16.10 Monthly income of migrants across sectors, 2012

Below 5,001– 10,001– 15,001– Above

Sectors 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 20,000 Total
Construction and repair 6.9 71.1 21.5 0.4 0.0 100.0
Self-employment 16.6 61.8 14.3 3.7 3.7 100.0
Casual worker 13.2 66.0 20.5 0.3 0.0 100.0
Industrial worker 12.7 69.2 17.7 0.3 0.0 100.0
gold industry 15.1 56.4 23.4 3.8 1.3 100.0
Domestic worker 23.8 61.0 14.6 0.6 0.0 100.0
Total 14.4 64.7 18.8 1.4 0.7 100.0
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and Department
of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.
 252  S. Irudaya Rajan and Sumeetha M.

Table 16.11 Mode of remittances used by migrants, 2012

Remitting home through Number Percentage

Banks 822 41.9
Private individuals 629 32.0
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Private agencies 108 5.5

Through others’ bank account 405 20.6
Total 1964 100.0
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and Department
of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.

Table 16.12 Benefits at work reported by migrants, 2012

% of getting sick leave 1,347 64.6

% of getting paid leave 179 8.6
% of taking protection while handling 859 41.5
hazardous substances
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and Department
of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.

inclusion has been at least partially realized were migrants rely

either on their own bank accounts or their friends bank accounts to
remit money home. Thus, relying on such financial markets ensures
the safety of their remittances.
About 42 per cent of the migrants remit money through banks.
This is done either through their own accounts or through other
co-workers’ accounts. Another 21 per cent depend on others bank
accounts to remit money home. Some send money through friends
and relatives visiting back home. This includes 32 per cent of the
workers. Only 6 per cent rely on private agencies for remitting money
unlike in international migration where private agencies play a piv-
otal role in sending remittances back to the origin countries.
Though working and living conditions may be extremely arduous
for migrant workers, the survey also tried to extract specific informa-
tion on the gains from migration. The benefits from work include
provision of sick leave, provision of paid leave, weekly holidays, and
protection while handling hazardous substances. About 65 per cent of
workers reported that they availed sick leave during times of extreme
illness. However, only 9 per cent note that they get paid leave when
they are sick. (Table 16.12) Another 42 per cent of the migrants take
protection when the handle hazardous substances. Majority of them
 Survival, struggle and the promise  253

are not aware of health risks posed by such substances. Employers

also ignore the safety norms when it comes to employing migrant
workers. Most of them employed in local industries often take up
hazardous work which local workers refuse to take up.
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Health conditions
A healthy workforce is considered essential for increasing productiv-
ity in the workplace. Government of India has launched number of
schemes to ensure protection and health of the workforce. The Rash-
triya Swasthya Bhima Yojana (RSBY) has been one such initiative. Por-
tability – the key feature of RSBY is that a beneficiary who has been
enrolled in a particular district will be able to use his/her smart card in
any RSBY empanelled hospitals across India. This makes the scheme
truly unique and beneficial to the poor families that migrate from one
place to the other. Cards can also be split for migrant workers to carry
a share of the coverage with them separately. Even though the scheme
is aimed at covering medical expenses of the people below poverty line
(BPL), the migrant workers are not aware of the scheme.
The percentage of migrants with no health insurance is around
85 per cent (Table 16.13). Only 45 of migrant workers surveyed are
members of RSBY. The entire situation calls for an essential relook
on health policies for migrant workers.

Table 16.13 Migrants with health insurance, 2012

Having health insurance Number Percentage

RSBY 91 4.4
Any other specify 231 11.1
No insurance 1,764 84.6
Total 2,086 100.0

Table 16.14 Communication with local population by migrants, 2012

Communication Number Percentage

Very less communication 1,023 49.0
No communication 296 14.2
Has learned the local language 761 36.5
Very less communication and has learned 6 0.3
the local language
Total 2,086 100.0
Source: Inter-State Migration Survey conducted by the senior author for the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India and Department
of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala.
 254  S. Irudaya Rajan and Sumeetha M.

Migrants and the local population

The local population always view migrants as aliens and interact in
a minimum possible way with them. The migrants also keep aloof
from the local population. Migrants often maintain their own spaces
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and rarely mingle with locals. Even in the workplace migrants rarely
interact with local workers. Most of them, nearly 49 per cent of the
migrants, report very little communication with the locals. Some
long-term migrants have learned the language. This includes 37 per
cent of the migrants.
The important findings of the survey show that though the magni-
tude of remittances by internal migrants is less, there is a steady flow
of remittances to their villages (Table 16.14). Thus, some of the bet-
ter off migrants see migration as coping and accumulation strategy.
The migrants often have to rely on social networks, which operate
efficiently to ensure them employment opportunities. These networks
also facilitate travel and accommodation, for first time migrant popu-
lation. Though their employment opportunities are limited they find
migration as an important means to fight extreme poverty. The sur-
vey exclusively focused on individual migrants, who had left behind
their families to find employment in the state. Though migration is
a tough decision most of them migrate due to lack of employment
opportunities in their villages. The promise of a better future, with
steady income and household savings, fuels in more migration.

Notes
1 In Kerala, urban casual workers are paid average daily wages of
Rs 136.67.
2 Plantation is a labour-intensive sector. In Kerala, a large number of
workers in the plantation sector are tribals and migrant workers. For
details, see Study of the Working and Living Conditions of Plantation
Labour in South India (GOI, 1984).

References
Anand, S. 1986. ‘Migrant Construction Workers: A Case Study of Tamil
Construction Workers in Kerala’, Unpublished MPhil dissertation, CDS:
Trivandrum.
Harris, Nigel. 2005. ‘Migration and Development’, Economic and Political
Weekly, 22(43):4591–4595.
ILO. 1996. Economic Reforms and Labour Policies in India, A report prepared
under a Project sponsored by the UNDP. New Delhi: SAAT.
 Survival, struggle and the promise  255

ISMS. 2012. Inter-State Migrant Survey. Centre for Development Studies,

Thiruvananthapuram.
GOI. 1984. Study of the Working and Living Conditions of Plantation Labour in
South India. New Delhi: Government of India.
Moses, W. Jonathon and S Irudaya Rajan. 2012. ‘Labour Migration and
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Integration in Kerala’, Labour and Development, 19(1): 1–18.

Nayyar, Deepak. 2007. ‘Work, Livelihood and Rights’, in J. Krishnamurthy
and Rajendra D. Mamgain (eds), Growth, Employment and Labour
Markets: Perspectives in the Era of Globalization in India. New Delhi:
Daanish Books.
Rogaly, Ben. 1998. ‘Workers on the Move: Seasonal Migration and Changing
Social Relations in Rural India’, in Caroline Sweetman (ed.), Gender and
Migration, Vol. 6(1), Oxford: Oxfam
Sumeetha, M. 2014. ‘Skill in a Globalized World: Migrant Workers in the
Gold-Jewelry Making Indusry in Kerala, India’, The Journal of Labour and
Society, 17(3): 323–338.
 17
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Health-seeking behaviour among the

interstate migrant labourers

Sreejini Jaya and Ravi Prasad Varma

Introduction
Migration is the physical movement from one place to another and
is a complex phenomenon. Human migration is as old as our civi-
lization where our ancestors led a nomadic life, shifting from one
place to another in search of food, safety and for a better life. The
important historic migration that leads to what we are today was
the migration of Homo sapiens from their African home land to the
rest of the world. Migration can be either voluntary or involuntary.
Voluntary migration is mainly for gaining better opportunities in life
according to one’s will while involuntary migration can be of many
kinds like the human trafficking for sex trade, slavery, etc.
During the process of migration, an individual is under the trans-
formation from an emigrant to an immigrant status; both having its
own significance. Migration, as a whole, affects both the individual
as well as the family. Migrants are potentially vulnerable popula-
tion in relation to their health needs. Unplanned migration can cause
stress on the public facilities, economic, social, and environmental
problems for the host region. In an Indian context, we have seen a
great number of skilled migrations to other countries, labour migra-
tion to the Gulf countries; however, on the other hand, India largely
had been a destination site to migrants from Bangladesh and Nepal.
Kerala, a state often considered unique among the other Indian states
in various aspects has its own history of migration with the dimen-
sions of outmigration, inmigration and return migration. Migration
had always been in the main stream of Indian growth, where we
had seen the inmigration or the so-called colonization of British in
our country. The outmigration to economically stable countries from
India contributed a major portion of remittance to our country.
This chapter on health-seeking behaviour among the inter-
state migrant labourers is divided into five sections including the
 Health-seeking in interstate migrant labourers  257

introduction. Section two provides a brief review of literature, section

three discusses the methodology, section four discusses elaborately
about data analysis and results, and the last section on discussions.

Review of literature
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Global estimates of 214 million international migrants and 740 million

internal migrants place the total figure of migrants in today’s world at
about a billion (IOM, 2011). The largest migration in the world is the
China migration; out of the 225 million total rural populations there
are roughly about 140 million rural to urban migrants (Hesketh et al.
2008). In India as per population census (Government of India, 2001),
307.2 million were migrants as reported by place of birth, of which
42.1 million were interstate migrants. Indian constitution provides
basic freedom to move to any part of the country; and migrants need
not register either at the place of origin or at the destination (Lusome
and Bhagat 2006). In India from 1971 to 2001 there was an increased
percentage share of migrants from rural to urban areas in search of
employment. The rural-to-urban-male migration has increased over
the period mainly because of the creation of modern sectors in large
cities and the development of the urban informal sectors (Parida
2010). The choice of destination, often strongly determined by social
networks either people from a particular caste and village tend to go
to the same destination and into similar occupations, irrespective of
the distance and transport facilities (Deshingkar et al. 2006).
Generally people migrate to have more opportunities in life such
as to have a long and healthy life, to have access to education,
health care, to be protected from all hazards but on the contrary
when the poorest migrate, they often face conditions of vulner-
ability (UNDP, 2009). Migrants are vulnerable when their health is
concerned, as they are exposed to a number of health risks before,
during and after migration (Norredam et al. 2009). Rural people of
India have become more mobile but the migrants are unaware of
their occupational health risks and often not in a position to demand
protection (Deshingkar et al. 2006). Vulnerability of migrant arises
because of living in a new place which is entirely different in all
aspects from their own native places (Ajith Kumar 2011). For these
interstate migrant labourers there is total lack of any form of social
security, compensation for injuries, access to health care, and often
the workplace is unsafe (Bhagat 2009). The chapter tries to explore
the health-seeking profile of interstate migrant labourers in Thiru-
vananthapuram, Kerala. Kerala principally being an outmigrating
state, had large number of people emigrating from Kerala in search
 258  Sreejini Jaya and Ravi Prasad Varma

of jobs, which eventually lead to the scarcity of labour within the

state, mainly the physical labour (Irudaya Rajan and James 2007).
Studies had quoted that in Kerala there exists scarcity of labour and
recent boom in the construction sector coupled with high wage rate
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when compared with the other states of India; attracts migrants from
other states of India, leading to a new era of replacement migration
(Irudaya Rajan and James 2007; Saikia 2011).
From a public health perspective, health-seeking behaviour
explains the reasons behind the delay in receiving treatment and
care, non-compliance with treatment or the non-utilization of pre-
ventive measures (Muela et al. 2003). Studies reveal a whole lot of
factors which affects migrants’ health and health-seeking behaviour;
literature reports that the migrants have a different disease profile
compared to the host countries and along with the barriers to health
services further reduce migrants’ access to health care (Norredam et
al. 2009). Often the decision to take up a particular medical service
depends upon sex, age, social status, type of illness, access to ser-
vices, socio-economic variables, and quality of health services and
these factors enable or prevent people from making ‘healthy choices’
in either their lifestyle behaviours or their use of medical care (MacK-
ian 2003). Additionally migrants do have their own cultural beliefs
about what is hygienic, healthy or unhealthy and own approach in
general health to death and disease (Aung et al. 2009). Studies have
identified that health risks of migrant population are predetermined
by government-, employer-, health sector-, and individual-related fac-
tors at the destination sites (Chatterjee 2006). Health of the migrant
population is a growing public health concern as they represent the
neediest group in the world and they are the most disadvantaged
relative to the host population (Li and Wu 2010).
In this particular chapter we tried to determine the various fac-
tors associated with poor pattern of health care seeking through
a cross-sectional survey conducted among the interstate migrant
labourers in Thiruvananthapuram district of the state of Kerala,
India. Primarily a new variable was constructed namely, pattern of
health care seeking and is based on responses to three dimensions of
health care seeking behaviour.

• Awareness about the nearest health care facility.

• Seek care at medical facility or drug store/self-care.
• Seek care when the person is ill.

Based on the above said dimensions of health-seeking behaviours;

the dependent variable had two possible categories – poor and good.
 Health-seeking in interstate migrant labourers  259

From the newly constructed variable, the variable of interest either

the poor pattern of health care seeking was taken as the dependent
variable. Poor pattern of health care seeking category was defined as
lack of awareness about the nearest health care facility, seeking care
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at drug store/self-care or not seeking care when the person is ill.

Methodology
As far as methodology was concerned, a cross-sectional survey was
conducted among the Interstate migrant labourers in Thiruvanantha-
puram district of Kerala, using structured interview schedule. Study
population comprise of interstate migrant labourers who migrated
from Indian states other than Kerala and are staying within the lim-
its of Thiruvananthapuram district, continuously for two months or
more as on 1 June 2012, and do not own a ration card. A multi-stage
cluster sampling method was adopted. A cluster was defined as an
assemblage of 10 or more interstate migrant labourers at a work place
as reported by the Junior Health Inspector (JHI) or the Junior Pub-
lic Health Nurse (JPHN). Selected Primary Health Centre (PHC) area
comprised of five subcentre areas. Further, 14 clusters were selected
from each of the five subcentre areas; thus, a total of 70 clusters were
selected and further five migrant labourers were selected from each
cluster and interviewed. In the case of non-response from the migrant,
the next migrant labourer was selected. Sample size estimation was
done using Statcalc utility of Epi Info 7 software, to an estimated sam-
ple size of 140, an arbitrary design effect of two to adjust for sampling
in clusters and an expected non-response of 20 per cent were applied
to get a final sample size of 336. Data collection was done using Hindi
translated structured interview schedule. Principal investigator was
responsible for determining the eligibility of the participants in the
study. No documents were checked during the process of data collec-
tion and self-reporting by the participants was taken into account. The
study was conducted after getting the approval and clearance from the
Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute
for Medical Sciences and Technology. Written informed consents were
obtained from the study participants after giving the necessary infor-
mation regarding the study, the objectives, potential benefits, and risk
of participating in the study and giving the freedom of choice to the
participants to either participate in the study or not.

Data analysis and results

Prior to analysis, the entire data was entered into a computerized
database using the software EpiData version 3.1. Entire data sheet
 260  Sreejini Jaya and Ravi Prasad Varma

was corrected manually and data cleaning was done using computer-
ized cleaning process. Finally data was exported from EpiData version
3.1. to a software, Statistical Package for Social Sciences [IBM SPSS]
version 17 and Open Source Epidemiologic Statistics for Public Health
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[Open Epi] version 3.2.1.; where the analysis was done. For deriv-
ing the summary statistics of the study variables descriptive statistics
were used. In order to find out the determinants of poor pattern of
health care seeking bivariate analysis was done to find the association
between the major predictor variables and the dependent variable
the poor pattern of health care seeking. Backward logistic regression
[Backward LR] method of binary logistic regression was used to build
a multivariate model on poor pattern of health care seeking and fur-
ther we did a series of further analysis of predictor variables on poor
pattern of health care seeking to project out the existing actual truth.
A total of 315 interstate migrant labourers were approached for
the study; among the 315 only 283 interstate migrant labourers
were willing to participate and gave us the informed consent. Esti-
mated total response rate for this study was 88.69 per cent. Medical
record verification was not attempted and self-reporting alone was
taken into account; on an assumption that these migrants represent
a mobile population and therefore may not have proper medical
reports. The section reveals the socio-demographic characteristics,
migration characteristics, health seeking behavioural characteristics
that exist among the study population. The use of tobacco and alco-
hol was found significantly higher in the study population.

