International Journal of Research in Social Sciences
Year : 2019, Volume : 9, Issue : 6
First page : ( 651) Last page : ( 670)
Online ISSN : 2249-2496.

The making relationship between emergent development and sustainable livelihood of migrant labour: Contested reality in Singtam, East Sikkim

Mitra Soumya

Assistant Professor in Geography, North Bengal St. Xavier's College, Rajganj, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling

Online published on 27 September, 2019.

Abstract

As a probable and valuable outcome of economic transformation, the issue of migration is considered to be a universal phenomenon in any country. No society can claim to be an isolated social hole that defies flows of individuals from outside. Structural transformation necessitated by globalization increased the spatial mobility of individuals in relation to the demand and supply for labour in any fledging economy. In case of Sikkim‘s unorganized sector, migration seems to have been of crucial importance. In all the eight major towns of the tiny state of Sikkim migration secures the unorganized sector workforce. India has been trying to maintain a rights-based approach through formulating various policies and flagship programmes to promote decent work and social security measures for the unorganized sector workforce. Sikkim‘s progress in this regard is plagued with several intricacies of its own. Maximum participation rates of the workforce in India are engaged in informal sectors (92.40% as per 61st NSS 61st round 2004–2005 data). Due to unawareness and poor educational background coupled with their fragmented nature of work participation and mobility, the unorganized sector labourers fail to secure the advantages of whatever little statutory measures are there. In the light of SDGs, migration is an important contributor for sustainable development and shown to have a synergistic effect upon economic growth. This seems to be an utmost necessity especially in case of Sikkim where the unorganized sector workforce is almost entirely based upon the migrant labourers coming from different corners of India.

The present paper proposes to examine the synergies between emerging development approaches, labour migration and driven vulnerabilities of the urban informal sector labourers in Singtam town of Sikkim.

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Keywords

Migration, Informal Labour, Sustainable Livelihood.

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