Internal Migration in India and Citizenship implications

An essay on eye-scanning, Indians aimless macrocosm and comprehensive governance. That testament give me an identity, he said, gesturing at the computer station where he had Just completed his enrolment. It will show that I am a human organism, that I am alive, that I live on this planet. It will come up I am an Indian. Mohammed Jail, (New York clock 2011 Introduction The 2011 hatch of the MIAMI on internal migration and human ontogenesis in India estimated the number of internal migrants to be just approximately 400 million people, at that time roughly a third of the total population.The MIMI was launched by EUNICE and UNESCO to respond to the many problems existing almost this population, also referred to as the floating population. These migrants, oft never really roundtled, give great difficulties in accessing social security as this is often connect to residence. This is even so one of the many commissions in which these people argon treated as second-class ci tizens, favouritism, a lack of governmental histrionics and low wage work being other examples. The aim of the MIMI to run across Hat processes of urban development are socially equitable 2 crystallized In the launching of an in piddleal outwork of 200 researchers, NAGS, policy comers. I-JNI agencies and get word partners revolve abouted on raising attention given to internal migrants in policy and practices (UNESCO, 2011). The Indian organization project called Dharma capacity be an good-naturedle development to these problems. It is a considerablely scoped project aimed at providing all Indian residents with an identity by scanning their eyes and entrusting them with a number, enabling them to hold for example social social welfares and a bank account .In this paper I seek to answer the question whether this project might actually benefit this floating population, and how this can be embedded In a broader handling on citizenship and legibility. Indians floating popu lation As the MIMI report stressed to be the rear end for its creation, the internal migrant population of India has up till now accepted very tiny attention from either research or polices, partially because of the difficulties In gathering data. Most attention got diverted to international migrants, as their positive potential to contribute to development was easy researched and backed by political and economic interest.First of all, speaking of the floating population does ignore the different backgrounds, practices and reasons to migrate of the people concerned. Goodling and West (2002) stress in their paper on the floating population in China that there is no set definition for this concept. It Is mostly used to denote the part of a population someplace else than where they are registered (Ibid. , 2002). Definitions and ambiguities put aside, this category does provide us with forward-looking and potentially better tailored ways of looking at urban development issues.A qu ick glance at Indian swapper phrases concerning internal migrants helps encourage some insight in the myriad of problems surrounding this issue. A 2012 article in the Times of India reports how the floating population (in Locknut, India), mostly not accounted for in enumerations, appear to be the cause of major piss conciselyages, as the water supply is found on the number of permanently settled. Other articles report discrimination migrants face. An article from 2008 (CNN- BIN)4 for instance shows how migrants become the subject of political discrimination and commotion in Iambi.Political leaders articulate and incite an anger against the migrants, aerating an other which is blessed to be an economic burden, obstructing the freedom of normal citizens and milking Mambas resources (Ibid. 2008). Whereas some government policies seek to rig the problems surrounding this population through block relocation and infrastructural improvements (Times of India 2013)5, initiatives such as the aforementioned MIMI pursue making them visible and included in society.As was presently noted in the introduction, the MIMI recognizes a trend of expanded use of rights base approaches in Indian law and policy. This generally means a ore live citizenship and ways of governing, as government institutions are built more around the focus of ensuring and fulfilling human rights of all. The Indian Supreme Court has been a primaeval actor in demanding this change in government approach, and has for instance enjoin the government in 2001 to provide a daily warm repast to every Indian schoolchild as part of the right to food.But how to look into and fulfill the rights of those who cant be seen? In the particular case of the MIMI it means focus development of policy frameworks and practical strategies awards ensuring that all migrants have access to serve and entitlements as enshrined in policies and law and that urban settlements become comprehensive spaces as they expand in size and diversity. In practice it means in arrears and arduous changes and redefinitions of social and economic rights.As the migrants are politically underrepresented, lobbying on their behalf is do largely by bodies such as the IM. One particular government project might provide the nations poor, as well as the floating ones, a shortcut to claiming some of the rights hitherto denied to them. Scanning eyes and citizenship As of 2009 the Indian government has initiated a project aimed at identifying and registering all 1. 2 billion Indian residents and giving them an identification number Dharma. It is done have with a retina-scan to ensure the uniqueness of the identity.As Sabine Demented, working for one of the companies chartered to carry out the identification, puts it It will enable people to open checking accounts, arrest for loans, insurance, pensions, property deeds, etc. Whats more, the government wants to make sure that welfare benefits go directly to the right perso n (Saffron Magazine, 010). The only demands make of people in order to register are a retina-scan and fingerprint, name, gender (even transgender is possible), address and interpret of birth. Million people as of March 20146.For one, it circumvents the widely used village- based identity system, making it hard or impossible for migrants to claim rights in a place where they are not registered. Some of the other anticipate potentials, as framed in an article by the New York Times (2011)7, are ways in which citizenship will be less negotiate through caste- , religious- or kin groups, but rather through an one-on-one national identity. For the floating population, who often experience discrimination based on their respective group-identity, or exclusion because a lack thereof, this might prove to be a real structural change to their good.It is also argued that this form of e-governance bypasses corruption, which is often linked to the inability of the poor to assert their rights th rough functionary bodies. Interaction with the carry is hence deadline from local gatekeepers, which is important as, according to the Dharma theater director Ram Seven Sahara One cannot improve human beings But inheritable can certainly improve systems. This, of course, is questionable in its own right.Reanimating (2012) sees this kind of service-consumer relationship, as is excreted through such systems, as a hindrance to political citizenship and a representative democracy (p. 129). Accessibility might be improved, but the means to criticize remain weak. As the project is still being implemented it is not easy nor feasible to entirely predict its potentials or flaws. In theory, though, one could wonder to what extension this project really brings about a first-class citizenship for all. The simplicity of the Dharma identification number gives it great inclusive strength.Whereas before traditional group- or village based identification made it hard for internal migrants to cla im certain rights, as the negotiation is often done through the same channels, a more direct way of interacting with government services has been made possible. The simplicity also lays bare the ultimate narrow implications to the poor. As Harvey stresses in The Right to the City (2003) The freedom to make and remake ourselves and our cities is, I want to argue, one of the most precious yet most neglected of our human rights (p. 2).If citizenship means recognition by state and law and henceforth attaining the human rights bestowed upon citizens in a democracy, Dharma falls short in scope. It does not enable people to vote, nor does it empower them in gaining settlement rights. Furthermore, although it is not something to blame the project itself for, other structural as well as social and economic constraints keeping the floating population away(p) from full citizenship still remain firmly rooted. Still too little attention is directed towards tackling real societal problems, such as racist practices and uncontrolled arbitration.To conclude, I do believe the first steps toward including this huge neglected part of the Indian population are being taken, and that in itself can be seen as a very good development indeed. Improving legibility, which this project in essence is to the government ( and which James Scott might condemn in other conditions), can in such awful conditions of inequality truly contribute to strengthening the position of the weakest, albeit in really small steps.