Introduction

Migration1 is evident in all species of life, whether in birds or in humans in the

process of struggle for existence. Human migration is one of the most significant aspects
of life and throughout human history, it has been a courageous expression of the
individual’s will to overcome adversity and to live a better life. It is an essential
component of economic development, social change, political awareness, and is also
increasingly a contributor to the other processes of urbanization, industrialization,
population redistribution, cultural diffusion and social integration. But in the globalised
world, migration has turned to be a multi-dimensional and universal phenomenon.
Globalisation has been acting as a push and pull factor for both emigrants and
immigrants2 with the introduction of free flow of communication and information
technology and fast transportation (Parsons et al 2005: 30).
Migration is a process of shift of home but not the house. Migrants do not
necessarily shift their homes only for economic gains but social, cultural, political and
ecological factors also play a vital role in their decision to migrate. They migrate to new
places in pursuit of greater economic security, civil amenities and good conditions of life
for themselves and their families (Mahapatra 2005: 257; Shah 2006:91). Most of the
people are forced to leave their homes because of family conflict, poverty,
unemployment, small land holdings, indebtedness, natural disasters and man made
calamities, marriage, violence and/or repressive social, cultural, religious, political, etc.
environment in the native place (Guest 1999:57 ; Shah op.cit.). Similarly, better job
opportunities with higher wages, high standards of living, cultural diversity, religious or
________________________________________________________________________
1. The term migration derived from the Latin word ‘Migrare’, which means “to move from
one place to another”(http://www.britannica.com/ebi/migration of people2006). While
the New Webster’s dictionary defined the term as “the act or an instance of moving from
one country, region or place to settle in another …the act or an instance of moving from
one area to another in search of work”. In fact, there is no single definition of migration
because the concept of migration has been changing simultaneously with the passage of
time since the early days of civilization. Scholars of different disciplines have tried to
define it distinctly with different approaches.

2. An emigrant is someone who leaves his/her country for another in order to work or settle,
whereas an immigrant is a person who migrates into a country, in order to work or settle,
of which he/she is not a native.

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political tolerance, peace in the host places, etc. act as a pulling factor for people to
migrate. However, search for economic betterment remains the chief motive for
migration among the people (Rose and Knopt 1969: 12). Such mobility of people is
mostly dominated by the unskilled or low-skilled young3 able-bodied males.
Migration is usually loved by the labourers from rural areas to the urbans and it
may be circular4, seasonal5 or permanent but is always differentiated from nomadism 6

and commuting 7. It is not only limited to rural to rural, rural to urban, urban to rural,
district to district, state to state but country to country as well. Every year millions of
people but workers in a sizeable number and their families migrate reluctantly across
borders and continents with a dream of reducing the gap between their own position and
that of the people in other wealthier places (Black et al 2005:1).

Migration: A Worldwide Profile

The migration of human populations began with the movement of Homo Erectus
________________________________________________________________________
3. In 1938, D. S. Thomas held that age is the only factor that determines the migration. As
he said, “persons in their late teens, twenties and early thirties are more migratory than
other groups (Joshi 1989: 6). Similarly several studies conducted recently at regional,
national as well as international levels supported this assertation.

4. Circular migration has been explained as a contract of mutual co-operation and insurance
between sending families and the migrants themselves. Circular migration appears to be
emerging as the dominant pattern of movement of poorer groups who keep one foot in
the village either by necessity or choice.

5. The shift of the persons to the sites of temporary work and residence for several days or
months is known as seasonal or periodic migration. This type of migration takes place in
successive time intervals.

6. Nomadic people, also known as nomads, are communities of people which move from
place to place in the deserts or winter prone places, rather than settling down in one place.
There were about 30-40 million nomads in the world. However, nomads are different
from the gypsies who move place to place other than deserts or winter areas (Sadr
1991:2).

7. Commuting is the process of daily traveling between a place of residence and a place of
work. Students who are enrolled at a college or university but live off–campus are also
referred to as commuters. In other words, commuting usually refers to people traveling,
usually daily, to workplaces beyond their own towns, cities and villages. So, this act is
not called a migration, but preferring the term mobility.

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from Africa to different parts of the world about a million years ago (Coppens 2004:44).
Primitive migrations were usually in search of food but were also the result of invasions
by other people. However, the age of exploration and European colonialism resulted in
acceleration in the pace of migration during the 18th century and it further stimulated
during the 19th and 20th centuries. About 10% of world’s population was migrated from
one place to another temporarily or permanently during these centuries. Millions of
agricultural workers left their villages and moved to the cities for better socio-economic
status. This phenomenon began in Britain and later on, spread all over the world and
even, is continue till today (Joseph 1988:8).
Emigration from developing countries to the western world especially to the
Europe after World War-II increased rapidly because these countries needed more work
force to rebuild their economies (Harris 2005: 4591; Karim and Robbinson 1986:21). In
1950s and 1960s, people from former colonies of European powers were migrated to the
wealthy and developed countries of the West in search of work. Such as Indians,
Pakistanis and West Indians migrated to UK. The Vietnamese, Cambodians, Algerians,
Tunisians, Moroccans and other Africans migrated to France (Waddington and Wheeler
2003:15). In the early 1970s, the rapid hike in oil prices remarkably stimulated the oil
producing countries of Middle East to invest in infrastructural development in a big way
which needed huge number of migrant labour force. The migrant workers from Asia but
mostly from South Asia fulfilled this demand and joined labour market in Saudi Arabia,
United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, etc. (Ahn 2005:3). The number
of immigrant workers in the Gulf countries increased from 1.1 million in 1975 to 5.2
million in 1990 (Stalker 2000:20; Wickramasekera 2002:4).
However, the last part of 20th century and the first decade of present century have
been marked as the ‘age of migration’ from a global point of view in the light of
economic growth and rapid advancements in the web of transportation and
communication (Castles and Miller 1993: 4). National economies were forging with the
global economies and the global debates were being focused on the importance of
regional goods and capital flow worldwide. At the same time, on the other side,
globalization widened disparities in employment opportunities, incomes, living standards
and human security concern across the globe. In some countries, it adversely affected