Socio-demographic characteristics
All the respondents in our study were males, and majority of them
belonged to younger age group. The mean age of study population
was 24.77 years (standard deviation [SD] 4.8). The respondent’s age
was grouped into three age groups: ≤20, 21 to 30 and ≥31; a large
proportion of migrants were in the 21 to 30 groups (71.7%). This
type of age grouping revealed the proportion of very young migrants
of ≤20 years, who migrates at such a younger age, accounts to about
17.7 per cent. Marital status was grouped into currently single and
currently married. Currently single which accounts for 71.4 per
cent which comprises the single, divorced/separated and widower.
Surprisingly 44.1 per cent of the study population had completed
upper primary education. A large segment of our study population
(80.6%), was working as construction labourer and 87.6 per cent of
study population work in construction sector. The mean days of work
of study population was 27.12 days (SD, 2.99) and the mean current
 Health-seeking in interstate migrant labourers  261

income per day was 325.30 Indian rupees (SD 62.78). Monthly
income was categorized into low and high based on the median.
The variable socio-economic status was created by combining the
variables educational qualification, current occupation and monthly
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income. A total of 81.6 per cent of the study population falls in the
low socio-economic status group.

Migration characteristics
For 64.3 per cent of the study population, it was their first migration
and for 38.5 per cent of the migrants, the state of origin was West Ben-
gal. Other states from where the respondents migrated are from Odi-
sha, Bihar, Assam, and Jharkand, which are some of the poor Indian
states. For 93.6 per cent of the people the place of birth was rural and
for 61.8 per cent of the study population, the place of last residence
was rural. When the place of birth and place of last residence was
taken into the measure; it was possible for us to draw five patterns
of migration streams in our study namely rural–urban, rural–urban–
urban, urban–urban, rural–rural–urban, and urban–urban–urban.
Among the five emerged patterns of migration stream the rural–urban
migration dominated; on the other hand, there was not a single case
of urban–rural–urban migration stream in our study.
The mean duration of stay was 12.80 months (SD, 12.90); with the
length of duration of stay extending from 3 to 84 months. Among the
respondents, a majority of them migrated for employment, 46.3 per
cent of the migrants came to know about the present place of resi-
dence through friends, 29.3 per cent through relatives and 21.2 per
cent through job agencies or contractors. Relatives and friends were
a major factor which helped them in migrating to the present place of
residence. Migrants who did not visit their homeland since migration
were 45.6 per cent and for a majority of respondent the occasion of visit
was either during festive seasons or when any kind of need arises at
their home. A large portion of the interstate migrant labourers (83.4%)
do remit their money back home mostly through bank or post office.

Health seeking behavioural characteristics

As much as 79.2 per cent had some level of knowledge about the near-
est available health facility and 82.7 per cent knew about the working
hours of the health facility. More than half of the study population had
knowledge about the government health facility; on the contrary, medi-
cal or drug store (28.6%) was the major place to seek care when they
were ill. Among the respondents, 51.6 per cent had visited the health
 262  Sreejini Jaya and Ravi Prasad Varma

facility in the last 15 days. A small per cent (23.7%) of the respondents
had an employer based health care facility. More than half of the migrant
labourers needed permission from their employer to seek health care
and for 27.6 per cent of migrant labourers, payment for health care was
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paid by the employer, leaving a large proportion (72.4%) of migrant

labourers without any form of medical security from the employer
side. Majority of the interstate migrant labourers were accompanied
to the health facility by their friends; auto rickshaws were the common
mode of transport. Further, 33.6 per cent of them received medicines
and injections and were examined by the doctor. A total of 21.9 per
cent of migrant labourers paid only one rupee to seek care was spent
mainly for the outpatient ticket in a government facility. Among the
interstate migrant labourers, 77.1 per cent paid less than 500 rupees
for each health visit. About 66.4 per cent of the migrant labourers took
leave for seeking health care and there were many problems for seek-
ing health care such as longer waiting periods (20.8%), language bar-
riers (20.5%), lack of availability of free medicines (11.3%), lack of
money (10.6%), etc. In spite of having numerous problems for seeking
or accessing health care 26.9 per cent of respondents reported that they
had no kind of difficulty in accessing health care.

Pattern of health care seeking

‘Pattern of health care seeking’ was constructed based on responses
to three aspects allied to health-seeking behaviour such as ‘aware-
ness about the nearest health care facility’, ‘seek care at medical facil-
ity or drug store/self-care’ and ‘seek care when the person is ill’. Two
categories were created – poor and good. Poor pattern of health care
seeking category was defined as lack of awareness about the nearest
health care facility, seeking care at drug store/self-care or not seek-
ing care when the person is ill. As much as 43.5 per cent with a 95
per cent confidence interval of [37.69–49.22 per cent] of the respon-
dents had poor pattern of health care seeking.

Determinants of poor pattern of health care seeking

Independent variables like lower age group, currently single marital
status, having low monthly income, and having full time work are
associated with poor pattern of health-seeking behaviour, which was
found significant too. If the place of last residence was rural, if it’s
the first migration and duration of stay was less than 12 months,
then the results showed significant association with poor pattern of
health care seeking. Other independent variables like, if there are no
available employer based health facility or if the payment for services
 Health-seeking in interstate migrant labourers  263

was not paid by the employer, there exists significant association.

Interstate migrant labourers’ knowledge about the working hours of
the health facility and knowledge about government health facility
showed significant association.
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Table 17.1 Association of independent variables with poor pattern of health-

care seeking

Poor pattern Crude Odds Ratio

Variables N (n[%]) [OR] [95% CI] P-value
Age group 50 37 [74] 25.615 <0.001
≤20 203 83 [40.9] [6.642–98.794] 0.003
21–30 30 3 [10] 6.225
≥31* [1.828–21.195]
Marital status 202 99 [49] 2.283 [1.316–3.96] 0.003
Currently single 81 24 [29.6]
Currently married*
Monthly income group 154 79 [51.3] 2.035 [1.257–3.295] 0.004
Low 129 44 [34.1]
High*
Full-time work 133 43 [32.3] 0.4181 <0.001
Yes 150 80 [53.3] [0.2575–0.6788]
No*
Place of last residence 175 85 [48.6] 1.74 [1.062–2.851] 0.027
Rural 108 38 [35.2]
Urban*
First migration 182 89 [48.9] 1.886 [1.138–3.124] 0.013
Yes 101 34 [33.7]
No*
Duration of stay 202 102 [50.5] 2.914 [1.651–5.145] <0.001
≤12 months 81 21 [25.9]
≥13 months*
Availability of employer- 216 108 [50] 3.467 [1.84–6.531] <0.001
based health facility 67 15 [22.4]
No
Yes*
Payment for services by the 205 100 [48.8] 2.277 [1.303–3.981] 0.003
employer 78 23 [29.5]
Payment not paid
Payment paid*
Knowledge about working 49 36 [73.5] 4.679 [2.353–9.304] <0.001
hours of the health facility 234 87 [37.2]
Do not know
Knew the timings*
Knowledge about 120 74 [61.7] 3.743 [2.276–6.155] <0.001
government health facility 163 49 [30.1]
No
Yes*
*
Reference category.
 264  Sreejini Jaya and Ravi Prasad Varma

Multivariate model on poor pattern

of health care seeking
Based on the findings from the literature, significance in bivariate
analysis, the independent variables for modelling were chosen. In
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binary logistic regression, backward LR method was used for model

building. For each of the independent variable its strength of asso-
ciation with the pattern of health care seeking was given as odds
ratio along with the confidence interval after adjusting for other vari-
ables. A 56.5 per cent of poor pattern of health care seeking had been
predicted by the following predictor variables (p-value [0.028] and
Nagelkerke R2 value [0.414]), the predictor variables are younger
age group (≤ 20 years), non-availability or absence of an employer
based health facility, payment for services not paid by the employer,
unaware about the working hours of the health facility and unaware
about the government health facility.
Further analysis of the significantly found independent variables
shed some light into the actual reason behind the poor pattern of
health care seeking. Among the younger age groups, non-remittance
of money and even use of alcohol was found significantly associated;
indicating that among the younger age group there is a poor pattern

Figure 17.1 ROC curve predicting pattern of health care seeking using
duration of stay (in months)
 Health-seeking in interstate migrant labourers  265

Table 17.2 Multivariate model on poor pattern of health-care seeking

Variables Adjusted O.R. 95% CI P-value

Age group (years) 16.435 3.778–71.497 <0.001
≤20 3.387 0.933–12.305 0.064
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21–30
≥31*
Duration of stay 1.907 0.977–3.724 0.059
≤12 months
≥13 months*
Availability of employer-based 3.896 1.737–8.737 0.001
health facility
No
Yes*
Payment for services by the 2.485 1.178–5.240 0.017
employer
Payment not paid
Payment paid*
Knowledge about working 4.947 2.164–11.306 <0.001
hours
Do not know
Knew the timings*
Knowledge about government 3.980 2.151–7.365 <0.001
health facility
No
Yes*
*
Reference category.

of health care seeking. Despite the lack of a significant association in

multivariate analysis, duration of stay might be important in predict-
ing the pattern of health care seeking, as evidenced by the receiver
operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The area under the
curve was 0.683 (p<0.001).
Employer-related factors had noteworthy effects on pattern of
health care seeking but the difference was not statistically significant.
Employer support has influence on pattern of health care seeking
beyond the actual care sought due to better awareness level. As the
duration of stay at the present place of residence increases, there is
a possibility for the respondent to become aware of the surrounding
facility as a result of assimilation. Those who were aware about the
government health facility had a longer duration of stay [Mean –
15.76 months, SD – 15.002] compared to those who were unaware
of the government health facility [Mean – 8.77 months, SD – 7.698]
and this difference was statistically significant [p-value <0.001].
 266  Sreejini Jaya and Ravi Prasad Varma

However, the significant association in the multivariate results sug-

gests independent effect of knowledge about the government health
care facility on poor patterns of health care seeking.
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Discussions
Estimated poor pattern of health care seeking was 43.5 per cent.
Percentages of migrants who seek care at drug store and government
hospitals, when they are sick are 28.6 per cent and 22.3 per cent,
respectively. These findings are in concordance with a similar study
reporting 29.8 per cent and 20.7 per cent, respectively (Surabhi and
Ajith Kumar 2007). The study suggests that younger migrants had
poor patterns of health care seeking, which can be due to reasons
as suggested in one of the study that migrants hardly invest their
money and spend most of their money in buying consumer durables,
mobile phones, music players, etc. (Saikia 2011). Significant associa-
tion was found with ‘non-remittance of money’ and ‘even use of alco-
hol’ among young migrants which supports this statement. Although
duration of stay in the present place of residence was not significant
at 0.05 levels in multivariate analysis, the finding is noteworthy as
suggested by the ROC curve analysis of this variable for health care
seeking.
Employer-related factors such as availability of employer based
health facility and payment for services by the employer had sig-
nificant association with poor pattern of health-seeking behaviour.
Despite the absence of an insurance system, if the payment for ser-
vices were paid by the employer more than half of the migrants sought
care when they had any morbidity; this finding is in accordance with
a south China based study, done at Shenzen which reported that uti-
lization pattern differ between insured and uninsured workers and
insurance status was found significant (Mou et al. 2009). However,
among those who reported morbidity, employer factors did not had
a significant association with seeking health care. Employer support
although it does not assure health care seeking during illness, leads
to a more favourable pattern of care seeking in general. If the migrant
had no knowledge about the government health facility or about the
working hours of the facility; there was significant association with
poor pattern of health care seeking. Here the major factor that acts
as a proxy for the knowledge or awareness level was the ‘duration
of stay’. From the study it is clear that those who were aware about
the government health facility had longer duration of stay in months
 Health-seeking in interstate migrant labourers  267

compared to those who were unaware about the government health

facility had shorter duration of stay in months.
Duration of migration was an important aspect in migration, but is
less explored in migrant health literature than expected. In this pres-
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ent study duration of stay was an important determinant for the pat-
tern of health care seeking behaviour. By the process of assimilation
as the duration of stay increase, the migrants come to know about
the surroundings and get mingle with the environment. This results
in the upgradation of knowledge and awareness among the migrants
about the available health facility, which can have a positive impact
on the pattern of health care seeking.

Acknowledgements
This is a summarized version of the full Master of Public Health
(MPH) dissertation done by the senior author at Achutha Menon
Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for
Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, submitted
as part for the fulfilment of MPH degree. I am thankful to my MPH
guide for guiding me throughout. I also thank S. Irudaya Rajan sir
for giving me this opportunity, since as a beginner in this field it’s a
huge boost up to go further.

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 18
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From Kerala to Kerala via the Gulf

Emigration experiences of return emigrants

K. C. Zachariah and S. Irudaya Rajan

This chapter about return emigrants in Kerala is based on information

on return emigrants collected by the Centre for Development Studies
(CDS) through several of its recent large-scale household surveys.
The term ‘return emigrants’ is used here to mean Kerala-born per-
sons, who have lived outside India for a minimum of 12 months or
worked/studied outside for shorter periods.
In recent years, return emigrants have become a demographi-
cally, politically and economically significant component of Kerala’s
population.
At present,

• one out of every 29 persons in Kerala,

• one out of every 22 adult population of Kerala (15+),
• one out of every 19 working age population of Kerala
(15–59 years), and
• one out of every 9 working age male population of Kerala are
return emigrants.

This chapter is about this important section of Kerala’s popula-

tion. It therefore has significant bearings on every aspect of life in
the state.
*********
At present, there are roughly over 1.3 million return emigrants
in the state. Two years ago, KMS Kerala igrant urvey] 2008
estimated that there were about 1.157 million return emigrants.
However, 10 years earlier, KMS 1998 enumerated 7.4 lakhs return
emigrants. The number of return emigrants is expected to increase to
about 1.6 million by 2015.
Corresponding to every 100 households in Kerala, there are 16
return emigrants; 12 of them have at least one return emigrant.
 270  K. C. Zachariah and S. Irudaya Rajan

Some (about 1.3%) households have more than one return emigrant.
Thus, the number of Kerala households with a return emigrant is not
as large as it is often reported to be. Not only that, the proportion
of households with at least one return emigrant has remained con-
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stant over the years, although the number of return emigrants has
increased quite considerably.
The geographic spread of return emigration follows that of emigra-
tion, as return emigration is a follow-up of emigration. Malappuram
district has the largest number of emigrants (15.3%); it has the larg-
est number of return emigrants also (19.0%). Thiruvananthapuram
district is the second largest with respect to emigration and is also the
second largest with respect to return emigration. The propensity to
return is greater in Thiruvananthapuram than in Malappuram when
we measure the return emigrants as a percentage of emigrants. On
that basis, it appears that the preferred districts for resettlement of
Kerala’s return emigrants are (in order of importance) Thiruvanan-
thapuram, Malappuram, Thrissur, Kollam, and Ernakulam. Surpris-
ingly, Ernakulam is only the fifth in order.
One unintended consequence of emigration and return emigra-
tion is the acceleration of urbanization in Kerala. Upon return from
abroad, more rural emigrants prefer to settle down in urban areas as
compared to the number of urban emigrants settling down in rural
areas. Return emigrants as proportion of emigrants is 56 per cent in
the urban areas, but only 50 per cent in the rural areas.
The largest number of emigrants from Kerala lives in the United
Arab Emirates (UAE), but the largest number of return emigrants
is from Saudi Arabia. The average number of years of residence of
return emigrants abroad is higher for emigrants to UAE than for emi-
grants to Saudi Arabia, which has one of the lowest averages. From
this point view, the Gulf countries that are relatively more attractive
for the Kerala emigrants are Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, UAE, and Kuwait.
Muslims are disproportionately overrepresented among the emi-
grants and return emigrants. Propensity to return is also highest
among the Muslims. Return emigrants as a proportion of emigrants
is about 56 per cent among the Muslims compared to just 47 per
cent among the Hindus and Christians. Hindus and Christians do not
return as frequently as the Muslims.
******
The recent global financial crisis has had a major impact on the
economic growth and employment opportunities in many countries
where Kerala emigrants have been working. Some Kerala emigrants
 From Kerala to Kerala via the Gulf  271

lost their jobs and were forced to remain unemployed abroad or to

return home. A recent CDS study concluded that recession-related
return emigration to Kerala is not as extensive as is often reported to
be. Although about 173,000 (7.7%) of the Kerala emigrants abroad
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returned home during the recession period, only a fraction of them

returned due to recession-related reasons. Their number is unlikely
to be more than 63,000.
The propensity to return home during the recession period was
higher among emigrants in the UAE than among those in Saudi
Arabia and many other Gulf countries. It was higher among female
emigrants than among male emigrants, higher among emigrants in
the age group of 15–19 years and in age over 50 years than among
the middle age groups; it was higher among emigrants with lower
levels of education than among emigrants with degrees and other
higher levels of education. The recession induced the return of the
self-employed emigrants and those who were working as agricultural
labourers more than those working in other employment sectors.
Many of the emigrants who remained unemployed in the destination
countries also returned.
Even in the peak of recession, when many of the emigrants were
returning home some return emigrants who were already in Kerala,
were migrating back to the Gulf. Among the return emigrants enu-
merated in 2008 (KMS 2008), about 11.7 per cent went back as emi-
grants in the course of an eight-month period. The corresponding
percentage of re-emigration among the return emigrants in 2007
(KMS 2007) is 13.6 for a 2-year period. A rough estimate would put
re-emigration during the first 12 months after return at about12 per
cent. Re-emigration is thus a real option open to the Kerala return
emigrants to cope up with the stress caused by involuntary return
emigration.
*****
Why and how did the Kerala return emigrants emigrate in the
first place? A special study of return emigrants in 2008 indicated
that about half the number of return emigrants from Kerala emi-
grated just to get a job – any job – as they were then unemployed in
Kerala. Among the rest, insufficiency of income was the main reason
for emigration for those with a job. They were compelled to emigrate
because they needed to find resources to pay the dowry of children
or relatives, build a house, purchase plot of land or a car or a motor
cycle, and so on. In this matter, there was nothing special about Ker-
ala emigrants – they were like any other migrant group.
 272  K. C. Zachariah and S. Irudaya Rajan

Friends and relatives were the principal channel through which

Kerala return emigrants originally got their information about emi-
gration. Recruiting agents were also important. They were the sec-
ond most common channel for information about emigration. The
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role of government, state or central, is insignificant in this matter.

