India's Similarity to the European Union

Satish Kumar

2011-11-23 19:13:03 UTC

India's Similarity to the European Union
By MANU JOSEPH
Published: November 23, 2011
NEW DELHI — There is a European quality to India.
Like the European Union today, the Indian republic is a confederation of
regions and attitudes with little affection between them and vastly
different levels of governance, productivity and historical good
fortune. And all of them, of course, are stuck with a uniform currency.
The inefficient and the irresponsible are subsidized by the hard-working
and the responsible, who also have to tolerate a free flow of migrants
from the poor states. At least Europe does not have to pretend to be a
single nation.
Mumbai is the Germany of India. The city accounts for more than a third
of India’s income tax revenue, nearly half its corporate tax revenue and
a quarter of its industrial output. It has long complained that it has
carried the burden of the nonperforming losers and has received little
in return.
More:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/world/asia/24iht-letter24.html

Are the migrant laborers from Mexico a burden on the US economy? That
may not be so.

In general, the poor migrants take up jobs that local labor will not.
In the absence of migrant farm workers, for example, farms in USA will
experience a labor shortage resulting in higher costs to the US
consumer for farm products.

Bihar has been doing better on the economic growth front in recent
years. This has slowed down the flow of migrant labourers out of Bihar
to the economically advanced states in India.This, in turn, has caused
labour shortages and higher wage bills in places like Maharashtra,
Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.

8-11-2011

Bihar's economic growth causing labour shortages, higher wage bills in
other parts of India

NEW DELHI: Bihar's recent economic growth has created a peculiar
problem for real estate and infrastructure firms in other parts of the
country.

Migrant labour from the state constitutes around 50% of the unskilled
workers employed in these sectors nationally, but increased government
expenditure and private investment has caused rural migration from
Bihar to fall by a third in recent years, resulting in labour
shortages and 35-50% higher wage bills for real estate firms.

"There is a huge shortage of labour and that is leading to higher cost
of construction as well as project delays," says Ajay Chandra,
managing director of Unitech, one of the country's top three real
estate companies. The company has a number of projects under
development simultaneously and Chandra and his team have had to juggle
labour between these projects.

For many years, Bihar had trailed the rest of the country in terms of
growth while some other states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil
Nadu and even neighbouring Uttar Pradesh became hotspots for
investments.

But since the Nitish Kumar government assumed power in 2005, the
economy has rebounded and government expenditure has gone up
substantially. Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi says Bihar's economy
grew by 14% in 2010-11, the fastest among all the states in the
country.

Migration from Bihar down 30%

The budget plan expenditure for Bihar this year is Rs 24,000 crore, up
from Rs 18,000 crore last year. This is being spent on building roads,
hospitals, and schools. Construction is seeing a 20% year-on-year
growth in the state and minimum wages are also being implemented
strictly," says Modi.

But while this bodes well for people in the state who are finding
employment avenues at home, it has slowed down the influx of labour to
big cities such as Delhi and Mumbai.

According to a study by the Bihar Institute of Economic Studies,
migration of labour from Bihar in the past few years is down 25-30%.
Instead of entire families migrating to cities to find jobs, only a
few members are moving to cities while the rest are finding jobs in
Bihar, either in state government projects or in NREGA schemes, says
the study.

"The government is making huge expenditure," says Pyare Lal, director
of the institute. He adds that while there is still a long way to go
for the state in terms of development, massive expenditure along with
the Centre's National Rural Economic Guarantee Act (NREGA) programme,
that guarantees 100 days' employment in a year to every adult member
of a rural family, has certainly reduced the pace of migration.

Modi says he has received calls from various states asking him for
help as workers who went back to their villages in Bihar on holiday
were not coming back. "With people finding jobs in their home state,
migration of labour is down.

Developers are facing the brunt as projects are getting delayed," says
Geetambar Anand, vice-president of the Confederation of Real Estate
Developers Association of India, and the managing director of ATS
Infrastructure, the builder of high-end homes.

In the National Capital Region, or NCR, delays in real estate projects
have gone up from 8.9 months to about 12.8 months in the past two
years, according to property research firm PropEquity. "While labour
shortage is not the only reason for delays, it is a significant issue
for developers today," says Samir Jasuja, chief executive officer of
PropEquity. Some industry leaders welcome this development.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-11-08/news/30373413_1_chief-minister-sushil-modi-labour-migration

***

20-11-2011

26 per cent fall in migration of labourers from Bihar: Study

NEW DELHI: Migration of labourers from Bihar in search of livelihood
to places like Punjab and Delhi has declined by over 26 per cent,
thanks to initiatives taken by the Nitish Kumar government in the past
five years to check their exodus, according to a survey report.

Flight of unskilled workers from Bihar to different parts of the
country came down by 26.53 per cent in 2006-08 as compared to 2001-03,
the survey carried out by non- governmental body Bihar Institute of
Economic Studies said.

The survey work was carried out in the districts of Siwan, Madhubani,
Saharsa, Bhagalpur, Nalanda and Rohtas to assess the impact of
government initiatives to curb migration ratio, the institute's
director Pyare Lal told PTI. He said another survey will be done in
January-February next year.

Bihar Labour minister Janardan Singh Sigriwal said the target is to
bring down migration of unskilled labourers to zero.

BJP MP from Patna Saheb Shatrughan Sinha also showered praise on
Nitish Kumar, saying, "Bihari used to be a hate word for outsiders
hitherto, but due to tightening of law and order and by undertaking
large-scale developmental works JD(U)-BJP coalition has earned
respect."

The study found that the maximum migration was to Punjab (26.36 per
cent) followed by Delhi (21.34 per cent), Maharashtra (15.06 per
cent), Haryana (11.72 per cent) and West Bengal (5.86 per cent).

It found that lack of employment opportunity was the single most
important reason (54.17 per cent) for outward movement of labourers.

Noted agri-scientist Mangla Rai, who is currently Chief Minister's
advisor on agriculture, said with highest growth rate of 14 per cent
in 2010-11, Bihar is now giving a run for their money to developed
states like Gujarat and Maharashtra.

"The NDA government is creating job opportunities at home itself so
that people don't have to move out in search of livelihood," BJP
leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

Apex developers body CREDAI Vice-President Getamber Anand said, "It's
true that lesser number of labourers from Bihar are arriving now. We
have to arrange local hands. This has pushed up the wages for
construction jobs in Delhi and NCR."

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-11-20/news/30422032_1_labourers-migration-bjp-mp

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