3
jobs and livelihoods in traditional sectors like agricultural and rural small scale industries.
Hence, when people could not find work at home within their communities and societies,
they looked elsewhere and migration for them became not a choice but a necessity.
The countries like North America, Canada and Australia emerged as the most
loved destinations for the nationals of different countries, especially from non-European
countries like Asia. Immigrants from China, India and Pakistan to these countries were
on the top. In 2001, there were 250,346 net immigrants in Canada and of this figure
China was at the top by sending 40,296 migrants, whereas 1,064318 immigrants in
U.S.A. were hailing from different parts of the world (Skeldon 2003:4). By 1980s, the
newly industrialized countries of South East Asia like Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines,
etc. emerged as the most attractive destinations for a significant portion of migrants from
far and near countries to work on the so called 3D Jobs8. The local labourers were not
willing to do these menial jobs (Ahn op.cit:4). The migrants in 1997 from South Asia
constituted around 6.5 million foreign workers in the region (Ibid: 4). However, a large
number of migrant labourers from South Asia had been continually relying on the Middle
East labour market since 1970s.
Therefore, Asia emerged as one of the most dynamic regions in labour migration
with a large number of people working overseas. The country like India became the key
player in both in and out- migration of workers (IOM 2005: 184). Most of the countries
of West and East Asia were lucrative destinations for in-migrants, whereas Central and
South Asian countries9 were generally out-migrants producing countries. As per the study
conducted in 2003, every year nearly two (2) million workers were leaving their countries
in pursuit of jobs with higher wages in another country (Cross 2003:1). In 2005, over 51
million of the total labour was migrated within and outside of Asia (Mckinley 2005:84).

As per the report issued by the United Nations Human Development (UNHD) in
2009, the number of international migrants throughout the world increased from 75
million in 1960 to 200 million in 2009. In 2001, about 81 million of the total international
migrants were workers. Estimates also revealed that nearly 1 of 6 persons in the world
________________________________________________________________________
8. 3D Jobs means-dangerous, dirty and degraded jobs.

9. China, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

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was crossing his national borders to other country as worker (ILO 2006: 2; UNHDR
2009:5). The UN Human Development Report released in 2003 revealed that
international migrants in 1960 were about 2.5% of the world’s population, in 1970 the
number reduced to 2.2% and 2.3% in 1980 but in the following decades of 1990 and
2000, it significantly increased to 2.9%. In the recent decades, a huge number of
international migrants coming from developing countries were absorbed by the developed
world. Between 1960 and 2000, the number of international migrants in Australia, New
Zealand, Japan, Europe, Northern America and the successor States of the former USSR
increased to 78 million persons. The United States of America (USA) emerged as the
largest recipient of international migrants by receiving 35 million migrants in 2000
(United Nations 2003:1; ILO op. cit.).
A far-reaching impact of migration could be noticed not only on the migrants but
also on the society at large for both in the sending and receiving areas. In the regions
where they come from, positive contributions of migration reflected in the remittances
flows, transfer of investments, technology and social skills and know how through return
migration which improved their socio-economic and political status. Migrants through
such improvements, contributed in shaping a better economic, political and societal
environment in their native places. Remittances increased from $31 billion to $170
billion between 1990 and 2005. The World Bank estimated that there were total
remittances of around $250 billion in 2006. The volume of remittances sent to Asian and
Latin American regions increased at a fast pace in 2005. In 2002, South Asia received
$16 billion in the form of remittances and out of which around $10 billion were remitted
to India (Haas 2005: 1276; World Bank Report 2006:1; Waddington and Wheeler op.
cit.:13).

Migration: Indian Perspective

India has a long border in the north which is protected by Himalayan Mountains.
Rest of it is located on an important sea route of Indian Ocean connecting Eastern Africa
and Arabia with South East and Far East Asia and thus, migration from and in India has
been a significant matter of concern since long. After the abolition of slavery system by
the Britishers in their colonies, there was an unprecedented wave of migration of

5
unskilled labour from India to various parts of the world. Such migration was
predominated to the countries of South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji, Sri Lanka, Malaysia,
Singapore, Guiana, etc. mainly to work on the tea, rubber, sugarcane and palm
plantations and in mines ( Dewal et al 2004:53; Chand 2002:2).
After independence, there was another wave of migration from India to Britain,
Canada, USA, Europe and Australia. Migrants to these countries especially to USA and
Australia were highly educated and belonged to almost all parts of India. Comparatively,
a large scale of international migration from India started in the mid 1970s following oil
boom in the Middle East. An overwhelming proportion of these migrants were unskilled
or semi-skilled workers employed on manual or clerical jobs on contract basis. Similarly,
in the mid 1980s, Indians also made their journeys towards the newly developed
economies of South East Asia including Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines (Ahn op
cit.:5). It was seen that the presence of people from Kerala in the Gulf countries,
especially from Tamil Nadu to Singapore and Malaysia, and from Punjab in Canada,
England and USA was large in number (Prakash 1998: 3209; Judge 1994:1; Kang
2006:1).
On the immigration side, historically, India has been a heaven for substantial
number of migrants from neighbouring countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and
Bangladesh. In addition to this, the country continued to be a safe place for refugees from
internally disturbed countries of Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bangladesh, Bhutan and
Myanmar in the post independence period ( UNHCR 2006:4).
Internal migration10 was an important pattern of migration in almost all countries
and as per the report issued by UNHD in 2009 that around 740 million people were being
migrated from one place to another within their own country. They comprised almost
four times of the total international migrants (UNHDR: op.cit:1). In India, such migration
was encouraged during the British period but after settling down the political and
economic set-up in post independence period, a new trend of internal migration got
_______________________________________________________________________
10. The terms in-migration and out-migration are used for internal migration where
national boundaries are not crossed. Within a country when an individual migrates from
an area of origin and enters into some area of destination by crossing its boundaries, he or
she is in - migrant to the area of destination and out-migrant from the area of origin.

6
momentum in the country. People, land- less labourers in large number, from rural areas
moved to the urban areas for better employment opportunities and standardized living.
This trend saw its origin in population dynamics and economic development of the
country. At the same time, migration in India was largely fueled by the increasing
regional disparities, rural-urban development imbalances and urban bias in economic
planning as well.
Rural to rural migration from poor areas to the rich for agricultural production
constituted the most dominant form of migration but there was also a sharp increase in
rural–urban migration in recent years as more young people traveled to work on
industrial and other urban economic activities (Srivastava and Bhattacharya 2003:5). The
labour class in India was not a homogenous class but the workers were drawn from all
parts of the country and from all sections of the society. It was, however, significant to
note that Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Kerala have been the out-migrant states since long
because of higher density of population and absence of proper employment opportunities
in these states. The migrants from these states were directed towards the prosper states
such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Punjab and the mega cities11 like Mumbai, Delhi,
Bangalore, Calcutta, Ludhiana and several other such cities which had shown uneven
economic growth, subsequently, created more and more jobs in all fields including
industrial and non-industrial economic activities.