Not many prospective emigrants from Kerala underwent any
preemigration counselling. This is one of the lacunas in the emigra-
tion process in Kerala. Grooming the prospective Kerala emigrants
for their life and work abroad could have helped them avoid many
of the problems that confronted them in the destination countries.
Nevertheless, as much as 80 per cent of prospective emigrants had
obtained an employment visa before they left Indian shores. Out of
this, 20 per cent had signed an employment contract before emigrat-
ing. This is commendable, but there is still room for improvement
in many areas for the smooth emigration of the large number of the
Kerala emigrants, many of whom have only a rudimentary level of
education.
*****
What was the emigration experience of the return emigrants (who
are back in Kerala now)? Most of them (84%) have emigrated only
once. They returned after living abroad on an average for 7.4 years.
For those who had emigrated more than once, the average duration
of residence abroad in the intermediate period is lower for the subse-
quent emigration episodes. The average declines steadily, to just two
years for the sixth emigration.
One important aspect of emigration from Kerala is its relatively
high cost. That is one reason for the reluctance of many emigrants
to return home even if he/she loses his/her job abroad. They can-
not return without earning enough money to cover the funds they
had borrowed to meet the cost of emigration and for buying a ticket
back home. In 2008, the average cost of emigration was Rs 57,000
for the emigrants and Rs 47,000 for the return emigrants. The dif-
ference could be explained in terms of increasing trend in the cost.
The most expensive part of the cost is of getting a visa which is more
than 50 per cent of the total cost. Air-ticket costs about 25 per cent
of the total cost. Together with payment to recruiting agencies, the
total costs of these three items exceed 90 per cent of the total cost of
emigration.
Most return emigrants depended on personal savings, loans from
friends and relatives, and loan obtained by pledging gold ornaments
of family members to meet the cost of emigration. Very few got
 From Kerala to Kerala via the Gulf  273

financial assistance either from the government or from the banks.

Mortgaging lands or houses to raise money for emigration is not very
common in Kerala.
*****
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It is often reported that Kerala emigrants experienced various

kinds of problems on arrival at their destination countries. However,
the CDS studies included in this chapter (which is based on the expe-
rience of return emigrants only) do not support this conclusion. It
is true that some emigrants faced problems, but according to this
study, this is not as widespread as is often reported to be. Perhaps
those emigrants with problems have not returned and/or the return
emigrants in Kerala are not a representative sample of the emigrants
abroad.
On arrival in the destination country, very few return emi-
grants had any major problems with passport, visa, work permit, or
employment contract. Most were received by their relatives (37%)
or employer (32%) or friends (23%). A few were met even by the
Indian Embassy staff. However, about one-fourth of the return emi-
grants reported that they did not get the job they were offered at the
time of their recruitment before they emigrated. This is a persistent
problem that would have to be looked into by official agencies.
The most unpleasant part of the emigrant’s induction to their new
country is that 70 per cent of them were not allowed to keep their
passport with them.
Conditions of work at the destinations were agreeable for 75 per
cent of the return emigrants. Nearly half the number of return emi-
grants got free accommodation. Accommodation was subsidized or
moderately priced for another 25 per cent. However, about one-fourth
of the return emigrants were not provided with any accommodation
and nearly three-fourths of them were required to share their accom-
modation with others. Those who got accommodation (82%) were,
on the whole, satisfied with its quality.
About a fifth (21.6%) of the return emigrants were provided with
free food, but nearly half of them (47.3%) were not. Others (24.4%)
got food at subsidized or moderate prices. Most of them felt that the
quality of the food they got was good.
Ninety-five per cent of the return emigrants were not accompa-
nied by their spouses. The average monthly income of the return emi-
grants abroad was about Rs 10,000. However, some (11%) had no
income at all because they did not get any employment after reach-
ing the country of destination, while there were a few with monthly
 274  K. C. Zachariah and S. Irudaya Rajan

income exceeding Rs 100,000. An average monthly income abroad

of Rs 10,000 compares very favourably with the average monthly
income back home before emigration (Rs 1,800).
The expenses of the return emigrants (Rs 3,286) while abroad
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were very much within their income. They could make a net sav-
ing of Rs 6,725 per month while working abroad. Thus, an average
return emigrant had to work for a minimum of nine months to earn
the money needed to meet the cost of emigration and to pay back the
debt incurred for this purpose.
Return emigrants were sending home Rs 4,083 on an average as
monthly remittance from their savings, and retained the balance of
Rs 2,331 for other expenses.
While the return emigrant was abroad, his/her household was
managed by his/her parents (in 53 to 59% of the cases) or by his/her
spouse (in 36 to 43% of the cases). Similarly, money was sent home
as remittances either to the parents (by 47 to 53%) or to spouse (by
39 to 45%).
Most of the return emigrants (70%) sent the remittances from
their destination countries when they were emigrants there through
banks. Mail transfer and friends/relatives were the other means of
sending remittances home.
*****
Of particular importance in this study is the impact of emigration
on the return emigrants. How do their characteristics before emi-
gration compare with those after their return? How much have the
characteristics of return emigrants changed as a result of emigration?
Some characteristics such as sex, religion or year of birth do not
change with emigration or under any other normal circumstance.
They are relatively fixed characteristics. However, most others could
change. Return emigrants are typically males, married and relatively
older. As much as 85 per cent of the return emigrants are male. How-
ever, the propensity to return is higher among the females.
Age does change the decision about whether one migrates or not,
but the change is predictable. At the time of their first emigration, the
emigrants, with an average age of 25 years, were quite young. At the
destinations, emigrants as a group had an average age of 33 years.
When they returned and became return emigrants, they were much
older with an average age of 45 years.
The propensity to return home among the emigrants increases
steadily with age. Although the total number of return emigrants is
only about half the total number of emigrants, the number of return
 From Kerala to Kerala via the Gulf  275

emigrants who are 50 years or older is larger than the number of

emigrants in these ages, 1.45 times larger at ages 50–54, 2.3 times
larger at ages 55–59, and so on.
The majority of the Kerala emigrants were unmarried at the time
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of their first emigration, but by the time they returned, most of them
were married. The change from unmarried status to married status
would have taken place whether they had emigrated or not. Emigra-
tion played only a minor role in this matter.
The levels of education before emigration of return emigrants was
relatively low: 3.4 per cent had not attended school at all; 9.7 had
not completed primary level education; 23.5 had not gone on to sec-
ondary level classes, and 67.6 per cent had not completed second-
ary level education. Only 7.1 per cent of them were educated to the
degree or graduate level. Nevertheless, they were better educated
than the general population of the state who did not emigrate, the
average year of schooling being 9.1 years for return emigrants com-
pared with only 7.6 for the general population. However, emigrants
at the destination countries who chose to stay there were better
educated than those who returned. The average number of years of
schooling of the emigrants who remained abroad was 10.1.
The number of return emigrants who studied only up to the pri-
mary level (passed or failed) exceeded the number of emigrants at
corresponding levels of education. However, only 30 per cent of emi-
grants with a degree chose to return. Few emigrants with higher lev-
els of education have returned.
There is not much change in the level of formal education after
departure of emigrants from Kerala. However, one positive aspect of
emigration is that emigrants and return emigrants have acquired sev-
eral skills while working abroad. These include various kinds of tech-
nical skills, marketing skills, managerial/supervisory skills, financial
management skills, and the like. Such skills augmentation among the
return emigrants is actually as important as remittances for Kerala’s
development programmes. Regrettably, few return emigrants seem
to be actually using the skills they had acquired abroad.
Most of the return emigrants in Kerala households were earning
members of their household even before their first emigration. They
constituted about 40 per cent and were heads of the households.
Another 44 per cent were earning dependents. Only one-fifth of them
were non-earning dependents.
Before emigration, majority (nearly 39%) of the return emigrants
were working as labourers in the non-agricultural sector. About 16
per cent were working in the private sector. Further, 15 per cent
 276  K. C. Zachariah and S. Irudaya Rajan

were self-employed. These three categories accounted for 70 per

cent of the return emigrants. In addition, about 12 per cent were
unemployed.
After their return from abroad, there were changes in their sectors
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of employment. The major differences are noticed in three sectors:

non-agricultural labour, self-employment and private sector. The per-
centage of return emigrants employed in the private sector decreased
from 15.7 per cent to 9.7 per cent, that in the non-agricultural labour
sector from 39.1 per cent to 28.0 per cent and that of unemployed,
from 11.8 to 6.3 percent. These decreases were compensated mainly
by increases in self-employment from 14.5 per cent to 22.9 per cent
and in the ‘not in labour force’ category from 12.1 per cent to 22.8
per cent. Quite a good chunk of the return emigrants ceased to be a
part of the labour force after their return.
A large proportion (24.3 per cent) of the prospective emigrants
from Kerala had no income at all at the time of emigration. On the
other hand, there were a few with annual income exceeding Rs
50,000. The average annual income of prospective emigrants from
Kerala was Rs 21,847, which was less than half the average cost of
emigration from Kerala.
When they returned, as much as 44 per cent of the return emi-
grants had to use part of their savings to pay back the debts they had
incurred to meet the cost of their emigration. More than 40 per cent
of return emigrants invested their savings in the education of chil-
dren and/or medical treatment of family members. About one-third
of them invested in construction. Nearly the same proportion had
used part of their savings for meeting marriage expenses of their
dependents. They deposited the rest of their savings in commercial
banks as cash and/or in the purchase of gold jewellery. Investments
in stocks, shares, mutual funds, or in new enterprises did not find
much favour with many. The reason could be lack of faith in these
avenues of investment or lack of awareness about them.
Return emigrants, after their return to Kerala, shift from their
original categories of employment to new ones. Among the return
emigrants identified in 2007, the proportion of self-employed per-
sons increased from 19.3 in 2007 to 24.9 in 2009. The proportion
employed as labourers in non-agriculture decreased from 30.3 per
cent to 17.4 per cent.
A similar pattern is observed among the 2008 return emigrants.
Among them, the proportion self-employed persons increased from
14.6 in 2008 to 23.0 in 2009. The proportion employed as labourers
in non-agriculture decreased from 39.3 per cent to 22.7 per cent.
 From Kerala to Kerala via the Gulf  277

A very noteworthy change is that the proportion of unemployed

among the return emigrants decreased from 17.1 per cent in 2007 to
just 1.8 per cent in 2009. Over a period of about two years, almost
all return emigrants were able to find employment. A similar trend
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is observed among the return emigrants of 2008. In their case, the

percentage unemployed decreased from 11.8 in 2008 to 3.2 in 2009.
This is a very important trend that needs to be noted by policymakers
in Kerala. Even in the absence of any rehabilitation programme on the
part of the government, most of the return emigrants who wanted a
job were able to get one within a period of one or two years.
Most of the unemployed return emigrants (33%) become
self-employed. It meant that they were able to start some busi-
ness activity of their own. Another 20 per cent found private sec-
tor employment. However, Kerala’s return emigrants had not set-up
many business establishments on their own. The 2,037 return emi-
grants established just 78 enterprises of which about 38–39 percent
were trading establishments.
Investments in these establishments were not very large by any
measure. However, 33 of the 78 establishments had a capital invest-
ment of Rs 1 lakh or less. Only seven establishments had investment
of more than 10 lakhs. The average annual turnover of these estab-
lishments was Rs 241,000 and the annual profit was Rs 85,000.
On the whole, the investment activity of the return emigrants was
minimal. Very few had tried to start any kind of economic activity.
Those who did try were not very successful. Other than a few trad-
ing shops, taxi services or agricultural-processing establishments, the
return emigrants of Kerala did not get involved in any sort of invest-
ment activity. Most were satisfied with investing their accumulated
savings in fixed deposits in commercial banks. Even stocks or shares
were not much of an option for them. Kerala’s return emigrants are
on the whole, content with what they have earned abroad and try to
keep it very safely.
As mentioned above, the priority for return emigrants was paying
off the debt they had incurred in connection with their emigration.
Whatever savings that remained was used for the education of their
children, payment of dowry, medical needs of their family members,
and buying/building/improving a house for themselves. They also
used part of their savings to acquire household consumer goods. As
a result, the proportion of households owning modern consumer
durables is higher among return emigrants compared to the various
migrant groups: emigrants, return out migrants, out migrants, and
non-migrants.
 278  K. C. Zachariah and S. Irudaya Rajan

Housing is one area where the impact of return emigration is most

evident. While about 27 per cent of the households without a migrant
own a ‘luxurious’ or ‘very good’ house, 54 per cent of the house-
holds with just one return emigrant own such houses. The propor-
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tion of households owning ‘luxurious’ or ‘very good’ houses increases

steadily with the number of return emigrants in the household. This
gives a clear indication of the positive impact of emigration on hous-
ing quality.
A similar pattern exists with respect to fuel used for cooking.
While about 35 per cent of the households that did not have a return
emigrant use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking, 41.3 per
cent of the households with one return emigrant use LPG for cook-
ing. The proportion increases steadily with the number of return
emigrants in the household to 75 per cent in households with three
return emigrants.
The pattern is somewhat different with respect to ownership of
land. While households with more than one return emigrant possess,
on an average, more land than those without any migrant, such a
relationship does not hold for households with just one return emi-
grant. This could be explained in terms of the relatively low economic
status of some of the return emigrant households before emigration.

