Tribal Migration In Gujarat

Abstract

Migration from one place to another is associated with human being since time immemorial. It is believed that early human migration have started 2 millions year before out of Africa. Migration in modern days can broadly divide into internal and international. In India in recent years internal labour migration has increased significantly where internal migration again can be classified as interstate and intrastate migration and as per the Economic Survey of 2017 the magnitude of interstate migration was close to 9 million annually between 2011 to 2016. In case of interstate migration labour from the labour surplus and economically backward regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha to economically prosperous regions like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala. It has been found that most of the migrants are from the socially and economically backward classes, dalits and most recently Tribals. Traditionally tribal systems were self sufficient and usually they were reluctant to move out. But in recent years tribals are migrating out from their home land to cities and other places in search of livelihood. In a report published in Down to Earth states that more than country's half of 104 million tribal populations now resides outside India's 809 tribal majority blocks. Between 2001 to 2011 census there is a 10% reduction in tribal cultivators in India. Gujarat is home to around 90 lakhs of Scheduled Tribes population is also witnessing large scale migration during last many decades. However tribal migration in Gujarat is seen within the state itself and very few of them i are migrating out to sugarcane and grape fields of Maharashtra.

The magnitude of tribal migration is not estimated in Gujarat, however a door to door study of 90 thousands tribal families migrating out of in Dahod district conducted by the Tribal Research and Training Institute to understand the impact. Large scale tribal migration is reported from tribal pockets. Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Dang. Narmada, and Valsad

districts of Gujarat and are found to be seasonal and distressed. Migration of tribal is increasing day by day and even today they are found to be in large number in the city of Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Mehsana working mostly in the building and other construction works. Some of them are also migrating to rural area of Saurashtra and working in agriculture and cotton field and other working in sugarcane field of Bardoli and adjacent area. The workers work and live in very hazardous condition and there is need to address the problems faced by the workers and their family members including the children. And it is timely that the workshop on tribal migration in Gujarat was thought of by TRI, Gujarat and this book an outcome of the workshop contains a number of issues of the migrant tribal labour of Gujarat like their livelihood situations, health, safety. and working conditions, especially of the workers working in the construction and sugarcane fields, rights of women and children, the status of the governments welfare schemes and MNREGA and set of recommendations that aims at improving the overall quality of life of the tribal migrants as well as how to stop migrations from tribal area permanently.