Mukta Naik

The Women, Work, and the Gig Economy research consortium - supported by the International Development Research Centre, Canada (IDRC), coordinated by JustJobs Network - has released a brief on methodological and ethical questions of how to adapt research to the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This report focuses on Mangalore, Karnataka to highlight dispersed urbanisation and job opportunities outside large cities. It provides data and makes policy recommendations for economic development and inclusive job markets.

This research project, of which this city profile is a part, turns its attention to the ‘where’ of the demographic dividend – what kind of geographies are experiencing the transition of youth from agriculture to non-farm work?

In India, the constitution guarantees freedom of movement and migrants are an integral part of India’s workforce, across a range of sectors. However, they remain unable to access many benefits that are due and owed to them, even as our social protection architecture is becoming stronger. Some element of portability and convergence is being introduced, but many benefits continue to be place-specific, notably food security provided through the targeted public distribution system (TPDS). Based on the migrant-inclusiveness of social protection schemes we suggest that clearer legal articulation, interstate collaborative frameworks, sensitisation of the ground level bureaucracy and involvement of civil society organisations are all necessary to address this issue. We conclude with specific recommendations for the construction sector.

India’s urban policy attributes the messiness to migrants, slums and poverty, and its preferred antidote is a Chandigarh-like order.

Smaller, growing cities such as Kishangarh can be feasible sites to apply coordinated planning for better urban life.

JustJobs Network, in collaboration with the Centre for Policy Research, identifies geographies in India and Indonesia that are simultaneously experiencing high levels of in- and out- migration. Beyond mapping these “migration junctions,” the authors suggest what particular policy frameworks may be needed to promote migrant well-being in these contexts.