Conclusions
Return emigrants in Kerala are not a representative sample of the
Kerala emigrants abroad. They are negatively selected at the top of
the socio-economic hierarchy and positively selected at the bottom.
Well-educated emigrants, who are professionally well placed in soci-
ety and possess management and entrepreneur skills, do not return.
They have too much stake abroad and the Kerala scenario does not
seem to be attractive enough to lure them back.
Return emigrants are positively selected from among the ‘failed’
emigrants at the bottom of the hierarchy. The failed emigrants do not
have the resources even to buy a ticket to return. Further, the legal
issues related to emigration and work permits prevent some of them
from coming out into the open and returning home.
Such biases in the ‘sample’ of return emigrants in Kerala could
have influenced some of the conclusions in this chapter.
One of the conclusions reported here is that Kerala emigrants do
not experience any major problems either in Kerala before they emi-
grate or in the host country on arrival there or later. This conclusion
is somewhat at variance with the reports we get from other sources.
 From Kerala to Kerala via the Gulf  279

One reason for this difference could be the positive selectivity at the
bottom. The reported number of return emigrants in Kerala does
not include many emigrants who had experienced problems here or
abroad. The emigrant’s life abroad could be worse than the picture
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presented in this chapter. Their problems need official attention and

amelioration.
Second, the return emigrant’s contribution to the development
of the state has fallen below expectations, considering the resources
at their disposal. The reason could be the negative selection at the
top. Return emigrants in Kerala do not include the more successful
among the Kerala emigrants abroad. The negative selection at the
top is a limiting factor in what the emigrants could have contrib-
uted to the economic and social development of the state. With the
financial resources at their disposal, the skills and disciplined work
culture they had acquired, and the contacts they had established,
it is expected that Kerala emigrants could make a more significant
contribution to the state’s development. However, they have not
risen to the challenge or risen to the occasion and this is mainly due
to the absence of top level entrepreneurial skills among the return
emigrants.
Some policy measures are suggested as remedies, at least par-
tially, for these problems.
First, the development of a more comprehensive preemigration
counselling and skills upgradation programme for prospective emi-
grants could prevent many of the problems which they face here and
abroad. Predeparture counselling should include familiarizing the
prospective emigrants with living and working conditions abroad,
acquainting them with the problems that they are likely to face
when abroad and the ways and means of dealing with such issues.
Programmes for skill upgradation and for imparting multiple skills
would also come in very handy to open up alternate job opportu-
nities for the emigrants when faced with situations like the recent
global recession. An important component of the preemigration
counselling should be to prepare the emigrants for their eventual
return to the state. Return emigrants of Kerala today would have
been a much happier lot, had they been given proper counselling
about life after emigration. Counselling on financial management
with a long-term perspective could have been very useful for them
when they face the prospect of their long life as a return emigrant
without a regular monthly income. Prevention is better than cure.
Problem-preventing measures aimed at future emigrants would work
better than problem-solving measures aimed at return emigrants.
 280  K. C. Zachariah and S. Irudaya Rajan

Second, the cost of emigration is very high and increasing in Ker-

ala in relation to the annual income of prospective emigrants before
emigration. The government should intervene wherever possible
to check the spiralling increase in the cost of emigration and take
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measures to prevent recruiting agents and other intermediaries from

exploiting the poorly educated and financially deprived prospective
emigrants of Kerala. Financial support by way of loans could be very
helpful for some of the aspirants.
Third, with some intervention by government, the resources that
the return emigrants bring in could be used more effectively for the
development of the state. In the absence of the top-layer managers
and entrepreneurs among the return emigrants, leadership and direc-
tion from within the state – by government and business leaders –
could help to fully unleash the potential of the return emigrants in
the state. Alternately or simultaneously, top-layer managers and
entrepreneurs from among the migrants abroad should be persuaded
through adequate incentives to establish development projects within
the state, utilizing the resources brought in by them and other return
emigrants.

Acknowledgement
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support received
from the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India
and Department of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of
Kerala, for conducting the study.
 19
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Transnational flows
Extent, patterns and implications for Gujarat

Biplab Dhak

Introduction
International migration has been closely related to aspirations
of economic and social upward mobility the world over. The
migration–development interface, nevertheless, has traversed
through different trajectories – from ‘developmentalism’ and
neo-classical optimism during the 1950s and 1960s, to pessimistic
views describing it as brain drain and dependency in the 1970s; and
further to the new economics of labour migration (NELM), which
views migration as a means of resource transfer to origin countries,
in the 1980s. In India, international migration recently is being seen
as source of resource flow. India has emerged as one of the top over-
seas remittance receiving countries. The Reserve Bank of India’s
report on remittances for 2010 put India at the top, accounting for
$55 billion worth remittances, with China and Mexico close behind
with $51 billion and $22.6 billion, respectively. Besides economic
remittances, other forms of resource transfers such as philanthropy,
charity, gifts, and business collaborations also continue to constitute
an important part of the transnational flows to India (Levitt 2001;
Upadhya and Rutten 2012).
The contemporary discourse looks at migration as a result of mul-
tipatterned, dynamic decision-making processes, resulted in both
positive and negative consequences for individuals and households
(De Haas 2007; Guha 2011) leading variation in the magnitude and
process of migration across time and space. Therefore, the magni-
tude and process of migration is expectedly varies across states in
India. Similar is the scenario as far as implication is concerned.
Gujarat has always remained one of the frontrunners with others
states like Kerala, Punjab, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu in
India in sending emigrants. However, Gujarat arguably has different
 282  Biplab Dhak

pattern of immigrants as compared to others states. Particularly, there

are stunning differences from the pattern of Kerala, which unques-
tionably is at the forefront of labour-related immigration, as was
revealed by the Kerala migration survey series1. (Zachariah and Rajan
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2012; Dhak and Shah 2011). While the majority of Gujarati emigrants
(75%) aim to migrate to USA, UK, Canada, or Australia, where a large
share of Gujarati diaspora belongs, around 93 per cent of Kerala emi-
grants select one of the Gulf countries as their destination, to work
mainly in oil companies. Again, there have been several sociological
aspects which make Gujarat distinct. Gujarati migrants are known for
their maintaining strong bonding with their native families in India,
facilitating networks that accelerate further emigration, philanthropy,
social spending besides regular remittances (Rutten and Patel 2002).
The existing literature on international migration from Gujarat is
scanty. The state, at least till recently, had not received priority on
the map of important studies on transnational flows and develop-
ment in the Indian context. This is despite the fact that the scholars
in the past have done in-depth and longitudinal studies of interna-
tional migration from a few regions such as central Gujarat over a
long period of time (ibid, Dekkers and Rutten 2011; Levitt 2001).
These scholars, however, did not look at specific issue of transna-
tional flows till recently, and enquiry remained limited to focusing on
a particular social group or caste within a region. Locating some of
these immensely insightful analyses in the larger context of Gujarat
state thus may significantly benefit the existing literature on interna-
tional migration.
The aim of this chapter is partly to create a larger picture of trans-
national flows after giving snapshot of extent, pattern and direction
of international migration. The contribution of this chapter would
remain segregating transnational flow by two aspects – economic
and social – and its implication for the society. Apart from using
information from secondary sources, the chapter is based on report
(GIDR 2013) named as Gujarat Migration Report (GMR) prepared
at Gujarat Institute of Development Research in 2013 by the author
and Prof. Amita Shah. The report is based on sample survey covering
15,000 households, from 300 locations (rural and urban) across 25
districts in Gujarat.
The following section sketches an historical perspective of inter-
national migration from Gujarat, followed by an overview of interna-
tional migration from Gujarat, and mappings of transnational flows
into Gujarat. The section after that presents patterns of transnational
flows in general and in relation to the duration of emigration. The
last section outlines discussion and conclusions.
 Transnational flows  283

International migration from Gujarat:

A historical context
Among several other states, Gujarat has a long history of international
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migration. Ever since the prehistoric period, Gujaratis have been rec-
ognized as merchants. Proximity to the Arabian Sea and a number
of ports along the sea coast have been responsible for the mercan-
tile and maritime activities in the state. People from all backgrounds
began to move away from their native places, abandoning their tradi-
tional caste occupations. In the process they developed profitable ties
with East Asia, East Africa and Central Asia in precolonial times, and
such networks helped the future flow of migration. At the same time
the pressure to emigrate has also been fuelled by conditions within
Gujarat like the plague outbreaks in 1899–1902 and 1916–18, the
influenza epidemic in 1918–19 and the famine of 1899–1900. There
were also the perennial problems of adverse agro-climatic conditions
and low productivity of agricultural employment, exacerbated by the
decline of local textile industry (Ballard 1978). Climatic adversities
such as frequent droughts in districts like Kachchh and other parts
of the Saurashtra region have also been noted as important factors
causing migration within and outside India (Shah 2002). Interna-
tional migration from Gujarat, thus, is a combined outcome of both
aspirations and distress. At the turn of the nineteenth century, many
Indians including Gujaratis were brought to East Africa by the British
as bonded labourers for the construction of the East African railways.
At the same time many Gujaratis, particularly those belonging to the
communities of Patel, Lohana and Visha-Oshwal, began migrating to
East Africa and Madagascar, where they established themselves in
businesses. Some migrants in South Africa were from the labour class
and were brought by the British in the nineteenth century, mostly
to work in the sugar cane plantations; however, a few migrated for
setting up businesses. Within a couple of generations, they became
very rich, but continued to maintain their caste and kinship ties and
help others of their origin to migrate. After several African states
gained independence, they implemented several policies to make life
difficult for the Gujaratis, forcing them to migrate to Britain in the
1960s. Further, racial attacks, harsh economic conditions and the
imposition of more stringent immigration laws in England resulted in
many of them moving to Canada, the US and Australia and to settle
for jobs in sales, insurance and real estate. Some, with the advice and
financial help of their kinship networks, were able to set-up small
businesses. Later on, this process expanded and reached such a level
that at present 30 per cent of hotels in the US are run by Gujaratis.
 284  Biplab Dhak

Other migration streams were set on course during the 1970s and
1980s when many people from Jain community migrated to Antwerp
in Belgium to engage in diamond trading. More recently, especially
over the past 4–5 decades, many students, professionals, doctors,
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lawyers, and businessmen from Gujarat have been migrating to the

US for better jobs and higher wages (Magocsi 1999).

International migration from Gujarat:

recent pattern
Rate of emigration
An emigrant from Gujarat, as defined in the GMR, is a person born
in Gujarat who has migrated abroad any time in the past. The rate of
emigration from Gujarat is found to be reasonably high – higher than
the India’s rate of 1 per cent (NSSO 2010). It is estimated that 1.3
per cent of all persons in Gujarat live at present abroad. This rate is,
in general, urban-centric, with wide variations across districts. The
extent of emigration is almost three times greater in urban areas,
as compared to rural areas, with uneven concentration across dis-
tricts. Anand is found to be the leading district with 5.2 per cent
of emigration, and some other districts with high emigration are
Kachchh (1.53%), Ahmedabad (1.77%), Porbandar (1.38%), Vado-
dara (2.08%), Bharuch (2.03%), and Surat (1.81%). The scenarios
of emigration rate by districts and rural–urban divide in Gujarat are
presented in Figures 19.1 and 19.2, respectively.
Emigration rate is also found to have varied by regions2 in Gujarat
(Figure 19.3). As per agro-climatic zones the state has been divided into
five regions. These are (1) South Eastern, (2) Plain Northern, (3) Dry
area, (4) Kachchh, and (5) Saurashtra. The rate is comparatively higher
in regions like Kachchh (6.2%), Plain Northern (5.8%), and South East-
ern (4.3%) than Saurashtra (2.5%) and the Dry Areas (1.8%).

Estimation of emigrants from Gujarat

Based on rate on emigration and census data of 2001 and 2011, the
estimated number of ‘Gujaratis’ living abroad in 2001 accounts 9.3
lakhs and it accounts around 11 lakhs as per 2011 census popula-
tion. Among districts, Vododara (330,927), Anand (186,893), Surat
(130,820), and Ahmedabad (100,490) place on the top of the table
accounting for more than 1 lakh of emigrants. The estimation has
been done using the equation given as follows:

EMI = [{SUM OF (Hi * ri/hi)}/SUM OF Hi]*H

 Transnational flows  285

Figure 19.1 Rate of immigration by districts in Gujarat

6

5
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0
Surendra Nagar
Sabar Kantha
BanasKantha

Gandh nagar
Ahmedabad

Porbandar

Bhavnagar
Mahesana

The Dangs
Jamnagar

Vadodara
Junagadh

Bharauch
Narmada
Kachchh

Dohad

Va sad
Rajkot

anand
kheda
Patan

Surat

ALL
Panch Maha

Navsar
Amre

Source: GIDR (2013).

Figure 19.2 Emigration rate by rural–urban in Gujarat

2.5 2.3

1.5

1 0.9

0.5

0
Rural Urban

where
EMI = Total emigrants
H = Total number of households in a taluk
ri = Number of emigrants on the sample households in the ith
locality.
hi = Number of sample households in the ith locality.
Hi = Total number of households in the sample locality.
 286  Biplab Dhak

Figure 19.3 Emigration rate by regions in Gujarat

6.2
5.8
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4.3

2.5
1.8

South Eastern Plain Northern Dry Area Kachchh Saurashtra

Source: GIDR (2013).

Emigrants by religion, social group and education

Like the rural–urban divide and districtwise differences in the extent
of emigration, remarkable variations are also observed in relation
to educational level and religious identity. The rate of emigration
is found to be highest among Sikhs (12.14%), followed by Jains
(5.31%), Muslims (1.38%), and Hindus (1.24%) but the number of
Sikhs in the sample was very small. The important observation there-
fore is that Jains lead the emigration process followed by Muslims
and Hindus.
Further, emigration from Gujarat is greater among the privileged
few, who aspire for greater upward mobility. Since international
migration is an expensive affair and there are certain minimum
qualifications that need to be fulfilled in order to be allowed to go
abroad, it is expected that higher the education the greater will be
the chances of migrating abroad. While the household having at least
one emigrant accounts 8.9 per cent for the ‘General’ group, the rate
is very minimal (0.63%) among Scheduled Castes (SCs). Similarly,
there is a positive correlation between the rate of emigration and
level of education. The highest emigration rate (58.8%) is found to
have occurred among postgraduates (MA, MCom, MPhil, PhD hold-
ers) followed by those having professional degrees like MBBS, BDS,
[Link], [Link], MBA, MCA, etc. (19%) and technical education
(including post-graduate diploma in computer application, indus-
trial training institute course and diploma courses) with 14 per cent.
 Transnational flows  287

Perhaps, people opt for these streams of education with dreams of

migrating abroad.

Preferred destination by religion

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This section presents distribution of emigrants by destination and

religion. The analysis remains limited to Hindus and Muslims only
for not having small number of cases of other religion groups. As
Table 19.1 shows there is clear divide between Hindus and Muslims
as far as preferred destinations are concerned. What can be seen
some destinations for emigration are popular among Hindus, while
others are with Muslims. While a majority of Hindus migrate to the
US (31.8%), Australia (20%), UK (14.09%), and Canada (12.3%),
and in general to the west, Muslims end up migrating to Saudi Arabia
(36.3%), Oman (Muscat) (12.1%) and other Gulf countries. Other
popular destinations of migration for Muslims include Australia
(6.6%), UK (9.9%) and South Africa (7.7%).

Table 19.1 Distribution of emigrants by destination countries and religion

(Hindus and Muslims)

Hindus Muslims
Destinations of migration N % N %
Australia 159 20.0 6 6.6
Canada 98 12.3 3 3.3
China 0 0.0 1 1.1
Germany 2 0.3 0 0.0
Kenya 4 0.5 0 0.0
Kuwait 6 0.8 4 4.4
Malaysia 0 0.0 1 1.1
Nepal 1 0.1 0 0.0
New Zealand 17 2.1 7 7.7
Oman (Muscat) 12 1.5 11 12.1
Pakistan 0 0.0 1 1.1
Qatar (Doha) 5 0.6 0 0.0
Saudi Arabia 23 2.9 33 36.3
Singapore 41 5.2 3 3.3
South Africa 36 4.5 7 7.7
United Arab Emirates 8 1.0 0 0.0
UK 119 14.9 9 9.9
US 253 31.8 3 3.3
Yemen 1 0.1 2 2.2
Others 11 1.4 0 0.0
Total 796 100.0 91 100.0
Source: GIDR (2013).
 288  Biplab Dhak

Transnational flow: remittances, philanthropy

and social spending
Remittances
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Apart from many other sociocultural exchanges and business tie-ups,

the direct benefit of international migration is the inflow of remit-
tances (Rutten and Patel 2007). The remittances are important not
only to the families of emigrants, but also to the balance of payments
of the economy. For a number of countries such as Tajikistan, Tonga
and Nepal the remittances constitute a significant proportion of the
gross domestic product (GDP) (World Bank 2011). The immedi-
ate impact is the recipients’ increase of incomes, savings as well as
investment leading to GDP growth. For India, being a top remittance
receiving country, it has turned to be an important component of the
economy accounting about 21 per cent of total international reserves.
Owing to the large presence of emigrants from Gujarat, the state
receives a voluminous amount of remittances. The flow of remittances
from non-resident Gujaratis (NRGs) is so substantial that Madhapar,
a village in Gujarat which receives remittances from the US, the UK,
Africa, and the Gulf, is amongst the wealthiest in the whole of Asia.
Recently, Zachariah and Rajan (2012) have estimated that during
2004–2008, Gujarat received Rs 8,004 crore as remittances.
The Gujarat Migration Survey (GMS) depicts that 30 per cent of
households with at least one emigrant receive remittances and in aver-
age the amount of remittance receiving accounts to Rs 64,635. The rate
is marginally higher in rural (33.80%) than urban (28%) areas. The
extent of remittances received is found to be spatially divided, with some
districts where 50 per cent of households receive remittances. The dis-
tricts where more than 50 per cent of the households receive remittances
are Panch Mahal (71%), Surendra Nagar (60%), Kachchh (61.29%),
and Dahod (50%) (Table 19.2). When it comes to regions in Guja-
rat, Kachchh tops the list as far as receiving remittances is concerned.
Around 61 per cent of households with at least one emigrant in Kachchh
region receive remittances every year, followed by South Eastern (34%),
Saurashtra (27%), Plain Northern (24%), and Dry area (22%).

