In Defence Of Migrants

Our Central State Police Minister's comment that crime was on the rise in Nude Elly "because of migrants," reminded me of an "experiment with truth" I once conducted, some ten years ago, while an editorial writer with The Economic Times in this very city.

For two hours every morning, some eight of us would meet to discuss the events of the previous day and then decide on our three editorials. One morning, I asked the group if any of them had been born in Delhi. Not surprisingly, all of them answered "No." They were all migrants. So was I. Just then, there was a knock on the door and a bearer entered with our tea. I asked him his place of origin, and he replied, "Nepal."

There are precious few "Original Dilliwallahs" in Delhi.

Indeed, I daresay that if the minister checks the personnel records, the police commissioner of Delhi will turn out to be a migrant - same as the chief minister. Anyway, the entire police constabulary is composed of migrants - mainly village lads from Haryana.

The Central State Police Minister's irresponsible comment has found a sympathetic echo in Mumbai - with the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamna, asking the central minister to implement a "permit system" for migrants into Delhi and Mumbai. "Internal visa"? What an idea, sirjee!

History reveals that successful cities are those that have been open to migrants. This is particularly true of the Olde City of London. Lombard Street, where banking began, is named after the area in Italy these bankers came from. There were merchants from Flanders, from France, from Holland - and, of course, all the Hansa cities. Almost every Lord Mayor in its 800-year history has been an "outsider" - usually a younger son who would not inherit his father's estate and had to make his own way in the world by moving to the Great City and taking up an apprenticeship. Indeed, the very word "mayor" was an import: it originated in Rouen, France, the first place where an association of citizens addressed their leader by that title. Long before the Norman Conquest, a community of merchants from Rouen inhabited one corner of Olde London. It is said that this word came to London from them.

This openness to migrants is also true of Cochin, a very old port city, much older than Bombay. There is a very old synagogue in Cochin; there are old churches of Syrian Christians; and old mosques too. All these served communities who had migrated from over the seas. These arrived here long before the white man.

Cities have always attracted migrants: this is the story of civilisation. In highly developed nations, very few people live in the countryside. The vast majority are city-dwellers.

In India, the biggest problem is that there are very few cities. And these are getting horribly overcrowded. The only solution is aggressive urbanisation - the building of hundreds more "satellite towns" around the five "metro" cities; the building of entirely new cities along the coasts; and re-building all the smaller cities and towns in the interior. Many more "hill stations" too.

The US has 350 million people and 200 cities. India has 1000 million people and 5 cities.

India needs aggressive urbanisation - not this "rural development" bull. The very fact that villagers are migrating en masse to the cities - "voting with their feet" - proves our poor people want urban opportunities. The Gandhian vision of "self-sufficient village republics" run by village panchayats must be dumped. Globalised Indyeah of the future must aim to be urban - thousands of free trading and self-governing cities and towns run by mayors.

The Shiv Sena attitude can only then be effectively countered - by Competition, as cities compete for citizens as well as commerce. Then, the migrant will be recognised as a valuable resource.

Further, only when urban competition kicks in will our cities and towns be well run. This valuable insight, that competition between local governments for citizens who "vote with their feet" matters more than ballots in local elections, is credited to Charles Tiebout.