Migration: Punjab Scenario

Punjab, the gateway and one of the richer states of India, has been a dream
destination for a considerable number of people not only from various parts of the
country but also from many other countries. In post 1947 period, Punjab emerged as
pioneer in the green revolution in the country with the adoption of modern methods and
techniques of cultivation in agriculture sector. Consequently, the state registered highest
rank in gaining per capita income and became food basket for the whole country (Gill
1990:3). The green revolution, thus, was accompanied by a great deal of job avenues both
________________________________________________________________________
11. The term ‘Mega City’ refers to a city having population of over 10 million. The number
of such cities had increased from 23 in 1991 to 35 in 2001(Crime in India NCRB
2005:159).

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in agriculture and industrial which gave instant push to the internal movement of poor
and landless young male labourers from various parts of India and a large proportion of
them made their journeys towards Punjab. The modern agricultural methods and
technologies used in Punjab generated massive demand for agricultural labour,
particularly during the sowing and harvesting seasons but the local labour was unable to
meet such demand. The farmers had to rely on the migratory labour form Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh. At the same time, migrant labourers from Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan also
got attracted towards Punjab for reaping better employment opportunities with good
wages and less social and economic exploitation (Sidhu and Grewal 1984:2). Besides, the
end of terrorism, restoration of peace, political stability and economic prosperity in
Punjab multiplied the process of industrial and urban growth which also attracted the
inflow of migrant labour in the state of Punjab but more significantly in Ludhiana.
Ludhiana generally termed as ‘small scale capital’ of India witnessed an uneven
industrial and urban growth. It has been the centre of hosiery manufacturing, cycles,
machine tools, sewing machines, oil engines and a variety of consumer goods. This
considerable growth created a wide range of jobs, beyond agriculture, in industrial as
well as in other urban economic activities in Ludhiana which acted as a pull factor for a
huge number of labour force not only from other areas of Punjab but also from the states
of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Uttrakhand and some
neighbouring countries including Nepal (Oberai and Manmohan Singh 1980:23; Karan
2003:104). Almost manual activities in agriculture and industries relied on migrant
labourers. Besides, other occupations such as rickshaw pulling, brick making, building
and road construction, road side kiosks, etc. were also being run by these migrants. They
provided all type services with their labour as they worked in factories, produced food,
provided domestic services, services in hospitals and contributed to a wide range of basic
needs. They, with the passage of time, became vigilant about their political rights and
role in the city. They played a decisive role during the last Assembly and Municipal
Corporation elections in Ludhiana. However, certain sections of the local society
believed that migrants were taking away jobs from the local labourers and were directly
responsible in creating unemployment situation and were behind the increasing crime
graph of the city.

8
Organisation of Police12 in Ludhiana
Migration of people from one place to another not only imbalances demographic
features but also threatens peace, law and order situation of the receiving place. Migrants
coming with an intention to transform their socio-economic status get discouraged when
they fail in fulfilling their desires and in many cases, they indulge in crime and want to
earn money through short cut means. Such people deviate from the normal social life and
involve in criminal and other anti-social activities. The people coming with criminal
background contribute in hiking the crime rate of the receiving place and also corrupt the
habits and life of the local people. Consequently, they create a long line of serious
problems in the society and pose challenges for the Police Department in maintaining law
and order (Sinha and Ataullah 1987:5; Wagner 2007: 20; Mishra 2004: 40).
The police department which is an executive civil force of a state performs the
duty of maintaining public order and enforcing regulation for the prevention and
detection of crime. It can be understood in a number of ways including ‘Police Power’
and ‘Police Functions’. The police power is that strength of the state which ensures the
safety of people and society, while police function is the act of doing these things or
getting them executed in the prescribed manner and mode ( Singh 2002:57 ). The role of
police includes not only the order enforcement, maintenance of law, protection of certain
individual rights and crime control but also a broad range of supportive services which
are vital to the health of the communities. These services include indefinite variety of
tasks like promote liberty, equality and fraternity in human affairs; to facilitate freedom of
passage and movement of highways, roads and streets open to public passage; to deal
with major and minor crises and to help and assist the state and the central administration
________________________________________________________________________
12. The Latin word of police is ‘Politia’ which literally stand for the condition of a ‘Polis’ or
‘State’. The term Police, according to Oxford dictionary, means “a system of regulation
for the preservation of order and enforcement of law of the internal government of a
State”. So, a policeman is “a person who is paid to perform, as a matter of duty, acts,
which, if he was so minded, he might have done voluntarily”. The new Lexicon
Webster’s dictionary of the English Language provides, inter alia, the meaning of
‘Police’ as “any body of people whose job is to keep order and enforce regulations”, as
well as, “a department of Government responsible for the preservation of public order,
detection of crime and enforcement of civil law”. Moreover, Section 1 of Police Act,
1861defined that Police word shall include all persons who shall be enrolled under this
Act.

9
in conducting the election. The police personnel move rapidly into such areas where all
other agencies in the community find difficulty in moving. They have power of the state
and a policeman is authorized to investigate and use reasonable force when needed
(Siddiqui 2004:1). The police personnel, being their varied nature of work, are more
familiar with the crime hazards than any other organized group in the society. They are in
a position to understand the criminals and other forces which are inclined to nefarious
designs (Leonard 1972:62). It is the police which co-ordinates the efforts of all other
agencies and groups and to give direction to their combined approach in the total project
of delinquency and crime prevention (Wilson 1963: 328).
The organisation of police in Ludhiana has been tendering an important role in the
governance since the arrival of East India Company in Punjab. The British introduced the
first Police Act in 1861 as the central police legislation in all territories of India including
Ludhiana. The Act vested certain powers to the police to be performed for maintaining
law and order. In 1867, Mounted Police and a Police Headquarter13 were created in
Ludhiana and thereafter, the ranks of the police personnel were designated and the
number of police stations was increased for proper law and order situation keeping in
view the growing number in population of the district. After independence, the police
became free from the control of the British and it was expected from the police to serve
their country-men instead of looking after the interests of the foreign rulers, which was,
in fact, the main function of the police before independence (Kapoor 1989:1). In the era
of globalization and economic liberalization, the police reforms were initiated which
resulted the enactment and adoption of the Punjab Police Act in 2007 with the purpose of
bringing revolutionary changes not only by inculcating high degree of efficiency among
police personnel but also to establish close and confident police public relations. In
February 2010, City Police Commissionerate was introduced in Ludhiana by which scope
of the powers and strength of police force was enhanced for providing qualitative
services to this most populated city of Punjab.
But with the unchecked inflow of migrant labour, sufficient number of people
with criminal background have moved to Ludhiana along with their criminal culture,
________________________________________________________________________
13. The information gathered from official website of Punjab Police: www.
punjabpoliceindia.org / ldh.

