Health Security of Migrant Workers in Tirupur Garment Industry - An Econometric Analysis

Indian constitution provides basic freedom to move to any part of the country, right to reside and earn livelihood of their choice. Thus, migrants are not required to register either at place of origin or at the place of destination. A number of social, economic, cultural and political factors play an important role in the decision to move. The effects of these factors vary over time and place. Today, internal migrants in India have almost 400 million in the 2011 census, over half the global figure of 740 million and almost twice as many as China’s estimated 221 million. These internal migrants, comprising a third of India’s population, are estimated to account for remittances anywhere between `70,000 crore and `120,000 crore. Migration is the process of leaving one’s home or usual place of residence to move to a new area or location in search of work, livelihood or a better quality of life, as a result of marriage, to escape persecution or because of displacement (UNESCO, 2015). Tirupur is heaven for migrants. While the presence of migrants and their contribution to the ‘rise of this boom-town’ has been acknowledged, the magnitude of this workforce, their place of origin, and their aspirations remain relatively unexplored. In this study, modest attempt to address these questions with the objective of analysing the social security needs of the unorganised sector workers, examining the risk management mechanisms that are most frequently used by these workers and assessing their willingness to participate in contributory social security schemes. Econometric modelings were used to identify the awareness of health insurance and to know willingness to pay for health insurance among the migrant workers of the Garment industry in Tirupur.