Flow of remittances by duration of emigration

Despite the fact that Gujaratis are permanent settlers, they are
known for having close ties with members of their home community.
The usual explanations for this are their connectedness (Werbner
2002: 121) and sense of identification with the homeland (Johnson
 Transnational flows  289

Table 19.2 Percentage of households of emigrants receiving remittances and

the corresponding average amount received in the last year

Districts Rural Urban Total Amount

Kachchh 69.57 37.50 61.29 80,806
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Banas Kantha 0.00 16.67 16.67 5,000

Patan 14.29 40.00 25.00 41,000
Mahesana 20.83 0.00 26.92 29,807
Sabar Kantha 50.00 37.50 38.89 38,444
Gandhinagar 50.00 30.77 33.33 43,333
Ahmedabad 0.00 21.78 21.57 54,607
Surendra Nagar 50.00 66.67 60.00 300,000
Rajkot 25.00 34.62 33.33 56,666
Jamnagar 33.33 33.33 33.33 40,000
Porbandar 0.00 16.67 12.50 12,500
Junagadh 20.00 28.57 23.53 51,176
Amreli 50.00 7.69 17.65 17,647
Bhavnagar 0.00 16.67 16.67 16,666
Anand 25.49 11.54 20.78 39,480
Kheda 36.36 18.18 27.27 46,136
Panch Mahal 80.00 50.00 71.43 80,000
Dohad 0.00 57.14 50.00 245,625
Vadodara 20.83 29.55 26.47 56,911
Narmada 0.00 0.00 0.00 00
Bharuch 42.86 40.00 41.67 101,750
Surat 29.41 33.80 32.95 92,318
The Dangs 0.00 0.00 0.00 00
Navsari 75.00 0.00 40.00 26,666
Vlsad 0.00 45.45 33.33 223,333
All 33.80 28.00 30.00 64,435
Source: GIDR (2013).

2007: 5). They stand by family members/relatives/communities

through philanthropy, sending remittances and any other help dur-
ing moments of crisis. It is found that NRGs continue to send remit-
tances back home in Gujarat even after emigrating for more than
40 years and the percentage of emigrants sending remittances is
as high as around 17 per cent, although the number dwindles as
time passes. The proportion of remittance sending declines with the
increase of duration of emigration. The only exception is the initial
stage when people are likely not yet settled, and remain in search of
job or employment opportunities, as a result of which, remittances
flow at the minimal rate (13.9 per cent) before moving to the next
stage of highest remittance flow (29 per cent). Then, it starts declin-
ing with the increase of duration of emigration (Figure 19.4).
 290  Biplab Dhak

Figure 19.4 Rate of sending remittance by duration of emigration

29
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20.5
16.7 15.8
13.9

40+ 30+ 20+ 10+ 2+

Source: Dhak and Shah (2014).

This is not surprising since after a long duration, it is probably that

the entire family might have moved and settled abroad and might not
find any family members back home to remit for. Again, over a period
of time the bonding of emigrants with family members as well with the
community is expected to be loosening and this might result in lesser
transnational flows. As it is observed, ‘over a period of time the orien-
tation of emigrants (Patidars from central Gujarat) towards India has
changed after going to the UK from the East African countries’ (Rutten
and Patel 2002: 327) and it is viewed that the stakes of maintaining
ties with relatives have declined. Furthermore, over time contestation
develops between emigrants and members of the home community
over the unity or usages of donations or remittances sent (Dekkers and
Rutten 2011) and that might fuel the reduction of transnational flows.
The relationship between the average amount of remittances sent
in the last one year and the duration of emigration follows a similar
pattern. During the initial stage, the average amount of remittance
flows accounts to Rs 29,189 and reaches its peak for the duration of
20+ years of emigration with Rs 98,205 and Rs 90,754 for the dura-
tion of 10+ years. The amount of remittances becomes minimum
with Rs 26,389 when duration is highest (40+ years) (Figure 19.5).

Philanthropy
NRGs maintain strong and continuous relationships with their coun-
try of origin. NRGs maintain cordial bonding with relatives, friends in
 Transnational flows  291

Figure 19.5 Average amount of remittance (in rupees) an emigrant sends by

duration (in years) of emigration
98205
90754
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50000

26389 29189

40+ 30+ 20+ 10+ 2+

Source: Dhak and Shah (2014).

their homeland and other countries. The phenomenon of maintain-

ing closeness has become stronger with the emergence and advance-
ment of communication technology. Given the increasing access to
Internet facilities, NRGs at present extend their bonding from social to
economic spheres. Not only do they bond by attending marriage cere-
monies, establishing and maintaining kinship networks, sending remit-
tances and affiliating with religious organisations, but they also show
interest in making various kinds of philanthropic activities. Linkages
are also established through institutions and associations that connect
diasporas to the mother country as well as diasporas in other countries.
Through these associational linkages, NRGs involve themselves in
a number of philanthropic and social service activities. For instance,
after the unprecedented earthquake of January 2001, NRGs came
together from all over the world and helped in rebuilding economy
and infrastructure. They raised funds from individuals and organi-
zations. A number of organizations responded with their support,
both human and material. The American India Foundation, which is
a well-established foundation in the US, succeeded in persuading the
former president Bill Clinton to visit Gujarat to promote the cause
of the relief and rehabilitation programme. The foundation had also
raised $150 million through various programmes.
The GMS suggests that philanthropic activities in Gujarat are
quite significant. It is reported that as much as about 6 per cent of
emigrants extended donation in the last 10 years with the average
 292  Biplab Dhak

amount of donation of Rs 1,35,314. Donation comes for various

purposes and through various channels. A major portion (49%) of
the donations is meant for religious activities, i.e. towards building
temple/mosque/church, etc. Other significant purposes of donation
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are the construction of hospitals (15%), schools (13%), and develop-

ment of non-governmental organizations (9%) and to help the poor
(8%). NRGs prefer most to donate directly to religious institutions. It
is found that 47 per cent of donations were given directly to religious
institutions, apart from sending it through family members (34%).
Other significant channels include charitable organizations (13%)
and non-resident Indian associations (3%). The magnitude of chari-
table activity in rural areas is different from urban areas. Emigrants
from rural Gujarat are found to have donated in greater proportion
(7.6%) than their urban counterparts (4.3%).
Therefore, philanthropy expectedly attaches value and which is
naturally by discretion to emigrants. Many a time the discretion-
ary power to direct philanthropy towards certain purpose does not
match with demand of people those are at the receiving end. Often,
the purpose of a donation is to gain easy popularity or social pres-
tige for family members back home as well as emigrants, rather than
to help locals. Religious institutions tend to be an easy choice due
to their wide reach and reputation. It is believed that donations for
religious institutions will be valued more than for other purposes like
building hospitals, schools or any other activities that directly affect
the poor. There is also the issue of reinforcement of religious divi-
sion percolated through the geography of emigration. Transnational
flows towards religious institutions is bound to be biased towards
Hindus for having vast Gujarati Hindu diaspora in the west who find
it easier to donate than the Gujarat Muslim Diaspora in the Gulf, due
to may be the income differential. Therefore, philanthropy in Gujarat
seems to work in both ways: its positive effects include the transfer
of foreign currency and social development, and on the other hand,
it widens pre-existing social divisions.

Social spending
Apart from remittances, which are usually sent regularly to house-
hold members, and philanthropy that is transferred for various social
and developmental works, there are other paths through which
transnational flows also take place. In Gujarat, it is usual for NRGs to
extend help to members back home during emergencies, for special
occasions, or when there is a need for sudden capital investment.
The proportion of households receiving monetary help other than
 Transnational flows  293

remittances accounts for 6 per cent of all households. This money

is usually used to meet the costs of building houses, marriages, edu-
cation, health, business, etc. On an average, a household receives
just around Rs 1.4 lakh per year. The main purpose remains build-
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ing houses (Rs 57,143), followed by marriages (Rs 26,000), and

health care costs (Rs 12,143).
Another important aspect of social spending is emigrants’ spend-
ing during their visits to home. The question emigrants were asked
was whether and how much they spent for various purposes during
the last visit, limited to a 10-year reference period. It is reported that
as many as around 7 per cent of emigrants spent significantly during
their last visit. The purposes of spending comprised family occasions
(marriage, death, birth, etc.), tourism, health care cost for any fam-
ily member back home, purchase of consumer goods, etc. Spending
for family occasions tops the list (Rs 122,858), followed by spending
towards health care expenses (Rs 66,501), tourism (Rs 55,667), and
the purchase of consumer goods (Rs 18,001).

Discussion and conclusions

As GMS reveals, although Gujarat has a long history of international
migration, recent flow of migration does not appear much high. The
rate of international migration accounts lower by many fold as com-
pared to a state like Kerala which is known for very high international
migration rate. Gujarat accounts mere 1.3 per cent of international
migration rate in 2013 against 29 per cent of Kerala in 2008. This
picture seems to appear for differential pattern of destination coun-
tries. While majority of Gujarati emigrants (75%) aim to migrate US,
UK, Canada, or Australia where a large share of Gujarati diaspora
belongs, around 93 per cent of Kerala emigrants select one of the
Gulf countries as their destination to work mainly in oil companies.
This trend results in a very minimal proportion of potential Gujarati
international migrants being succeeding in migrating internationally
due to relatively strict visa policies in US/UK/Canada/Australia as
compared to the Gulf countries where Keralites prefer to migrate.
The pattern and extent of international migration not only dif-
fers from state to state, but it also differs within a state, across
socio-economic hierarchy, religious identity, etc. For instance, the
process of emigration in Gujarat is selective and divided between
Muslims and non-Muslims. In general the chance of migrating
internationally is greater by many fold of population those are
socio-economically well-off as compared to poorer counterparts. Fur-
ther, transnational social field divided by religiosity, particularly by
 294  Biplab Dhak

Muslim and non-Muslims which is depicted by the differential pat-

tern of destination countries. Unlike non-Muslims who mostly prefer
to migrate to the west, Muslims have developed linkages with the
Gulf countries to migrate and work mostly in oil companies.
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Again, Gujarat is very distinctive in receiving transnational flows

in terms of philanthropy, social remittance, receiving gifts, and
spending at the time of native visit. Unlike other states which receive
regular remittances for household consumption expenditure, Gujarat
receives such remittances less frequently but gets greater amounts
for the construction of opulent houses and for buying land. Further,
that flow is markedly interlinked with the duration of emigration. A
‘window of opportunity’, for 20 to 25 years, exists for maximum flow
of remittances, after which it slowly closes up.
A majority of resources flow in the form of philanthropy in Gujarat
towards for religious activities, bypassing local developmental needs
such as health, education and poverty eradication. This seems to imply
religiosity and social hierarchy among the majority, non-Muslim and
socio-economically privileged emigrants residing in the west. This
pattern of philanthropy, therefore, seems to reinforce existing social
divisions. Nevertheless, transnational flows in Gujarat, both tangible
and intangible, are welcome entity since they are believed to expe-
dite the process of development, particularly economic development.
Emigrants have been ‘agents of economic development’ through their
interest in productive investment, as was reflected in the Vibrant
Gujarat convention in 2011 organized by the Government of Gujarat,
where NRGs demonstrated their interest for investment in the state.
At last, it can be reinforced that transnational flows are multidi-
mensional. Resources enter home villages and towns through dif-
ferent ‘transnational social fields’ (Upadhya and Rutten 2012, 60)
determined by different context and social classes, and have diverse
and complex developmental and social implications. Keeping in line
with the previous researches (Upadhya and Rutten 2012; Taylor and
Singh 2013), it may be concluded that transnational flows and their
impacts are highly complex, and are affected by various factors like
place, religious identity and socio-economic hierarchy. As far as the
place is concerned transnational flows not only vary in relation to the
place of origin of migrants but also on the destination of migration.

Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Prof. Amita Shah, retired Director of the Gujarat
Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad, who had introduced
me the subject and who led the Gujarat Migration Project. It has been
 Transnational flows  295

a privilege to have had a chance to work with Prof. Shah and learn
from her. I am also thankful to Prof. Irudaya Rajan, Chair Professor,
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) Research Unit on Inter-
national Migration at the Centre for Development Studies, Thiru-
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vananthapuram, for giving valuable inputs at various stages while

conducting the survey.

Notes
1 The Centre for Development Studies (CDS) conducts periodic surveys to
monitor the current status of emigration from and return of emigration
to the state of Kerala. So far, four such surveys have been carried out
in 1998, 2003, 2007, and 2008 being the latest (Zachariah and Rajan
2012).
2 Composition of regions by districts: (1) South Eastern: Panch Mahal,
Dohad, Vadodara, Narmada, Bharuch, Surat, The Dangs, Navsari, and
Valsad; (2) Plains Northern: Mahesana, Ahmedabad, Sabar Kantha,
Anand, Gandhinagar, and Kheda; (3) Dry areas: Banas Kantha and Patan;
(4) Kachchh: Kachchh; (5) Saurashtra: Surendra Nagar, Junagadh,
Rajkot, Amreli, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, and Porbandar.

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Wage differentials between Indian

migrant workers in the Gulf and
non-migrant workers in India
S. Irudaya Rajan, B. A. Prakash and
Arya Suresh

For a country like India, labour migration and remittances are syn-
onym to economic development. The prime export being its rich
human resource, drawing a development plan without taking into
consideration the nation’s rich diaspora that is scattered through
continents will not anyhow look realistic. On analysing the migra-
tion patterns of Indians, the Gulf migration saga deserves the most
important mentioning. Migration to the Gulf has had its historic
impacts and has witnessed all the ups and downs in the global socio-
economic fronts. Outstandingly dependable during the booms and
unscrupulously disappointing through the depressions, the migration
to the Gulf has showed its many faces to the Indian labour through
decades. However, needless to say, the country’s foundations are laid
and are sustained flawlessly by the rich flow of remittances that we
receive from the emigrants.
The Indian migration to the West is diametrically opposite a phe-
nomenon to its migration to the Gulf countries. When the educated,
skilled migrants reap prosperity in the rich West, the semi-skilled and
unskilled illiterate poor migrate to the Gulf hoping for a subsistence
living. They are mostly engaged in hard manual labour with hardly
any leisure and paid wages that question the very principle of wage
differential motivated migration.
The Kerala Migration Survey 2011, conducted by the Centre for
Development Studies, brought out two major revelations that ques-
tioned the existing knowledge base on Indian migration to the Gulf.

• The proportion of migrant workers to the Gulf dropped from

95 per cent in 1998 to 89 per cent in 2011
 298  S. Irudaya Rajan, B. A. Prakash and Arya Suresh

• While the wage differentials between the home and host

countries are remarkable for the skilled labour, the same for
the unskilled labour is not significant enough.
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Anecdotal evidences of indebtedness, sale of property and

deterioration of financial positions of the low-skilled migrants
reiterates the fact that the wage differentials between the Indian
jobs and the same jobs in the Gulf have considerably narrowed
down. Especially, in Kerala where the average wage rates are
higher than the national average, labour migration to the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) has taken a plunge, while new players
like the Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are now on the lead
when it comes to exporting labour (Krishna Kumar and Irudaya
Rajan 2014). After the global crisis, wage differentials among the
unskilled labourers between India and the Gulf have narrowed
down considerably due to the changing labour market situations
in both countries. There is a reduction in saving from migration
due to high cost of migration and living cost in destination coun-
tries. As a result, the financial benefits accruing from emigration
have decreased very much and it affected the attraction of emigra-
tion. (Zachariah and Irudaya Rajan 2012). Due to the changes
initiated by liberalization and globalization, there has been more
construction and other economic activities resulting in increase
in wage rates in Kerala. Kerala witnessed substantial increase in
wage rate of construction workers. This increase in domestic wage
rate and the fall in savings from the Gulf migration have reduced
the attraction of emigration.
The study considers the central question, ‘Is emigration to the Gulf
attractive under changing labour market situation in India and Gulf
in recent times, in particular after the Global Crisis?’ (Irudaya Rajan
2012). The study compares the opportunities and salaries offered in
India and in the Gulf in the same occupations and reveals the resul-
tant differences in the savings of Indian migrant workers in the Gulf
relative to non-migrant workers in India.