10
thereby affecting the living patterns of residents and simultaneously putting serious
challenges to the working of police (Bhalla 1996: 53; Chawla 2006:5). The involvement
of migrant labour in petty and heinous crime was at large in making Ludhiana as crime
capital of Punjab and the task of police in such a situation became more daunting and
confusing. Some of the prominent categories of incidents occurred in different parts of
the city were helpful in understanding the level of pressure the police department has
been facing. In a sensational case in 2006, the Ludhiana police booked six persons, all
were migrants from Bihar, who had allegedly kidnapped and raped a 40 year-old married
woman of the city. The accused Musa, Sharif, Abdul, Leyakat Ali, Rehmu and a girl Kali
kidnapped the woman from Sahnewal area in a jeep when she was going to market on
November 12, 2006 evening. She was taken to Solan district in Himachal Pradesh and
kept in a Jhuggi (shanty) where the accused persons forcibly raped her for over a month.
Kali, the girl used to keep a vigil on the victim during day time when the accused men
were away. The victim, somehow, escaped from the clutches of her kidnappers and
reported the matter to police. The case was registered against the criminals who were
absconding by the end of 2006 (Hindustan Times December 14, 2006:2). In another
shocking incident on September 16, 2006, a servant named Rajan, hailing from Bihar,
had drugged an aged woman and looted cash and jewellary from her house in a locality
falling under the Police Station Basti Jodhewal. The victim was in serious condition
admitted to the hospital but there was no clue about the whereabouts of the accused (The
Tribune, 18 September 2006: 1).

Survey of Literature on the Subject

A significant amount of work has already been done on different aspects of
migrant labour and its impact on different sections of society, new trends and so on.
Literature available on the proposed subject can be classified into three broad categories.
Works devoted mainly to the theoretical aspects and historical perspective of migration
and its impact on socio-economic set-up of the country fall in the first category. These
decidedly contributed the major and qualitatively better part of the literature. The
literature in this category prominently included E.G. Ravenstein’s, The Laws of
Migration (1885), J. Nelson’s, Sojourners vs New Urbanites : Causes and Consequences

11
of Temporary vs Permanent City ward Migration in Developing Countries (1974), B.
Thomas’s, Migration and Economic Growth ( 1954), Myron Weiner’s, Sons of the Soil:
Migration and Ethnic conflict in India (1978) 14.
In the second category may be included those works, mainly by Indian authors,
which highlighted the issue of migrant labour in various states of India and discussed the
legal details suitable in our setting. Among the more prominent works in this category
were G.K. Sharma’s, Labour Movement in India: It’s Past and Present, 1885 to 1980
(1982), M.S.A Rao’s, Studies in Migration (1986), B.C. Parikh’s, Migration Studies in
India (1986) and Haraprasad Chattopadhyaya’s, Internal Migration in India: A Case
Study of Bengal (1987) 15.
Empirical studies of the operational dimension and of perceptions and
observations of those who were connected with the issue of migrant labour and the
working of police department may be included in the third category. It was this kind of
studies which were meager in number. Among these were case studies of the functioning
of police in terms of controlling nefarious acts of migrants in the state of Punjab.
Available prominent studies in this category were: V.P. Dubey’s Migrant Labour in the
Industrial Sector of Punjab: A Pilot Survey Report, (1996) and A.S. Oberai & H.K.
Manmohan Singh’s Migration Flows in Punjab’s Green Revolution Belt (1980)16. A brief
overview of the published research work relating to the subject of migration may be
useful.
________________________________________________________________________
14. In this category we may also include: De Jong, G.F. and Gardner, R.W. (Eds.) (1981)
‘Migration Decision Making: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Micro – Level Studies in
Developed and Developing Countries,’ New York: Pergammon Press. Connell, J.,
Dasgupta, B., Laishely, R. and Lipton, M. (1976) ‘Migration from Rural Areas: The
Evidence from Village Studies’, Delhi: Oxford University Press.

15. Other studies in this category are: Babi Raddy, T. (1998) ‘ Rural-Urban Migration : An
Economic Interpretation’, New Delhi : Reliance Publishing House. Joshi, KG (1989)
‘Migration and Mobility’, Delhi: Himalaya Publishing House.

16. More references in this category are: Grewal, S.S. and Sidhu, M.S. (1979) ‘A Study on
Migrant Agricultural Labourers in Punjab ’, Department of Economic and Sociology,
Ludhiana: Punjab Agricultural University. Visaria, Pravin and Gumber, Anil (1990)
‘Internal Migration in India: A Review of the National Sample Survey Data ’, Working
Paper No. 32, Ahmedabad: the Gujarat Institute of Area Planning.

12
 James Allen conducted a study entitled ‘Voices of migrants in Asia: A Panorama
of Perspectives – voices, experiences and witness accounts of poor economic migrants in
Asia’ (2003) to bring out the perspectives of voluntary and economic migration in the
Asian countries including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar. The
paper opened with a connectivity of migration and wealth showing how migration was a
survival strategy for some and opportunity to improve as well as prosperity for others.
Remittances, if, provided crucial support for families left back at home, also greatly
contributed in economic development in the sending areas. He cited an example of
Jalandhar Doab (Punjab) in India, where returning migrants had invested in agriculture
leading to the economic prosperity in the state. On the debate over migration and social
change, his findings were that migration was not just an economics oriented process.
Migrants learnt much more from their experiences in the receiving areas and they brought
home new ideas, new skills and way of doing things. Drawing attention to the downside
of migration, the author arrived at his point that in most of the cases migration proved
responsible for fragmentation of families, destruction of community’s social cohesion
and discrimination with migrants in the receiving places for being different. Higher
divorce rate, a rise in extramarital affairs, misuse of money, drug addiction, gambling and
other social ills because of the absence of one spouse were noted as the negative impact
of migration.

Pong-Sul Ahn’s study on ‘Prospects and Challenges of Out-Migration from

South Asia and its Neighbouring Countries’ (2005) was an important analysis on the
trends, nature, extent and economic implications of out migration in sending countries of
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan and Iran and in receiving
countries like U.S.A., Europe, Gulf, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea. The author
reviewed in detail the labour rights issues and trade union responses to migration related
aspects with a view to setup a policy framework as well as legal instruments to harness
the benefits of labour migration and build a protection regime for migrant workers.
The author knew the influence that labour migration was a significant process for
economic development and suggested the governments to provide facilities to migrant
workers. Though the study was full of empirical inputs, the author did not touch upon the

13
aspects of positive or negative influence of migrant labour on the local society and law
executing agencies such as police department in the receiving places.

