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Labor and Employment in the Emerging Rural-Urban Continuum in India: Toward a Cohesive Policy

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Rural Labour Mobility in Times of Structural Transformation

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Abstract

The focus of this chapter is on the relatively slow but somewhat unique recent phenomenon of small town–driven urbanization, the emerging rural-urban continuum and labor mobility. It finds that the urban-rural spillovers of organized and unorganized employment indicate reduced skill-based mobility barriers to labor.

The absence of official attention to the positive potential of small town–driven urban space resulted in rural migrants “distress and urban amenities” deficit in large urban agglomerations. The chapter argues for change in the official approach to urbanization and migration and for evolving a comprehensive policy that would recognize the potential advantages of a vast network of small town–driven urban sprawl in a vast country like India which can facilitate labor mobility that could mitigate urban congestion through a combination of migration and commuting.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The definition of urbanization adopted in India is considered restrictive since it uses three-dimensional criteria involving not only size of population but also density and occupation. A place is classified as urban if the size of population is 5000 or more, the density is 400 people or more per square kilometer, and at least 75% of male workers are in non-agriculture. In many countries, “urban” definition of a place has a much lower population size and often no other criteria.

  2. 2.

    “Census town” is defined as a settlement which fulfills all three criteria of urban settlement but is not statutorily declared as a “Municipal town” or a “statutory town”. Census towns are governed by Panchayats, but the population is treated as a part of the urban population.

  3. 3.

    The terms temporary, seasonal, or circular migration are often used synonymously. Of these three terms, “temporary” is a preferred term because, besides accommodating both “seasonal” and “circular” notions, it takes into account longer periods than what is implied by a season. Increasingly, temporary migrations are periods which are for ten months or more.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Hyderabad, Telangana, Hyderabad, India

    D. Narasimha Reddy

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  1. D. Narasimha Reddy
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Former S.R. Sankaran Chair (Rural Labour), National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

    D. Narasimha Reddy

  2. S.R. Sankaran Chair (Rural Labour), National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

    Kailash Sarap

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Reddy, D.N. (2017). Labor and Employment in the Emerging Rural-Urban Continuum in India: Toward a Cohesive Policy. In: Reddy, D., Sarap, K. (eds) Rural Labour Mobility in Times of Structural Transformation. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5628-4_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5628-4_3

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