Objectives
The study intends to answer the following questions:

1. Do the opportunities and salaries offered in India and in the

Gulf in the same occupations significantly?
2. Compare the savings difference in India and the Gulf taking
into consideration the initial cost of migrant (travel, visa and
other costs of migration).
 Wage differentials between Gulf and India  299

3. Compare the wage differences of the four categories of work-

ers in India and the Gulf (monetary wage). Namely, carpen-
ters, drivers, masons, electricians, and housemaids.

Methodology
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The study depended on the following data collection methods and

sources:

1. Emigration Clearance Required (ECR) data on wages col-

lected from the Protector of Emigrants (POE) office for the
last three years.
2. Three primary surveys in select districts of Kerala and Andhra
Pradesh and two primary surveys in the Gulf.

Sampling frame
As part of the primary survey, five categories of workers are focused
on – carpenters, masons, electricians, drivers, and housemaids.
Data collected from internal migrants and non-migrants in Kerala
and Andhra Pradesh (Keralite, non-Keralite, Andhraite, and non-
Andhraite), Intending migrants, return migrants, and emigrants in
the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Review of literature
Till recently, economic thoughts on migration implicitly assumed
that migrations are permanent. The wage differentials between
the home and host countries were regarded as a core variable for
explaining migration. The earlier static models stated that as wage
differentials increase the number migrants also increase. However,
temporary migration is often the rule rather than an exception in a
dynamic world. In such a dynamic setting, the migrant population
in the host country is determined by the inflow as well as outflow of
migrants. Several attempts have been made to rationalize the process
of return migration/temporary migration despite the existence of
higher returns in receiving areas. For example, Stark (1992) explains
the return of migrants to the less rich home country with the help
of theory of relative deprivation and arguments of risk spreading.
People opt for temporary migration with an aim to overcome capital
constraints (Mesnard 2001). Dustmann (1997) opines that the high
purchasing power of the currency of the destination country in his/
her home country may act as a motive for the migrant to return.
A higher expected return on self-employment activities in the home
country is also considered a motive for short-term migration.
 300  S. Irudaya Rajan, B. A. Prakash and Arya Suresh

Temporary migration in traditional theory: In the traditional neo-

classical theory, the analysis of international migration is based on
the notion of wage differentials between home and host country
as well as on the migrants’ expectations of a higher return in the
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destination country. The theory does not explicitly deal with tempo-
rary migration though return migration seems to be viewed as the
outcome of a failed migration experience which did not yield the
expected benefits. Furthermore the neo-classical economics of migra-
tion views migrants as individuals who maximize not only their earn-
ings but also the duration of their stay abroad to achieve permanent
settlement and family reunification. However, The New Economics
of Labour migration (NELM) views temporary migration as a calcu-
lated strategy and not as a failed decision (Cassarino 2004).
The structural approach to temporary migration views it as a
question of context. According to this approach, which is heavily
indebted to the empirical findings and theoretical insights produced
by anthropologists, sociologists and social geographers, the return
decisions and reintegration of the migrants in to the home commu-
nity depends on a great deal up on the financial/economic resources
that they bring back to sending areas (Cassarino 2004). This is,
however, directly influenced by the earnings of the migrants in the
host country and the duration of their stay in that country. Thus the
migration duration becomes an important variable in the analysis
of temporary transnational labour flows. The relationship between
migration duration and the wage differentials between sending and
receiving areas is ambiguous. Though common logic suggests that
as wage differentials increase, migration duration also increases, the
analysis of Dustmann (2003) reveals that this is not the general case.
It is revealed that while a fall in home country wage will always
increase the optimal migration duration, the effect of an increase in
host country wage on migration duration is not clear. However, the
role that is played by wage differentials in temporary migration can-
not be underestimated especially since higher earnings in the desti-
nation country is the single major pull factor for short-term migrants.

Native and non-native workers in Indian states

We may first consider the employment- and wage-related aspects of
the domestic work force in Kerala. It is inevitable that we consider
both the native and non-native labour to arrive at realistic conclu-
sions. Hence, the study includes labour employed in the lower rungs
of the job hierarchy from within and outside the state.
 Wage differentials between Gulf and India  301

As detailed earlier, the study comprises of two distinct analyses:

one, at the historical migrants hot spot Kerala and the other, at the
new emerging migrants’ hub Andhra Pradesh. Both these states have
shown unique and interesting trends on labour migration and it is
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important that we understand these tendencies with clarity. In order

to study the profile of the workers, data was collected from a sample
of 256 Keralite and 249 non-Keralite workers.

Wage benefits
The distribution of wages among the workforce reveals that only 6.9
per cent of the total Keralite workforce earns below Rs 100 per day
and most of these workers fall in the category of housemaids. For
non-Keralites the situation is slightly different, with the proportion
earning less than Rs 100 per day being nil. Around 50 per cent of the
workers in Kerala earn between Rs 300 and 400 per day irrespective
of their nativity. Among this, carpenters and masons are at the top.
The largest share of housemaids in Kerala belongs to the wage group
of Rs 100 to 200 per day while in Andhra Pradesh they earn only less
than Rs 100. The non-native housemaids earn a slightly higher salary
than the native housemaids in Andhra Pradesh.
It can be inferred from Table 20.1 that the weekly average wage of
Keralite labourers is higher than that of their non-native counterparts

Table 20.1 Average weekly wages

Kerala Andhra Pradesh

Average Average Average Average Average Average
wage per work per wage per wage per work per wage per
day (in week (in week (in day (in week (in week (in
rupees) days) rupees) rupees) days) rupees)
Native Carpenter 476 5 2,556 370 6 2,212
Mason 493 6 2,796 355 6 1,975
Electrician 497 6 2,890 319 6 1,843
Driver 486 6 2,216 361 6 2,114
Housemaid 199 6 1,193 135 6 788
Non- Carpenter 374 6 2,229 349 6 2,102
Native Mason 399 6 2,393 301 6 1,668
Electrician 333 6 1,933 357 6 2,044
Driver 287 6 1,686 318 6 1,827
Housemaid 219 6 1,310 144 6 1,200
Source: Field surveys.
 302  S. Irudaya Rajan, B. A. Prakash and Arya Suresh

across the job categories. For example, while the weekly average for
a Keralite carpenter is Rs 2,556, for a non-Keralite, it is Rs 2,229.
This is true for other job categories too. However, in the job category
of housemaids, the non-native housemaids seem to be earning more
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than the Keralites. While the average weekly wage of non-natives is

Rs 1,310 for natives it is slightly lower at Rs 1,193.
The trend is found to be repeating in Andhra as well. The weekly
average wage of Andhrite labourers is higher than that of their non-
native counterparts across the job categories. However, in the case
of electricians and housemaids the Andhrites earn less than the non-
Andhrites as it was noticed in Kerala.
It is also interesting to note that, unlike native workers, the non-
natives work 9 to 10 hours almost without a break for six to seven
days a week for less than Rs 500 a day, whereas Keralite labourers
hardly work for six hours with liberal intervals for three to four days
a week, for higher wages. This is another reason for the employers to
prefer non-native labour over the natives.

Intending migrants
This section deals with the wage and related benefits likely to be
earned by the aspiring migrants.
In Kerala, an analysis of the data regarding the daily wages of
the workers who aspire to migrate shows that a significant pro-
portion (70.9%) of them earns up to Rs 500 per day. A negligible
0.8 per cent of the workers earn less than Rs 100 per day. Within
the job categories, more than 80 per cent of carpenters, masons
and electricians come under the wage group of Rs 300–500. How-
ever, in Andhra Pradesh, an enquiry into the average daily wages
received by the sample workforce showed that the mean wages
received by a greater proportion of workers in each category falls
between Rs 100 and Rs 200. This is substantially lower when com-
pared to the mean wage of Keralite workers (Rs 300–500) who
aspire to migrate.
From Table 20.2, it is evident that the weekly earnings across the
job categories are higher in Kerala compared to Andhra Pradesh.
This has been a strong reason for the growing inflow of migrant
workers to Kerala recently. This is also the base for our finding
that the flow of Malayali migration to the Gulf has fallen, paving
way for Andhra Pradesh and other states to explore the overseas
avenues.
 Wage differentials between Gulf and India  303

Table 20.2 Weekly earnings of the intending migrants

Average wage per Average working Average wage per

day (in rupees) days per week week (in rupees)
Kerala AP Kerala AP Kerala AP
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Carpenter 451 350 6 7 1,806 2,300

Mason 485 173 6 5 1,927 881
Electrician 458 189 6 6 1,839 1,069
Driver 481 342 6 5 1,923 1,794
Housemaid 260 151 6 5 1,056 817
Source: Field surveys.

Table 20.3 Annual household savings in Kerala

N Mean Minimum (in rupees) Maximum (in rupees)

Carpenter 26 13,292 1,000 24,000
Mason 20 16,250 300 60,000
Driver 18 17,211 3,000 36,000
Electrician 30 26,780 1,500 181,000
Housemaid 20 15,195 500 100,000
Total 114 18,313 300 181,000
Source: Field surveys.

Average annual household savings

Table 20.3 shows the average annual household savings of the
selected sample in Kerala. The average savings is higher among elec-
tricians (Rs 26,780) and the least among carpenters (Rs 13,292). It
should be noticed that even with their consistently low wage rates,
the housemaids have managed to save a comparatively huge amount.
It should be worth mentioning that this is a sector highly dominated
by women and their saving potential has to be acknowledged. The
recent increase in the migration of housemaids to the Gulf from the
third-world countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh should
hence be treated positively from a gender perspective.

Migrant workers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia

This section deals with the economic status of the migrant workforce.
It also takes a look into the aspects of savings and remittances of the
Indian labour working abroad.
 304  S. Irudaya Rajan, B. A. Prakash and Arya Suresh

Wage benefits of sample work force

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 33.3 per cent of the total selected
workforce earns a salary ranging between Rs 25,001 to Rs 30,000.
This group includes 53.6 per cent electricians, 43.7 per cent carpen-
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ters, 35.3 per cent drivers, and a relatively small share of masons
and housemaids. Only 5.7 per cent responded that they earn above
Rs 30,000. However, as evident from Figure 20.1, housemaids are
completely absent in this group.
Carpenters from Saudi Arabia usually receive wages above Rs
15,000. However, 63.6 per cent of the carpenters earn between Rs
15,001 and Rs 20,000 and 18.2 per cent of them replied that they get
wages between Rs 20,001 and Rs 25,000. Further, 18.2 per cent was
founded to be earning above Rs 30,000. Masons were completely
absent from the category of workers that earn below Rs 12,500 and
also between Rs 25,001 and Rs 30,[Link] 38.5 per cent of the
masons earn above Rs 30,000, 26.9 per cent of them responded
that they earn between Rs 20,001 and Rs 25,000 (Figure 20.2). In
the case of housemaids, we can see that they do not earn above Rs
20,000. Fifty per cent earned between Rs 12,501 and Rs 15,000.
However, 25.0 per cent of them earned between Rs 15,001 and Rs
20,000, and 25.0 per cent earned below Rs 12,500.

Figure 20.1 Monthly salaries of UAE emigrants (in rupees)

80

70

60
above 30000
50 25001 30000

40 20001 25000
15001 20000
30
12501 15000
20
below 12500
10

0
Carpenter Mason Driver Electrician Housemaid
Source: Field surveys.
 Wage differentials between Gulf and India  305

Figure 20.2 Monthly salaries of Saudi Arabian emigrants (in rupees)

300

250

above 30000
200
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25001 30000

150 20001 25000

15001 20000
100 12501 15000
below 12500
50

0
Carpenter Mason Driver Electrician Housemaid

Source: Field surveys.

Table 20.4 Savings of emigrants per month (in rupees)

Not
UAE Saudi Arabia reported
750– 1,515– 2,265– Below 5,000– 10,001– Above
1,500 2,250 3,000 5,000 10,000 15,000 15,000 UAE KSA
Carpenter 21.3 61.5 25.0 15.4 3.7 7.1 7.7 32.5 7.1
Mason 21.3 0.0 12.5 30.8 7.4 42.9 38.5 22.5 16.7
Driver 20.6 15.4 37.5 7.7 63.0 35.7 30.8 13.8 50.0
Electrician 20.6 15.4 18.8 30.8 25.9 14.3 23.1 23.8 21.4
Housemaid 16.1 7.7 6.3 15.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.5 4.8
Source: Field surveys.

Savings of the migrant workers

Now, let us assess the savings of the emigrants per month in rupees.
From the findings we have seen that the UAE emigrants have lesser
savings than those in the Saudi Arabia. Drivers in both countries
save higher than those in the other job categories. In Saudi Arabia,
masons are found to be extremely good at saving. Given their lower
incomes, housemaids still manage to save a considerable amount,
which is worth mentioning (Table 20.4).

Remittances
The study also took note of remittances by the emigrants. 37.5 per
cent of the selected workforce in the UAE responded that they are
able to send an amount ranging from Rs 10,001 to Rs 15,000 to their
home country every month. Majority in this group are masons (32.3
per cent), followed by carpenters (24.2 per cent), drivers (20.2 per
 306  S. Irudaya Rajan, B. A. Prakash and Arya Suresh

cent), electricians (12.1 per cent), and housemaids (11.1 per cent).
Only 11.7 per cent of the workforce responded that they sent Rs
15,001 to Rs 20,000 as remittances. This group includes 32.3 per
cent of total carpenters and 25.8 per cent of electricians (Table 20.5)
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In Saudi Arabia, the study tried to get a picture of the remittances

by the emigrants. However, an overwhelming majority of the work-
ers seemed reluctant to share the details of the remittances that they
transfer to their home country. However, 80.0 per cent of the work-
ers did not report their remittance details. Further, 9.0 per cent of the
workers reported that their remittances were below Rs 10,000 while
4.8 per cent reported that they were above Rs 20,000.

Findings and conclusions

From all accepted theories on labour migration, the one that sounds
most realistic while answering the question of why people migrate is
possibly the one that revolves around the wage differential concept.
Like any layman could assume, when there is a considerable differ-
ence in the prevailing wage rates of the home market and that of
the host, labour tend to migrate. No denying the fact that migrants
consider many other factors when they decide to move, we in this
project zero in on the wage differential aspect of migration and with
an extensive field study update our knowledge on labour migration
with the currents trends in the global economy.
The research on migration took a steep deviation when the Centre
for Development through its studies came up with the revelation that
the wage differentials between India and the Gulf countries are not
anymore significant enough for the Indian labour to migrate (Zacha-
riah and Irudaya Rajan 2012). The study took up various aspects of
labour migration and the glaring findings on the wage differentials,
the costs of migration and the remittances and the savings helped us
reiterate on the fact that the attraction towards the Gulf countries for
the Indian labour is soon depleting.
Table 20.6 consolidates our findings and highlights that the pre-
vailing wage rates in the Gulf are not motivating enough for the
Indian labour, especially Keralites to migrate given the souring high
living expenses and the costs incurred in migration.
Unlike the Indian scenario, in the Gulf the working hours range
from 10 to 24 h a day which also tells us that though largely sought
after, the working conditions are not very well appreciable. There is
an evident male domination in all job categories except that of the
housemaids who migrate to the Gulf. The recent crisis that has hit
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Table 20.5 Remittances sent by emigrants (in rupees)

Less than 10,000 10,001–15,000 15,001–20,000 20,001–25,000 Above 25,000 Not reported
KSA UAE KSA UAE KSA UAE KSA UAE KSA UAE KSA UAE
Carpenter 15.4 36.8 0.0 24.2 0.0 32.3 0.0 42.9 0.0 28.6 7.8 24.1
Mason 15.4 21.1 0.0 32.3 16.7 6.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 23.8 21.6 11.5
Driver 23.1 0.0 33.3 20.2 50.0 22.6 85.7 57.1 0.0 23.8 39.7 17.2
Electrician 38.5 26.3 66.7 12.1 33.3 25.8 14.3 0.0 0.0 23.8 28.4 29.9
Housemaid 7.7 15.8 0.0 11.1 0.0 12.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.6 17.2
Source: Field surveys.
 308  S. Irudaya Rajan, B. A. Prakash and Arya Suresh

Table 20.6 Wage rates for Indian labour in the Gulf, 2012 (in rupees)

Countries Carpenter Driver Electrician Housemaid Mason

Bahrain 16,550 16,673 25,180 15,833 16,291
KSA 17,748 17,434 17,827 19,582 17,714
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Kuwait 22,605 14,205 23,684 11,587 17,507

Oman 13,838 17,684 15,222 10,696 13,146
Qatar 16,161 21,374 18,270 0 16,447
UAE 19,268 19,867 18,910 16,776 19,428
India 8,929 6,928 8,138 5,500 9,640
(non-migrant
non-Keralite)
Source: Data obtained from Protector of Emigrants, Ministry of Overseas Indian
Affairs, Government of India.