Lok Raj Baral in his book ‘Regional Migrations, Ethnicity and Security: The
South Asian Case’ (1990) very significantly intended to explore various emerging issues
of inter-state migrations in South Asia. The main thrust was to analyse the impact of
inter-state migrations on maintenance of internal socio-political equation and on
aggravation of ethnic tension in the region. The author, on the basis of news reports,
interviews, official and unofficial documents, investigated the migratory trends and their
implications in South Asia. It was found that the trend of immigration had negligible
contribution to the growth of population in these countries but the aspect of national
security was increasingly becoming a field of immediate concern for the countries of the
region. No country in the region experienced bitter ethnic conflicts and clashes between
immigrants and local people. All forms of conflicts originated from within the countries
and their causes were basically economic, political and psychological. The anti-foreigner
slogan, however, was more effective and catchy for moblising the people. Hence, the
internal aspect of population growth was found more dangerous than the overplayed
problem of immigrants. If the level of population growth was continued, the security of
South Asia was likely to be threatened.

Veronique Dupont in her article ‘Impact of In-Migration on Industrial

Development: Case Study of Jetpur in Gujarat’ (1992) made a very brief analysis of the
migrant workers in textile printing industry of a medium sized town, namely Jetpur in
Gujarat. The author in this empirical study raised important issues relating to the inter-
state migration from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Maharashtra which
were beneficial for the industrialists but exploiting for migrant workers. As migrant
workers moved to the studied town were mainly males, young in age with less
educational background, from large and poor families, lower castes and from rural/less
developed regions to work with the initial intention of settling down permanently. Since
their jobs were of temporary nature, they agreed to work and live in whatever conditions
and accommodation provided by the employers. This enabled employers relaxed and

14
tension free from manpower, management problems, the involvement of migrant workers
in the trade unions and all industrial and labour legislations. While touching significant
aspect of connection between migrants and local workers, the author observed the germ
of resentment, though not widespread, among local workers against the migrants. Local
workers thought that migrants had a far-reaching negative impact on the potential
improvement in their working conditions and earnings and also weakened their
negotiating power with the industrialists.

In his study ‘Inter-State Migration as a Indicator of National Integration’

Surinder K. Gupta (1993) endeavoured to discuss the expansion of urbanisation in India
as the driving factor for inter-state migration. The author believed that inter-state
migration was taken place because of regional, economic, social and cultural differences
and this was a significant phenomenon for national integration. The author emphasised
that the migrant population had to develop an empathic frame of mind, be prepared for
exposure to a different cultural milieu and the host state must exhibit a sense of tolerance
and accommodation towards the migrants. In this study, the author had relied exclusively
upon the available official records, documents and source books on migration.

O.P. Mishra in his brief article ‘A World within a Sociological Study of Red Light
Area G.B. Road- Delhi’ (2004) dealt with the interaction with more than three hundred
rescued young migrant female victims from the red light area of G.B. Road. The study
mainly concentrated on a description of the efforts made by police to rescue and
rehabilitate the trafficked women victims of prostitution and the role of traffickers, kotha
owners, pimps and touts in the enhancement of crime, and problems being faced by the
police department in taking effective criminal action against such traffickers. The author
pointed out to observe the networks and methodology adopted by the criminals for
procurement of minor girls into this infamous trade. The main factors for girls’ migration
were very poor socio-economic conditions in their native places in different parts of India
and the neighbouring countries like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttrakhand
and the countries of Nepal and Bangladesh where people did not have enough resources to

15
support their families. The traffickers were also hailing from the areas of victims. The
initiation of the new entrants to the trade started with mild persuasions to threats,
intimidation, severe beating, gang rape, denial of food, confining them into dark cubicles
without food and water, all with a view to make her surrender to an endless agony.
The author attempted to workout the role of migrants in increasing crime in the
capital and problems which the police department faced while dealing with such
migrants. A considerable part of the article was devoted to the analysis of the problems
and challenges created by the migrants not only for the social set up but also for the
police department. The author not only highlighted the practical restraints but also
presented a standpoint from which the issues like how police faced challenges and
difficulties from the activities of migrants.

Abdur Rafique and Ben Rogaly in their article ‘Internal Seasonal Migration,
Livelihoods and Vulnerability in India-A Case Study’ (2003) dealt with various aspects of
migration from socio-economic and political perspective. The authors mainly
concentrated on description of poor, mostly landless males in young age who migrated
seasonally from Murshidabad district to the rice fields of northern and southern West
Bengal in India. The authors interviewed the migrants and found that the recent growth in
migration from Murshidabad was the result of agricultural intensification and rapid
growth in population. In the process, a small number of richer farmers monopolized over
the benefits of growth and poor people’s livelihoods became more uncertain which was
identified as a compelling factor for high propensity of seasonal migration from the
district.
The author drew the inference that migration of workers from Murshidabad
district of the West Bengal country- side was itself a source of vulnerability to ill-health,
insecurity during the journey, employers’ malpractice and humiliation. Employers did not
pay the agreed rate or provide food and meals as agreed. Furthermore, Muslim migrant
workers reportedly were made to discrimination by their Hindu employers while serving
food. Sometimes, food was dropped into the plate from one meter away. After eating
labourers were expected to clean the place with water and cow dung where they had

16
taken food. Another significant source of vulnerability for migrant workers was the
violence even cane charge they often faced from police at the labour market.

A study on ‘Labour of Love: Seasonal Migration from Jharkhand to the Brick

Kilns of other States in India’ (2006) by Alpa Shah examined that extreme poverty and
economic necessity were not sole factors for migration of people to migrate. The article
was based on a fieldwork in a tribal village in Jharkhand and a brick kiln in West Bengal.
Migrants preferred to move towards the kilns to live socio-economic and psychological
independent life. They saw brick kilns as a space in which they could lead a life away
from the constraints and obligations of kinship from domestic disputes and a narrow-
minded and oppressive village environment. The author summarized the study very
intelligently by asserting the views of adult, unmarried youth that they went to the kilns
for escaping from the problems at home, to visit new places and more interestingly to live
out a prohibited amorous relationship.
The author marked a significant achievement in making available, in a coherent
manner, the results of a sizable amount of research based on an exceptionally good set of
data. The author paid special attention to a number of case studies of tribal villages and
the brick kiln through empirical approach as it was better at capturing temporary
movements that seem to characterize much of the migration of today. The findings of the
study related to broader claims that migration was not only the result of economic
necessity but also a strategy for psychological relief. The main theme, which was
different from the existing literature on migration, made the study more valuable and
relevant for the scholars of migrant studies.

