significant coefficient on the SC/ST dummy variable. This suggests that households classified as Scheduled Tribe or Scheduled Caste are more likely to have a short-duration out-migrant. This reinforces Dubey et al.’s (2004) argument that migration from lower caste households often represents a struggle for survival. Similarly, households whose head completed secondary or tertiary education have a lower probability to send out a circular migrant compared to those whose head was illiterate or had not completed primary education. The same holds true for households whose head was employed in industry rather than agriculture.

A number of micro-studies in the literature also allude to these patterns in short-term migration. In out-migration endemic rural areas of central and tribal regions, such as Andhra Pradesh, north Bihar, and eastern Uttar Pradesh, the incidence of families with at least one out-migrant ranges from 30 to 70 percent. Through household surveys of villages in central-western India, studies find that a majority of households were involved in seasonal migration in 2006–07, and overwhelmingly for casual urban construction work (Deshingkar et al., 2008; Mosse et al., 2005). Most migrants were between ages 16 and 40 and Scheduled tribes and castes – groups that are explicitly protected in India’s constitution because of their historic social and economic inequality – were overrepresented in short-term migration flows (Parida and Madheswaran, 2011).

The low interstate portability of identity documents can make it difficult for low-skilled interstate circular migrants to claim the benefits that they are entitled to under labor laws. Regression analysis based on the IHDS shows that the coefficient on the identification proof variable is statistically insignificant, even when the sample is restricted to circular migrants who have moved across states (see Appendix Table 4). This is perhaps indicative of the fact that because circular migrants, by definition, are looking to return home and most often move without their family, the inadequate portability of identification documents across state borders to access social welfare benefits is less relevant. Yet, a survey of seasonal migrant workers in Delhi’s construction industry suggests that the migrant workers were not registered under the Building and Construction Workers' Welfare Act, a law that regulates social welfare, health care, and safety for construction workers. Lacking formal protection, the workers had to work long hours under poor health and safety conditions. Thus, poor interstate portability of identity documentation leads to asymmetric enforcement of labor regulation across interstate migrants, further reducing incentives to move even if wage gains are substantial (Srivastava and Sasikumar, 2003; Srivastava 2012).<sup>22</sup>

# **F. Conclusion**

The IHDS provides a more recent source of data to analyze patterns in the incidence of economically motivated internal migration in India. ‘Husbands’ who leave the resident household are the dominant stream of migration in the IHDS, which does not capture women who migrate primarily for marriage. The most recent round of the IHDS, conducted in 2011-12, also provides information on circular migrants, with a definition that is more comprehensive compared to the

> 22 Recognizing these issues, the central government passed a law, called the 1979 Inter State Migrant Workmen Act, specifically to regulate practices associated with the recruitment and employment of interstate migrant workers. The law requires middlemen who recruit interstate migrant workers and the firms that hire them to get a special license. It requires that migrant workers be paid in accordance with local minimum wage laws, issued a passbook recording their identity, nature of work and remuneration, and provided with accommodation and health care. However, studies suggest that this law is not enforced (Srivastava and Sasikumar, 2003; Srivastava 2012).

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