Table 20.7 Cost migration to and living in the UAE

Cost of migration to the UAE

Cost of living
Intending in the UAE (per
Job category UAE emigrant migrant Return emigrant month)
Carpenter 64,640 37,624 63,551 7,136
Mason 61,921 35,505 74,907 6,402
Driver 50,350 40,244 65,674 6,656
Electrician 56,889 36,890 74,267 6,664
Housemaid 46,440 30,626 31,636 3,913
Source: Field surveys.

the Arab region owing to the Arab Spring and the economic turmoil
has affected the foreign labour working in the private sectors than
the native public sector workers. Masons, carpenters and electricians
receive high wages compared to the others owing to their scarce num-
bers. Housemaids on the other hand are paid much lesser than all
the other categories and in most cases paid a wage below what was
offered. The costs of migration are mainly met by Indians through
borrowings from various sources. It is interesting to note that the
role of commercial banks, cooperative societies and microcredits are
firmly increasing in this froth, but to the rural India the dependence
on local money lenders is still very prevalent (Table 20.7)
It so happens that the costs of migration are on a rise and most
migrants are trapped in a vicious circle of liabilities. Only a few man-
age to repay these liabilities with their current incomes but the rest
who plans to repay their debts with their future incomes end up spend-
ing all their earnings on it, technically leaving them with no savings
for the future. It is also interesting to note that housemaids, or more
 Wage differentials between Gulf and India  309

specifically women migrants, utilize the microfinance opportunities

available to them for funding their migration expenditure. House-
maids are the worst sufferers of low wages abroad and it is almost
impossible for them to repay their debts with their current incomes.
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The cost of migration and the living expenditures in the UAE

makes it hard for the workers to make any considerable savings dur-
ing their stay abroad. The return migrants were mostly of the opinion
that the reason for their return was either the low wages or compul-
sory eviction (Table 20.7).
The findings mainly get our attention on the fact that, what may
be right for Kerala, the historic migrant hub may not be correct for
the rest of the country. The standard of living, average wages and the
working conditions are much better in the state, which of course has
been widely influenced by the huge remittance flows, that makes Ker-
alites less attracted to the Gulf countries. However, on the other hand,
Kerala now is an internal migrant’s hot spot with huge chunks of
Andhrites, Biharis and Bengalis moving into the state for low-skilled
and semi-skilled jobs. The high rate of educational attainments in the
state has also resulted in a deficit of low-skilled labour. This has in
turn resulted in a noteworthy change in the migration trends of India.

1. The migration of labour from Kerala to the Gulf has tremen-

dously declined in recent years.
2. The trend has now shifted to Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh
and other northern states, where the internal economic situa-
tions and wages are not as much favourable as in Kerala.
3. The instances of low wages, unhealthy working conditions,
cheating, and fraudulence are very prominent in the Gulf
which makes life difficult for the migrants and which stresses
on the needs for efficient government interventions.
4. Migration to the Gulf is not anymore a viable attractive option
for the Keralites but to other states it can still be beneficial but
the recent economic occurrences and the stringent nationaliza-
tion policies of the Arab nations give a strong notion that the
Gulf era of India is almost over or cannot continue to eternity.

Table 20.8 gives us a better understanding of the situation pre-

vailing among the low-skilled migrants to the Gulf. When the skilled
educated Indians reap prosperity abroad, the uneducated poor lot
hardly earns anything. It should also be remembered that most of
these workers are single breadwinners to their families and mostly
belonging to the lower economic strata of the society. The recent
 310  S. Irudaya Rajan, B. A. Prakash and Arya Suresh

Table 20.8 Monthly remittances and annual household savings (in rupees)

Job category Monthly remittance Average annual household savings

Carpenter 16,110 110,200
Mason 14,221 91,000
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Driver 17,722 305,000

Electrician 16,433 418,000
Housemaid 13,361 121,200
Source: Field surveys.

studies focusing on the ‘working poor’ is very much appropriate to

the Indian migrants in the Gulf.
Therefore, it is time we paused and gave it a thought. Why actu-
ally do people migrate? Given the economic and statistical evi-
dences, migration is something more than wage differentials. For
an unskilled, uneducated Indian, it is more about subsistence and a
hope of earning respects that he/she could not ever receive in his/
her home country. However, irrespective of all the odds, the overseas
hells are always more attractive than the home paradise.

References
Dustmann, C. 1997. Return Migration, Uncertainty and Precautionary
Savings. Journal of Development Economics, 52(2): 295–316.
Dustmann, C. 2003. ‘Return Migration, Wage Differentials, and the Optimal
Migration Duration’, European Economic Review, 47(2): 353–369.
Irudaya Rajan, S. (ed.). 2012. India Migration Report 2012: Global Financial
Crisis, Migration and Remittances. Routledge, New Delhi.
Mesnard, Alice. 2001. Intergenerational Mobility and Temporary Migration.
Louvain Economic Review, 67(1): 59–88.
S. Krishna Kumar and S. Irudaya Rajan. 2014. Emigration in 21st-Century
India: Governance, Legislation, Institutions. Routledge India. New Delhi.
Stark, Oded. 1992. The Migration of labour. Oxford: Blackwell.
Zachariah, K. C. and S. Irudaya Rajan. 2012. Kerala’s Gulf Connection,
1998–2011: Economic and Social Impact of Migration. New Delhi: Orient
Blackswan.
 21
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The disposable people

Irregular and undocumented migrants
Bernard D’ Sami

Introduction
Immigration is generally the movement of people from their home
country to another country in order to settle down for the purpose
of livelihood and better life. It can be divided into two domains such
as legal and irregular. Legal immigrants are the persons who pos-
sess proper documents (valid visa, passport and citizenship) in their
host countries. Irregular migrants are the persons who do not have
legal passport, travelling in another person’s passport, overstay in
the destination country after the expiry of their visa. They are also
called undocumented immigrants. How they become undocumented
vary. Some are already undocumented since entering the host coun-
try commonly facilitated by recruiters and traffickers. Others become
undocumented after running away from abusive and exploitative
working and living condition. Still others enter a country as tourists
and then later on look for jobs as an undocumented migrant. There
are also undocumented who are forced to become so because of the
grave limitation on length of stay that host countries implement and
their need to keep a job overseas. Undocumented migrants are the
part of foreign labour that is largely unknown, unrecognized and
severely unprotected.

Stock of undocumented migrants

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that of
the 191 million migrants in the world in 2005, about 30 to 40 million
are undocumented. However, there are also some migrant experts
that put the figure at 40 per cent of all migrant workers. Platform
for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)
based in Brussels, leads a network of concerned individuals and
organizations committed to ensuring real sustainable change for
 312  Bernard D’ Sami

undocumented migrants by informing and influencing policymak-

ers. While it has been estimated by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) that there may be from 5 to
8 million undocumented migrants in Europe, they remain invisible
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to the policymakers. The estimated number of undocumented immi-

grants in the US is 12 million – 57 per cent of the undocumented
immigrants are from Mexico, 24 per cent from Latin America, 9 per
cent from Asia, and 6 per cent from Europe. Nearly 2 in 3 undocu-
mented immigrants are from Mexico.1 In Europe, OECD estimates
that each year around half a million undocumented migrants enter
the European Union (EU). The OECD’s most recent data concerning
undocumented migrants in Europe date from 2007, in which it was
estimated that between 10 and 15 per cent of Europe’s 56 million
migrants were undocumented.2 The aggregate estimate of undocu-
mented migrants presented by the Clandestino Project for the 27 EU
member states ranged from 1.9 to 3.8 million.3 The United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that undocumented
migration could average around a third of all migration flows for
developing countries, around 30 million migrants.4 There are an esti-
mated 50 million irregular migrants in the world today. Due to global
inequalities and restrictive immigration policies, many workers from
developing regions are willing to borrow heavily from their com-
munities and risk their lives to access opportunities in more afflu-
ent countries. Since they cannot always do this legally, they often
look for organized criminals to help them. Because these services are
illegal, those who provide them have tremendous power over their
charges, and abuses are commonplace.5

Hardships faced by the undocumented

migrants
Most undocumented migrants are without valid travel documents.
Hence, they are at the mercy of contractors who can turn them into
the police for arrest and deportation if they do not accept the wages
and working conditions offered. In such cases when found they are
immediately deported back to their country of origin or detained in
the prison in the host countries under criminal charges. Many undoc-
umented migrants in any case have no knowledge of their rights or
the process for registering a grievance. Papademetriou6 identifies four
common forms of undocumented migration – namely, unauthorized
entry, fraudulent entry (i.e. with false documents), visa overstaying,
and violation of the terms and conditions of a visa. Undocumented
 The disposable people  313

migration is much more complex than the common forms. Other

ways by which many become undocumented workers are those who
are rejected as asylum seekers required to leave, but instead become
economic migrants.
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Discourse on irregular and

undocumented migration
The issue of undocumented migration has been addressed in recent
times by many regional organizations such as the ‘Bangkok Declara-
tion on Irregular Migration’ in 1999, the Global report of the UN
Secretary General on ‘Migration and Development’ in 2006 and
the very recent ‘ASEAN declaration on migrant workers’ on 13th
January 2007.
The Bangkok Declaration.7 In April 1999, major sending and
receiving countries in the Asia Pacific – Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei
Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea,
Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea,
the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam –
signed The Bangkok Declaration on irregular migration. It observed
‘migration particularly irregular migration, should be addressed in a
comprehensive and balanced manner, considering its causes, mani-
festations and effects both positive and negative in the countries of
origin, transit and destination’. Donor countries and international
organizations are asked to provide assistance to developing countries
for poverty reduction and social development as means of reducing
irregular migration. The participating countries were ‘encouraged to
pass legislation to criminalize smuggling of and trafficking in human
beings, especially women and children, in all its forms and purposes,
including as sources of cheap labour’.
ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of The Rights
of Migrant Workers8 was adopted on 13th January 2007. When this
declaration was adopted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) counties were keen particularly on the receiving countries
such as Malaysia and Singapore that ‘Nothing in the present Declara-
tion shall be interpreted as implying the regularization of the situa-
tion of migrant workers who are undocumented’. Thailand, Indonesia
and Philippines had agreed to cover undocumented migrant workers,
families of migrant workers and also to make the regional policy a
binding agreement.
PICUM9 leads a network of concerned individuals and orga-
nizations committed to ensuring real sustainable change for
 314  Bernard D’ Sami

undocumented migrants by informing and influencing policymakers.

It is PICUM’s experience that the majority of undocumented migrants
entered Europe legally but after a period of time, experienced difficul-
ties and found themselves without the relevant permit for residence
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or employment. Irregularity is caused by an administrative infringe-

ment and not a criminal offence – it is a process fuelled by exploita-
tion, redundancy, misinformation, and administrative delays. Once
in an unregulated status, migrants are systematically denied those
elements which constitute a basic standard of living and face a de
facto violation of their fundamental rights. They lack health care,
are denied education, deprived of labour protections, and occupy the
worst housing conditions in Europe.

Report of the Secretary-General of the UN

(2006) on regularization and migrants in
irregular situations
This report was presented at the High Level Dialogue10 (HLD) on
migration convened by the then Secretary General of UN Mr. Kofi
Annan. In this report he mentioned a ‘major challenge in manag-
ing migration is to prevent irregular or unauthorized migration’. One
strategy to manage irregular migration, particularly when it results
from administrative inefficiencies, is to permit the regularization of
foreigners in an irregular situation, provided they meet certain con-
ditions, such as holding a job and having housing and the means to
support themselves. The report also gives details on regularization
programme of the 1990s, of which at least 21 regularization pro-
grammes were undertaken, including one in Gabon, one in the Boli-
varian Republic of Venezuela, three in Costa Rica, one in Thailand,
four in Malaysia, and the rest in European countries. Over 2.7 million
migrants regularized their status through such programmes. Since
2000, 14 additional regularization programmes have been carried
out: one in Argentina, one in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,
two in the Republic of Korea, one in Thailand, and the rest in Europe,
particularly in Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. These programmes
have regularized the status of 2.6 million migrants.11

Causes and problems faced by the irregular

and undocumented migrants
The migrant service providers while discussing on this issue
of undocumented migrants listed the following as causes for
 The disposable people  315

irregular and undocumented migrants. The phenomenon of undocu-

mented migrants is caused by the failure of governments of both
labour-sending and labour-importing countries to uphold the rights
and welfare of migrants; these governments have enforced exploit-
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ative and oppressive immigration and labour policies on migrants to

maximize profits out of cheap labour; refugees and other migrants
become easy prey of labour exploitation at the borders, especially
those coming from countries of conflict.12
Undocumented migration remains an important issue throughout
the Asia Pacific. Migrants in Japan and South Korea run away from
employers and so become undocumented. Governments claim that
these programmes reduce the number of undocumented workers.
However, many governments led crackdowns and forced deporta-
tions of undocumented migrants in connection with the so-called
anti-terrorism campaigns.13 They were considered as security threats.
A 25-page round-up of Human Rights Watch14 reporting on viola-
tions of migrants’ rights was published in 2011. Both documented
and undocumented migrants faced abuse or discrimination in their
host cities and countries. Human Rights Watch has investigated per-
vasive mistreatment of migrant domestic workers and construction
workers in the Middle East and Russia. Cheated by unscrupulous
brokers and employers, these workers often told of excessive hours,
unpaid wages and confiscation of passports. Human Rights Watch
showed how the US deports large numbers of documented migrants
for non-violent offenses with serious consequences for family unity
and fails to provide adequate health care to migrants in detention.
Immigration violations are sometimes treated as serious crimes, as
in Malaysia, where punishments include imprisonment and caning.
The fear of arrest and deportation also means that migrants may
endure exploitative work conditions or avoid approaching authori-
ties to report abuse.

Arrest, detention and deportation

In 1998 at Malaysia, 72,841 undocumented immigrants were
deported, including 65,477 Indonesians, 2,727 Bangladeshis, 938
Burmese, 734 Thais, 604 Indians, 466 Pakistanis, 199 Filipinos, 121
Chinese, and 575 from other countries. Repatriation costs varied
from RM60 for Thais, to RM600 for Filipinos, and RM750 for Ban-
gladeshis, Indians and Pakistanis. At the same time, the Immigration
Department collected RM24 million in fines, paid mostly by overstay-
ing immigrants.15
 316  Bernard D’ Sami

The UN Special rapporteur on Migrants Jorge A. Bustamante said

in 2010 in the context of threat of massive deportations from Thai-
land: “A potentially large number of documented and undocumented
migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Lao People’s Demo-
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cratic Republic face the threat of deportation from Thailand after

28th February 2010,” “I am disappointed that that the Govern-
ment of Thailand has not responded to my letters expressing calls
for restraint; I reiterate my earlier messages to the Government to
reconsider its actions and decisions, and to abide by international
instruments. If pursued, the threats of mass expulsion will result in
unprecedented human suffering and will definitely breach funda-
mental human rights obligations,” he said.16

Major issues affecting the undocumented workers

Criminalization of undocumented migrants17 is on the increase as the
host countries carry out regular crackdowns on them. When the undoc-
umented workers are arrested either they are sent to detention cen-
tres or deported back home. Some of the countries which carried out
regularly their crackdown on migrant workers are Malaysia, Thailand,
South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Macau, and many countries in the Gulf
region. In South Korea when this crackdown was conducted on 11th
September 2007, 10, undocumented workers died. In the Sabah region
of Malaysia when such raids were conducted people living there for ages
haven been removed from that region. In Malaysia, the government has
created a civilian force known as the RELA (The People’s Volunteer
Corps) to hunt down undocumented workers. Women migrant workers
are subjected to sexual harassment when they become undocumented.