A study on ‘Migration to A Metropolis’ by S.C. Joshi (1994) was a diagnostic

analysis of the problems of adjustment and maintenance of socio-cultural identity of
Kumaoni17 migrants in Delhi. The author applied standarised empirical tools like
personal interviews, case studies, group meetings and observation of their social
________________________________________________________________________
17. Kumaon region consists of three hilly-districts of Almora, Nainital and Pithorgarh in the
state of Uttrakhand.

17
ceremonies of the rural Kumaon hill migrants in Delhi. The author noted several types of
changes both in the receiving society as well as in the sending society. Financial
prosperity of the family in the village by regular remittances was one of these. But on the
other side, it had caused emotional strain because of the intra-family distance. Hence,
focusing on the major problems of migrants, the author found the problems of housing,
occupation, celebration of customs and various other ceremonies which were purely of
Kumaon region. The costly life of a metropolitan city-Delhi deprived the low paid
migrants, of recreation and comforts that alienated them from the city culture entity as
well as their own cultural associations. This also compelled them to have more and more
interaction with the people of the place of their origin. It indicated the fact that they were
quite close to their traditional roots and strong attachment to the customs and culture of
their place of origin. The author narrated that the migrants particularly those from the
higher socio-economic positions were adopting the urban ways of life and changing their
values and ideas. This too increased their participation in the political activities of the
city.

Manmeet Kaur in her Ph.D thesis in Sociology entitled ‘Migration and Rural
Development: A Sociological Study in Himachal Pradesh’ (1995) submitted to Panjab
University, Chandigarh, made a scholastic presentation of migration from the perspective
of socio- economic development. The author attempted to understand the connectivity of
migration with rural development and to identify the emerging patterns of female
migration and transformation in the role of women migrants in three villages Badech,
Moshobra and Ner Gonyog in Shimla district. The researcher compared growth levels
among migrants and non-migrants with the tools of interview schedule and case studies.
It was observed that the migration was an overwhelming agent of economic
development and social change. It was an instrument to promote inter-caste marriages in
rural areas but predominately among migrants. Not surprisingly, the researcher succeeded
in finding positive change in the status of women under the influence of migration as it
encouraged female education, economic independence, social mobility and greater
participation in the family decision making. The study also revealed greater contribution
of migrants in collaboration with non-migrants in developing of rural educational

18
institutions, public health works and roads. The author brought forth evidence that though
migration acted as a factor for awareness in individual migrant and brought about a
change in the role and status especially of women but also promoted socio-economic
development in rural areas as a whole. The migration had positive effects on the rich and
educated persons but negative for the poor and illiterate people.

‘Habitat, Economy and Society of Recent Migrants from Kashmir Division’

(2003) by Ravender Kumar Kaul was a Ph.D thesis in Geography submitted to Jamia
Millia Islamia, New Delhi. The study was an outcome of sample survey data collected by
applying structured questionnaires from Kashmiri migrant camps in Jammu tehsil. The
study found that this migration had been religiously selective as about 88% of the
registered migrants in Jammu were Hindus who were forced to leave their original habitat
during the period of 1989-90 due to insecurity to their lives. A large proportion of these
migrants were from rural areas who were engaged in agricultural activities in the
Kashmir valley. The problems which the study brought out were the vacillation between
political and inadequate relief and rehabilitation measures adopted by the governments.
The study highlighted large scale unemployment among migrants. They were depending
only on the relief assistance provided by the government which was insufficient.
The author observed ever growing migrant colonies in the urban outgrowth of
Jammu city. These colonies did not have even basic civil amenities. The author must be
congratulated for doing empirically tested work on highly complex and needy issue with
competence and sensitivity. The study provided us an insight to a deeper understanding
of internally displaced persons on religious grounds in a secular country. This was
perhaps greatest forced migration of persons of one section in the history of India after its
partition in 1947.

Dr. Krishan Chand in his book ‘Migrant Labour and the Trade Union
Movement in Punjab’ (2002) described the relationship between migrant labourers
working in the sugar industry and their participation in the trade unions in Punjab. The
book was a significant ample of empirical collection of data through personal interviews
conducted separately with the migrants, Punjabi workers employed in the sugar industry

19
and its management officials. The book revealed that the poverty, family disputes, social
and economic exploitation were the main factors for migration of people from UP and
Bihar to various parts of Punjab. The migrants were the first choice of employers due to
their punctuality, readiness to work on lesser wages and for long hours. But they did not
tempt towards trade unions as compared to the local workers in the fear of victimization
by the managements, exploitation and inactive attitude by the union leaders. The study
also revealed that there was no bias or attempt among local and migrant workers to paint
an unfavorable picture of each other. Some local workers thought their grief that migrant
labourers were responsible in reducing their employment opportunities. On the whole,
this book was a seminal document and addition to the existing stock of knowledge in the
field of migration studies. The author had fairly attempted to grapple the complexities of
policy study regarding the care of migrant workers and the role of the trade unions in it.
Though this book displayed no similarity with the objectives of the present research, this
was a good source material for the study.

‘Socio-Economic Impact of International Migration: A Case Study of District

Hoshiarpur’ (2001) by Preet Mahinder Pal Singh was a Ph.D thesis in Economics
submitted to Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. The study aimed at the exploration
of linkage between international emigration and its transformative role in the households
of emigrants. The author offered observation that migration was not confined to the poor
and illiterates but educated youth even post graduates, doctors and engineers were the
aspirants of emigration to other countries. The dominating reasons for their migration
were noted as small land holdings, unemployment and more prominently allurement for
living abroad. It was found that the international migration was a means for prosperity
not only in the households of migrants but also in their villages. The money sent by them
in the form of remittances promoted education, health and brought change in life styles.
Now the majority of emigrants’ children preferred to study in private, central or convent
schools in place of government run schools.
While examining the impact of migration on the health and living patterns of the
emigrants’ families, the study revealed that most of the families of migrants were
avoiding getting medical treatment in government dispensaries. It was because of the

20
reason that getting medial treatment from private nursing homes was more useful and
safe. Moreover, arrival of foreign money made rural people disinterested to work in
agriculture sector. They got attracted towards luxurious life styles leading to influx of
migrant labour force from UP and Bihar to work on agricultural operations.

