Migrant labour: Love them or hate them, you can’t do without them
Migrant labourers at Lakhanpur Garcha Patti village in Fatehgarh Sahib, who did not have Aadhaar cards, were recently asked to leave. This is not the first such instance as there have been around a dozen such cases in Punjab in the past one year.
At the same time, farmers concede that agriculture is not possible without the migrant labour as Punjabi youths avoid working in the fields.
Thousands of labourers who came here for jobs decades back are now families for those whom they work. Their children are born and brought up in Punjab.
The ‘Status of Local Agricultural Labour in Punjab’ study conducted by the Punjab State Farmers Commission in 2008 put the number of migrant labourers at 8.5 lakh. Experts say there has been no substantial increase in agriculture labour as the state agriculture has not seen any mentionable growth in terms of work for labour.
The problem is the number of migrants has grown in villages in recent times, especially those near towns and cities. This has led to locals reacting to migrants’ bad habits, especially smoking, spitting of betel leaf juice, brawls after drinking, etc.
The state has failed to integrate migrants into the local population and to protect their rights. A majority of them lacks voter or ID cards which debars them from availing government schemes. Most of them live in sub-standard conditions. They get low wages and have long working hours. Majority are denied entry to village festivals. They have limited access to education and health care.
Barinder Singh Binda, sarpanch of Lakhanpur Garcha Patti village, says, “Around 125 of the 150 migrants who encroached on the community land in our village fled after we demanded their Aadhaar cards recently. Five families, who have been here for long, stayed back. We don’t need non-recognised outsiders troubling us. At the same time, we need reliable hands in the fields.”
Binda says an elderly woman recently complained to him, “Migrants blow the smoke in our face while smoking. More than anything, it is their bad habits that irritate us.”
The village resolution reads that migrants loiter in the village and harass women and children.
The panchayat of Boota Singh Wala village near Banur in Patiala had in April this year ordered all illegal migrants to leave. Mundo Sangatiyan village in Mohali in August 2024 barred migrants from staying in their village. Jandpur village in Kharar displayed boards, restricting migrants from roaming in the village after 9 pm. A Bathinda village panchayat earlier this year ordered migrants to leave within a week.
Giving the other side, leading agriculturist from Jhabewal in Ludhiana, Maninder Gurm, says, “The reality is that farmers with decent landholdings just cannot manage without migrants. We know scores of families which have had the same migrant help for decades. Their children stay here; even their parents worked here.”
Gurmeet Singh, a former sarpanch of a Fatehgarh Sahib village, says, “I renovated my house recently. The entire team comprised migrant labourers. None of the six men were more than 25. They were born and brought up in Punjab. It is difficult to find locals for menial jobs. Earlier, local women would go to fields to pluck vegetables and fruits. Now majority of them opt for MNREGA jobs, which are easier and better-paying.”
He says, “Migrants in large numbers are shifting base to places outside cities and towns. They go to work in the morning and come back to villages in the evening. Something needs to be done as after all, migrants are a part and parcel of Punjab.”
Agricultural economist Prof Ranjit Ghuman says, “Many activities in our villages have been virtually taken over by the migrant labour. These include labour work and selling fruits and vegetables. Punjabi youths either want go abroad or take up other jobs.
Ghuman says, “The only way forward for the state is that its youth take reins of the state. They need to go to their fields or someone else will take over. ‘Kumm karo, Punjab bachao (Work and save Punjab)’ or the emerging migrant dynamics will soon paint an absolutely new picture of Punjab.”
Prof MS Sidhu from Punjab Agricultural University who, along with Prof SS Grewal, carried out a study in 1978, had put the number of migrants in rural areas at 2.19 lakh. Sidhu says, “There is no mentionable increase in agricultural labour now. While we have labour-intensive paddy plantation, there has been a considerable decrease in cotton plantation.”
It is felt that the issue of migrant population in Punjab needs a deeper study. There is a need to study the population trends matching with lifestyle and expectations for planning the future of the state. These will have a direct impact on the life in Punjab.
Punjab