Undocumented workers are exploited

and abused in the workplace
Receiving countries such as Korea through the trainee system
extracted maximum work from the migrant workers. Later the
programme was renamed as Technical Training programme that
allowed foreigners to come to Korea and work as trainees. No day
off and worked in hazardous and dangerous conditions. As a result,
many of the migrant workers escaped from this system. The exploit-
ative trainee system was replaced in 2004 with the employment per-
mit system (EPS) and this has reduced the stay of migrant workers
in Korea as well as denied the workers from changing the employ-
ers. In 2007 the number of undocumented migrants in Korea was
 The disposable people  317

estimated to be at 240,000 and increased by 3,000 more monthly. It

is a well-known fact that the undocumented workers received much
less salary than the nationals and the documented workers in US,
Europe and in the West Asian counties.
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Undocumented workers are not part of

international agreements and conventions
Except the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights
of All Migrant Workers and members of Their Families (1990) none
of the other international agreements and conventions includes
the undocumented workers for protection. The Bangkok Decla-
ration on Irregular Migration (April 1999) was a statement and
in no way it was binding on the sending and receiving countries.
Again ASEAN Declaration was adopted among the ASEAN coun-
ties which were keen particularly on the receiving countries such
as Malaysia and Singapore that ‘Nothing in the present Declara-
tion shall be interpreted as implying the regularization of the situa-
tion of migrant workers who are undocumented’. The sending and
receiving countries within the region have divided opinion on the
issue of undocumented workers. The South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries ‘trafficking protocol’ does
not include undocumented and irregular migration. It is also inter-
esting to note that none of the receiving countries have signed the
UN convention on the rights of All Migrant Workers and members
of Their Families (1990).

Conclusion
Campaigns to be launched against government crackdown, arrest,
detention and deportation, and all forms of attack and violations of
undocumented migrants. Fact-finding missions in the host country
will reveal the conditions of undocumented migrants. Sending coun-
tries’ foreign missions should make an intervention to visit the deten-
tion centres regularly and to provide consular and legal services to
them. The bilateral agreements and national labour policies, of the
regional intergovernmental organizations should include a clause on
the undocumented migrants. Remittances also contain a good por-
tion of the money sent by the undocumented workers. The undocu-
mented workers are creating wealth for the destination country and
also send the money back home to strengthen the economy of the
source country. They go unprotected and not cared for.
 318  Bernard D’ Sami

Notes
1 Immigration facts and statistics. [Link]
[Link] accessed on 02nd October 2014.
2 International Migration Outlook 2012, OECD, 2012, available at: http://
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[Link]/BuG/165-NV-A-migratie/0ECD-Migration-Outlook-
[Link].
3 Clandestino project “Undocumented Migration: Counting the Uncountable.
Data and Trends Across Europe”, European Commission, DG Research,
Sixth Framework Programme, Priority8: Scientific Support to Policies.
4 Human Development Report 2009. Overcoming barriers: Human mobility
and development, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2009,
p. 23, available at: [Link]
5 The Globalization of Crime: A Transnational Organized Crime Threat
Assessment, 2010, UNODC, Vienna.
6 D. Papademetriou, ‘The global struggle with illegal migration: no end
in sight’, Migration Information Source, 2005, available at: www.
[Link].
7 Towards Regional Cooperation on Irregular/undocumented Migration,
April 1999, The Bangkok Declaration issued at the end of the International
Symposium on Migration, Bangkok.
8 ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of
Migrant Workers – 13th January 2007.
9 [Link]. ‘Undocumented Migrants’ accessed on 10th June 2013.
10 Peter Sutherland is the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative on
Migration and Development since 23 January 2006.
11 Ibid.
12 Declaration of Unity 2010, International Conference of Migrants Service
Providers on Undocumented Migrants and the Current Global Economic
2010, Crisis Academy House, San 76, Insu 6-dong, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul
City 16 and 17 July 2010.
13 Global Migration 2012 – Trends, Patterns and conditions of migration
January 2013, Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), Hong Kong.
14 Slow Movement: Protection of Migrants’ Rights in 2009, Human Rights
Watch, New York.
15 Jones, Sidney “Hope and Tragedy for Migrants in Malaysia”, in Asia-Pacific
Magazine No.1. April 1996, pp. 23–27 or [Link]
asia-pacific-magazine.
16 The UN Special rapporteur on Migrants Jorge A. Bustamante said in
GENEVA on 18 February 2010.
17 Global Migration 2012 – Trends, Patterns and conditions of migration
January 2013, Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), Hong Kong.
 Index
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Adivasi women, India migration of 55–8; protectionism and 56;

story 157–70 trends and characteristics 45–9;
Association of Southeast Asian women migrant workers, con-
Nations (ASEAN) counties 313 cerns of 49–53
emigrant women domestic workers:
Bangkok Declaration 313 breadwinners, in Kerala 26–41;
Bangla-Speaking Population (BSP) family patriarchy, negotiating
139, 156n 36–9; India and 28–32; material
Bhumij 158, 159, 171n contexts, in Kerala 32–6; migra-
Boonooahs 162, 172n tion resources, in Kerala 32–6
Bosch, Vergés 83, 92 Emigration Check Not Required
Bourdieu, Pierre 121 (ECNR) status 31
Emigration Check Required (ECR)
Centre for Development Studies clearance 30–1, 45–8, 49, 58
(CDS) 269, 271, 273, 295n Enhancing Mobile Populations
Centre for Women’s Development Access to HIV and AIDS Services
Studies (CWDS) 165, 166, and Support (EMPHASIS) project
167, 204n 137, 140, 155n
Chaitharas 162, 173n
Chandy, Anna 40n Fakeih, Adel 18
Contract Labour (Regulation and family patriarchy, negotiating 36–9
Abolition) Act (1970) 13 female labour mobility 193
Cresswell, Tim 123 female migrant workers: autonomy
Criminal Tribes Act (1871) 163 and agency 199–200; expanding
cross-border migration, South Asia opportunities, segregation 193–6;
137–55 home community and 202–3;
liberation, gendered house work
demographics, IIS 107–9; age 200–2; life styles, changing
107–8; discipline of study 109; 202–3; in urban areas 191–204
level of study 108–9 female migration pattern, in India:
dhangars 162 data source 208; disaggregation
discourse-policy nexus: migrant of 209; driving forces, exploring
women at 9–23 206–19; female mobility poverty
‘Domestic Workers Welfare and 211–17; reasons for 209–11;
Social Security Act, 2010’ Bill 14 trends, flows and reason 208–9
Drucker, Peter 3 female mobility poverty 211–17
feminization, labour migration and
economic migration, of women 64–6
44–59; Indian policy on 53–5; gender: labour migration intersec-
policy and practices, limitations tion and 62–3
 320  Index

gender-based immigration visa: characteristics 261–2; data analy-

context 1–2; immigrant quotas, sis and results 259–60; EpiData
for women 7–8; migration tem- version 3.1. software 259–60;
porization, social implications methodology 259; migration
5–7; OECD 2–5 characteristics 261; pattern
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gender dimensions of migration, of 262–6; review of literature

urban India 176–88; data and 257–9; socio-demographic char-
analytical strategies 177–8; acteristics 260–1
employment–unemployment High Level Dialogue (HLD) 314
schedule 177; factors 185–7; rea- human capital 2, 3, 5
sons for 180–1; socio-economic
status, migrants 181–2; temporal immigrant quotas, for women 2,
changes 178–80; work status, 7–8
migrants 183–5 Indian Certificate for Secondary
gender-discriminated employment Education (ICSE) 125, 128
policies 84 Indian Community Welfare Fund
gendered mobilities: city, indepen- (ICWF) 55
dence symbol 127–8; diverse Indian Emigration Act (1983) 51
middle-class 128–30; educational Indian international students (IIS):
investment, life course perspec- career 112–15; data on 105;
tive 130–2; educational prestige decision, studying in abroad
127–8; educational strategies, 111–12; demographics 107–9;
Kerala 120–33; education and family (parents and siblings),
122–3; girls protection and migration history 111; family,
geographical mobility 125–7; social class of 109–10; gender-
student mobility, transnation- ing 106–16; gender perspective
alism 120–2; study, focus of 104–17; individual, migration
123–5; time/space restrictions, history 111; mixed-methods
overcoming 128–30; transna- approach, fieldwork for 105–6;
tional horizons 132–3 parent’s education 110; parent’s
gendered outcomes, host and occupations 110; potential of
source country policies 84–6 students, factors 109–11; role
gender norm, in Kerala 26–41 of family 115–16; world-class
ghatwali system 158 university, idea of 112–13
Global Education Digest (GED) 104 Indian policy, economic migration
Global Forum On Migration And 53–5; information dissemina-
Development (GFMD) 68 tion 54–5; protection and social
global skilled female migration, welfare measures 55; regulatory
synopsis of 86–90 measures 54; skills training 55
Gujarat Migration Report (GMR) Indian Workers Resource Centres
282, 284 (IWRC) 55
Gulf, Indian emigration to 44–59 International Labour Organization
(ILO) report 3
Halabi, Romina 12 international marriage migra-
health-seeking behaviour, inter- tion: dowry and 73–7; Indian
state migrant labourers 256–67; ­Government, policy initiative of
 Index  321

78–9; literature review 74–5; liberation, gendered house work

research methodology and find- 200–2
ings 75–7; women vulnerability
73–9 macroeconomic analysis, labour
international migration, gender migration 64–6
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and 44 mahrem 16
international migration, Gujarat marital provisioning 38
283–7; destination by religion marriage 64, 73–9, 130, 191, 207
287; emigrants estimation 284– Maternity Benefit Act (1961) 13
6; emigration rate 284; historical migrant domestic workers (MDWs)
context 283–4; religion, social 9–10, 12–13, 15; devaluation,
group and education, emigrants discourse and definitional issues
286–7 10–13; domestic service 10–13;
international mobility, of skilled employment and decent work
women 80–101; deskilling and 21–3; gendered politics of move-
discrimination 83–4; education ment 18–21; immigration policy
sector 93–4; engineering sector 18–21; marginal struggles and
90–2; health sector 92–3; host 13–18; multiple exclusions and
and source country policies, 13–18; promoting productive
gendered outcomes 84–6; and capacity 21–3
India 95–9; IT sector 90–2; social Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs)
and cultural norms, implications 54, 57, 59
of 82–3 migrants, irregular and undocu-
International Organisation for mented 311–17
Migration (IOM) 5–6, 311 migrant women workers, discourse-
interstate migrant labourers, health- policy nexus 9–23; devaluation,
seeking and 256–67 discourse and definitional issues
Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act 10–13; domestic service 10–13;
(1976) 13 gendered politics of movement
irregular and undocumented 18–21; immigration policy
migrants, causes and problems 18–21; marginal struggles and
314–15 13–18; multiple exclusions and
13–18; profiling 197–9
Jeffery, Robin 27 migrant workers, Kerala: accommo-
Jensen, Ole 127 dation of 246; benefits to 252–3;
data source 242–53; education
Kafala system 16, 20, 27, 52, level of 246; family of 244;
60n, 66 health conditions of 253; home
Kannan, K. P. 41n visit of 250; internal migra-
Kerala, migration scenario in 241–2 tion 244; language skills 246;
Kerala Migration Survey 2011 297 living and working conditions
of 240–54; local population and
lambadas 163 254; remittances 251, 252; skills
large-scale female migration 45 of 245–6; survival and struggle
less skilled women workers, India of 240–54
and 28–32 Minimum Wages Act (1948) 13
 322  Index

‘missing men’ 221–37 Platform for International Coopera-

Mobility of Health Professionals tion on Undocumented Migrants
project 92 (PICUM) 311, 313
pradhani/mandali system 158, 159
Namal Jaoa 157 Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana
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National Commission for Women (PBBY) 54

(NCW) 14 ‘prdiff,’ sex ratio 227, 236n
National Sample Survey (NSS) 192, predeparture counselling,
224, 225 emigrants 279
National Sample Survey Organisa- profiling migrant women workers:
tion (NSSO) 165 in urban areas 197–9
New Economics of Labour migra- Protector of Emigrants (POE) 31, 46
tion (NELM) 300
nitaqat policies 17 Ramos, González 83, 92
nurses 32, 83, 99 receiver operating characteristic
(ROC) curve analysis 265
occupational break-up, female and returnee women 33; reintegration
male migrant workers 86 process of 53
OMCAP see Overseas Manpower return emigrants, Kerala 269–80;
Company Andhra Pradesh CDS study 271; education 275;
Limited housing 278; investment activity
Organisation for Economic Co-oper- of 277; muslims 270; recession
ation and Development (OECD) period 271; from Saudi Arabia
countries 4, 5, 6, 95, 312; degree 270; skills augmentation 275;
of transnationalism 5; ‘demand- from UAE 271
ing, desirable and diasporic’ jobs rural-to-urban-male migration 257
and 3; immigration trends 3–4;
Indian perspectives and 2–5; Sancho, David 123
turning points in 2–5 santhals 157, 158, 159, 170n
Osella, Caroline 123 Saudi Arabia: Indian domestic
Osella, Filippo 123 workers in 9–23
Overseas Manpower Company semi-finished human capital 2
Andhra Pradesh Limited Sen, Amartya 221
(OMCAP) 55, 56, 60n sex-ratio-migration linkages
221, 223
patterns of health care seeking sex ratios, migration and 221–3;
262–7; determinants of poor in India 223–9; migration
262–3; multivariate model on networks 231–2; and migra-
poor 264–6 tion patterns 229–31; migration
Payment of Wages Act (1936) 13 trends 233–4
Pension and Life-insurance Fund for Sexual Harassment of Women
Overseas Indian Workers (PLIF) at Workplace (Prevention,
scheme 55 ­Prohibition and Redressal) Act
Plantation Labour Act (1951) 242 (2013) 13
plantation sector, Kerala 241, 254n Skeggs, Beverly 121
 Index  323

skilled female migration: in Canada migration 308, 309; intending

91; deskilling and discrimination migrants 302–3; methodology
83–4; in education sector 93–4; 299; migrant workers, UAE and
in engineering sector 90–2; in Saudi Arabia 303; native and
health sector 92–3; host and non-native workers 300–1; objec-
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source country policies, gendered tives 298–9; remittances 305–6;

outcomes 84–6; and India 95–9; review of literature 299–300; of
in IT sector 90–2; key issues in sample work force 303–5; sam-
81–6; social and cultural norms, pling frame 299–301; savings,
implications of 82–3; synopsis of of migrant workers 305; wage
86–90 benefits 301–5
skilled migrant category (SMC) 96 women domestic workers: back-
South Asian Association for ground 63–4; feminist and
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) macroeconomic analysis, labour
68–72 migration 64–6; and labour migra-
specific skilled sectors, female tion intersection 62–3; in SAARC
migrants 98–9 68–72; South Asia to Gulf, migra-
tion 62–72 see also women migrant
tea tribes 162 workers
trade agreements 93 women in migration, vulnerability
transnational flows 281–2; interna- reduction of 137–55; base-
tional migration, Gujarat 283–7; line study 140; cross-border
philanthropy 290–2; remittances migrants, violence and 148–9;
288–90; social spending 292–3 data and methods 139–40;
tribal women’s migration, contem- demographics 140–3; EMPHASIS
porary times 163–9 project 140, 154–5; enabling
environment, creating 147–8;
undocumented migrants: abuse, in end-line quantitative study
workplace 316–17; arrest, deten- 143–4; India–Bangladesh context
tion and deportation 315–16; 138; India–Nepal context 137–8;
hardships by 312–13; interna- Indo–Bangladesh route 152–5;
tional agreements and conven- Indo–Nepal route 149–52;
tions 317; major issues 316; quantitative data, baseline study
stock of 311–12 138–9; respondent character-
United Nations Development Pro- istics 140–3; rights and entitle-
gramme (UNDP) 65 ments 143–8; working conditions
Unorganised Workers Social Secu- 143–8, 144–7 see also women
rity Act (2008) 13 migrant workers
UN Secretary-General, report of women labour migration: in SAARC
314 68–72
women migrant workers 49–53; in
wage differentials, Indian migrant Asia 67–8; concerns of 49–53;
and non-migrant workers domestic work, employment
297–310; average annual in 66–7; fast assimilation of
household savings 303; costs of 52; pre-recruitment stage 50;
 324  Index

recruitment and emigration stage ‘Work in Denmark’ programme 99

50–1; return and resettlement Workmen’s Compensation Act
of 53; UN Women’s regional (1923) 13
programme 67–8; vulnerabilities work participation rate 192, 193
and violence, in Gulf 66; working World Bank, remittances 70
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and living, in foreign country

51–2 zamindari system 158–9