S.V. Singh and Gaurav Yadav in their brief article ‘Crime Among Migrant
Labour in Punjab’, in the book titled Migrant Labour and Human Rights in India (2003)
edited by K.Gopal Iyer was an appreciable attempt to analyse the practical phenomenon
like crime and criminal behaviour of migrant labourers. On the basis of ten years crime
data of migrants in Jalandhar district, the authors explored major trends of crime among
migrant labourers. They noted an increasing trend in crimes committed by and against
migrant labour over the years. They were highly involved in kidnappings and rape cases,
while in heinous crimes like murder, the involvement of professional criminal tribes such
as Bawarias, Pardhies, Kalandars, etc. was in greater deal. The authors, on the basis of
official records, highlighted that the migrant labourers were more victims of crime than
their involvement in the district. With an objective to reduce crime among migrants and
to sort out their problems, the Jalandhar Police had launched a special campaign named
Sahayata in 2000 that was a useful experiment. The study, though, lacked empirical
rigour, it addressed ever untouched issue very significantly.

‘Causes and Consequences of Migrant Labour in Ludhiana City: A Case Study’

(2007) by Sukhdev Singh and Amandeep Kaur was a significant addition to the
existing literature on various layers of the issue of migration. The authors applied
sampling method to provide a detailed discussion on the factors responsible for in-
migration and its impact on the local population of Ludhiana city. A big number of
people, Biharis in large proportion, migrated to Ludhiana for better future and they had
improved their social and economic status through migration. They were also
advantageous for local people particularly for industrialists. But at the same time, they
were responsible for causing a number of problems and evils in the city such as
environmental pollution, health, psychological, economic and crime. The study revealed
that the crime was prime concern as migrants were responsible for increasing crime graph

21
of the city. They had more involvement in heinous crimes like thefts, kidnapping and
rape. The study also found that migrants were spreading evils such as drug addiction and
prostitution which affected the local youth to get attracted towards these evils and threat
to Punjabi culture and law and order of the city. Besides, they were behind the expansion
of slums and the disease like AIDS and unemployment for the local youth. All this had
created fear and insecurity among the local people.

In her article ‘Child Labour in the Hosiery Industry of Ludhiana’ (2005)

Pratibha Goyal discussed the problems being faced by the child labourers mainly hailing
(81%) from Bihar, UP, Nepal, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana employed in hosiery
industry of Ludhiana. The author applied standardized socio-psychological method to
study the problems of migrant child labour and provided empirical evidence to confirm ill
treatment was being done with the children by their employers and exploitation by their
parents for short and narrow gains, which were against their overall development. By
treating child labour in the fashion of migration, the author produced a work that was
very much needed and extremely accomplished. The article corrected many of our miss
conceptions about the migrant child rights in Ludhiana but she remained silent about the
other issues like activities of migrant labour affecting the normal life of society and
putting challenges to the people as well as the local administration especially to the police
department.

M.S. Sidhu and S.S. Grewal in their book ‘A Study on Migrant Agricultural
Labour in Punjab’ (1984) successfully attempted to examine the issue of migration and
impact of migrant labour on the local labour of Punjab. Based on an empirical study
conducted in Ludhiana, Patiala, Faridkot and Amritsar districts, the authors discussed
various factors influencing in-migration of labour force from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in a
large scale and their socio-economic background. With the use of sampling method the
authors recognised that 84% of the migrants were below 40 years in age. Majority of
them belonged to the lower caste and uneducated strata of society and migrated to Punjab
from generally the big size of families. The study made a close look at the questions

22
raised by the local labour that the migrant labour had affected their wage rates and
employment opportunities.

‘Causes and Consequences of Internal Migration-A Study in the Indian

Punjab’(1983) by A.S. Oberoi and H.K. Manmohan Singh revealed the importance of
Ludhiana district that had been attracting people from other districts of Punjab and also
from other states because of its achievements in agriculture sector. The study analysed
the main findings of the samples and two surveys conducted in the Green Revolution belt
of the Punjab during 1977. The main focus of the study was on the determinants of
migration and on the analysis of the interaction between rural- urban migration and socio-
economic change. The authors emphasised on the role of migration in the transformation
of rural and urban economies, and its impact on productivity, technological change,
population growth, structure and level of employment and income distribution between
rural and urban areas. The study discovered that migration left positive impact on the
rural areas because migrants had succeeded in increasing their individual and household
welfare. The process of migration would continue to remain un-debated until the basic
factors causing wide rural-urban and inter-urban differences in wages and employment
opportunities were altered.

Dr. A.K. Gupta in his book ‘Sociological Implications of Rural to Rural

Migration: A Case Study of Rural Immigrant Punjab’ (1988) identified various aspects of
migrant farm labour mostly hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in Ludhiana and
Hoshiarpur districts. The author explained domineering negative impact of migration
which was highlighted by the tensions (in a latent form) among local workers in respect
of wages, working hours and the standard of living. The farmers preferred to employ
migrants as they got ready to work on low wages for longer hours and were more
submissive than the local labourers. The author expressed his fear that a stage might
come soon when this in-migration would attain such an alarming magnitude that would
endanger the legitimate socio-economic interests of the local labourers. It might then
convert the present latent tensions into an apparent conflict. The author, however, pointed
out that this did not mean that the in-migrants were a happy lot. Most of them felt

23
deprived and frustrated and had low level of social participation and adjustment in the
host culture. Moreover, they were swindled by railway and police staff through
malpractices when they undertook journeys to Punjab.

Naresh Kumar in his Ph.D thesis ‘Socio-Economic Conditions of Migrant

Workers: A Comparative Study of Textile and Brick Kiln Industry in Punjab’ (2005) in
Commerce and Business Management submitted to Guru Nanak Dev University,
Amritsar, attempted to make comparative analysis of socio-economic conditions and
problems of migrant workers belonging to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. working
in Textile and Brick Kiln Industries of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana. The author
with the application of interview method found that the socio-economic conditions of
migrant labour working in Brick Kiln industry as compared to those employed in Textile
industry were very miserable. They were living in extremely dusty and unhygienic
rooms/huts not having toilets, kitchens, fresh and potable water and electricity supply.
The author forwarded some valuable recommendations for protection and
promotion of the interests of migrant labour working in Punjab. Such as Inter State
Migrant Workmen Act (ISMW), 197918 should be applied to every factory/establishment
in which one or more inter-state migrant workers were employed and violation of the
legislation should be made a cognizable offence19; separate cell should be setup by each
state to look after the problems of migrant workers; the Punjab Food and Civil Supplies
Department should issue special ration cards of different colours to migrant workers;
migrant laws should be reviewed; Trade Unions; NGOs; electronic and print media and
______________________________________________________________________________
18. Section 13 of Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions
of Services) Act, 1979 provides that the wage rate, holidays, hours of work and other
conditions of work of the migrant workers will be the same as those of the local workers
employed in the same establishment and doing the similar kind of job unless provided
otherwise by the appropriate Government.

