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Paper short abstract:

The paper examines the recent introduction of digital technologies in the implementation of migrant worker welfare schemes in India. Based on fieldwork on construction labour in Bengaluru, it explores the efficacy and broader implications of the digitalization of social protection measures.

Paper long abstract:

Following the migrant labour crisis precipitated by the Covid-19 lockdown in India in 2020, both the central and state governments introduced a range of new schemes and policies aimed at improving the social welfare and protection of migrant workers. This paper focuses on the employment of digital technologies in these measures and programmes, drawing on an ongoing study of migrant construction labour in Bengaluru. The paper is situated within two main bodies of literature: (1) labour informality and migration, and (2) the digitalization of governance in India and the Global South. We examine the design and administration of digital identification and registration systems by different agencies; their deployment via smartphone apps and other technologies; and their effectiveness in improving workers’ social rights and well-being. The paper highlights the multiplication of schemes at various levels and the dependence of governments on third-party agencies (especially NGOs) for their implementation. We find that the efficacy of these schemes has been hampered by insufficient or poorly trained staff; poor design of platforms and software; inadequate technical literacy of government workers; lack of portability of benefits; and the inability of many migrant workers to access the documents and technologies required by these schemes. Combined with the digitalization of inspection and compliance requirements that will be introduced under the new labour codes in India, these lacunae may make labour policies and programmes aimed at protecting the social and labour rights of migrant workers even less workable than they are at present.