SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE OF MIGRANT MUSLIM WORKERS IN ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS

Socio-economic status (SES) is a multidimensional term. Today SES is deemed to be a hyper - dimensional latent variable that is difficult to elicit. Socioeconomic status is a latent variable in the sense that, like mood or well -being, it cannot be directly measured (Oakes & Rossi, 2003) and it is, some-what, associated with normative science. Finally, it converges to the notion that the definition of SES revolves around the issue of quantifying social inequality. However, it poses a serious problem for the researcher to measure the socio-economic status of migrant workers for short duration during the course of the year. Even in the absence of a coherent national policy on internal migration, millions of Indians are migrating from one destination to another with different durations (Chandrasekhar, 2017). The Andaman & Nicobar Islands(ANI) is no exception and a large number of in-migration is taking place throughout the year. Towards this direction, an attempt has been made to examine the socio-economic profile of migrant Muslim workers who have come to these Islands from West Bengal and Bihar in search of earning their livelihood. An intensive study has been conducted to assess their socio-economic well-being, literacy, income, health hazards, sanitation & medical facilities, family size, indebtedness, acculturation, social status, etc. This study reveals that their socio-economic profile in these Islands are downtrodden, nevertheless they are in a better state than their home town.