19. The offence is of two types, cognizable and non-cognizable. Cognizable offence, as per
Section 2 of Cr.PC 1973, means an offence for which, and cognizable case means a case
in which a police officer may, under any law for the time being in force, arrest a person
without warrant in serious nature of offence like murder, attempt to murder, hurt, etc.
Whereas non-cognizable offence means an offence for which, and non-cognizable case
means a case in which a police officer has no authority to arrest a person without warrant.

24
other social organizations should play constructive role to make migrant labourers aware
about family planning and their human rights. Had the author examined the perceptions
of local affected people and the personnel of the police department who were immensely
affected by the adverse activities of migrant labour, the value of the study would have
been enhanced?

Harveen Saini’s dissertation in M.Sc. Sociology entitled ‘Slum Dwellers in

Ludhiana: A Socio-Economic Study’ (1996) submitted to Punjab Agricultural University,
Ludhiana, was related to the socio-economic conditions and problems of slum dweller
migrants in Ludhiana city. The author while analyzing their background, the basic
physical and infrastructural facilities, organizational structure and leadership patterns
among migrants with the use of interview method found that lack of employment, no
land, meager incomes, low wages and social exploitation had compelled them to leave
their native places for Ludhiana. They were engaged in various unhygienic occupations
like begging, garbage collection, sweepers, kabaddiwalas, domestic servants, rickshaw
pullers and daily wagers. A majority of them were illiterate and had large families with
low earnings.
The study identified the problems of shelter, inadequate provision of public
toilets, unhygienic conditions, inadequate water supply, lack of proper facilities for the
disposal of garbage, not proper drainage system, electricity supply and the facilities like
schools and dispensaries were not available for them. Such inadequate provisions not
only made the environment degraded but also unfit for human habitation. Again they
were provided temporary ration cards only for six months. The police behaviour was also
not humane towards them. They were badly harassed and beaten over nominal matters.
However, the study could have been more pragmatic to the administrators, scholars and
to those in civil society urging a more informative view if the researcher had attempted to
investigate the problems of local people and police which they usually face from these
migrants.
Given the range of scholarly concerns in the existing literature on the subject of
migration and the role of police and the rear absence of inquiry relating to actuality of

25
what was substantively done and how it was perceived by the citizens, a need was felt for
a some what different kind of case study.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the present study was to:

1. Examine the reasons of migration of labour from the states of U.P. and Bihar in
Punjab and especially in Ludhiana;
2. Examine the socio-economic background of migrant labourers.
3. Find out on the basis of empirical inquiry:
(a) What was the nature of crime committed by migrants, the problems and
challenges confronted by the police while dealing with these migrants and
strategy adopted by the police department to put restrains on such migrant
labourers in order to maintain law and order in Ludhiana city;
(b) What were the perceptions of the local people, criminal migrants and
officials of the police department about the impact of migrant labourers
and the role of police in controlling the criminal activities in the city? The
assumption was that apart from the objective conditions of police
department, a further inquiry into the subjective dimension of the
perception may better help in the understanding the reality of what was
done, and how effectively it was done and how satisfied and involved or
apathetic and disenchanted did the people and actual doers of things feel
and;
4. Assess the working of the police department of Ludhiana in the context of the
stated objectives.
The study was undertaken with the aim to explore whether the city police
succeeded in satisfying the local people who were badly affected by the criminal
activities of migrant labour, and the policies and programs framed by the city police to
keep such people under control who tried to disturb peace and order in the society.
Needless to say, such a study may to be helpful both to the police administration and the
students of Public Administration.

26
Scope of Study
This empirical study was focused on the working of police department in
Ludhiana and to assess the nature of crime committed by migrant labourers in the city
during the period of seven years i.e. 2000 to 2006. This was a reasonably long period for
making a planned study to understand what was the substance of the role played by the
police department and how did it go about its work. It was related primarily with the
analysis of nature of the crime committed and the action taken/strategy adopted by the
police to settle such cases or to trace the culprits up to the satisfaction of the
complainants. The main thrust of the study was to know perceptions and observations of
those (a) the citizens who had lodged complaints with the police against migrant
labourers; (b) the migrants who were actually involved in committing crimes; and (c) the
police officials engaged in the investigation of numerous crime cases.

Method of Study
The method of study had two dimensions:

I Documentary study of the records of the police department of Ludhiana

including the cases lodged (FIRs) against migrants into the crime and the process
of investigation made;
II Collection of interview based information related to the perception/observation of
a) the complainants who lodged their cases with the police department as
they were the victims of criminal acts by the migrants.
b) the migrants who were shown as criminal in the police record.
c) officials of the police department.
The different interview schedules (Appendix I) were prepared to serve as the basis
for separate interviews with each of the respondents belonging to three above mentioned
categories. The respondents included fifty (50) complainants were selected on the basis
of FIRs they made with the Ludhiana Police against migrants. But ten (10) of them who
were economically sound people showed reluctance to say any thing about the migrants
as well as the police investigation made into their cases.

27
 Fifty five (55) (30 convicts and 25 under trials) migrants mainly hailing from
Bihar and UP in the District Jail (Prison) of Ludhiana were interviewed against whom the
complaints were lodged.
A total number of seventy (70) police officials of Ludhiana who were directly or
indirectly involved in the investigation of cases related with migrants were interviewed.
But two (2) of them did not come forward, even after repeated visits and requests, to
discuss any thing about the cases related to migrants. During every visit, they showed
their busy schedules for frequent VIP duties and other departmental assignments.

Scheme of Chapters
• The trends of migration in India, besides its nature and volume from other states
including UP and Bihar to Ludhiana and the impact of large scale migration on
the city have been discussed in Chapter I.
• Chapter II provides an overview of the organizational set up of the Police in
Ludhiana and a procedure for handling of complaints.
• The nature of cases, the process of investigation and the action taken, all based on
official documents, are the subject matter of Chapter III.
• The findings on the basis of interviews with different categories of respondents
have been discussed in Chapter IV.
• A summary of the findings and observations is given in the Chapter V which is
the last chapter.

28
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