ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on internal migrants in India. According to the 2011 Census, there are over 450 million internal migrants, of which a massive 54 million are inter-state migrants. A large number of these migrants consist of labourers who comprise a huge percentage of the informal sector workforce, both in the rural and urban areas of India, and are vital to the country’s economy. These workers are also some of the most vulnerable, with inadequacies in terms of working conditions and coverage of social safety nets, and are also largely absent from India’s policy discourses. This chapter highlights the size and extent of internal migration as well as its distribution across different states in India. It shows how the current crisis and lockdowns have affected their lives and livelihoods. It particularly looks at the responses of central and various state governments – at destinations and origins – to ensure migrants’ wellbeing. It also analyses the socioeconomic impact of the migrant exodus from major destinations and looks at solutions to enable and ensure that migration patterns in the future are sustainable, and more importantly, ensure migrants’ rights and dignity. © 2022, The Author(s).
ABSTRACT
This book reconceptualizes migration studies in India and brings back the idea of citizenship to the center of the contested relationship between the state and internal migrants in the country. It interrogates the multiple vulnerabilities of disenfranchised internal migrants as evidenced in the mass exodus of migrants during the COVID-19 crisis. Challenging dominant economic and demographic theories of mobility and relying on a wide range of innovative heterodox methodologies, this volume points to the possibility of reimagining migrants as 'citizens'. The volume discusses various facets of internal migration such as the roles of gender, ethnicity, caste, electoral participation of the internal migrants, livelihood diversification, struggle for settlement, and politics of displacement, and highlights the case of temporary, seasonal, and circulatory migrants as the most exploited and invisible group among migrants. Presenting secondary and recent field data from across regions, including from the northeast, the book explores the processes under which people migrate and suggests ways for ameliorating the conditions of migrants through sustained civic and political action. This book will be essential for scholars and researchers of migration studies, politics, governance, development studies, public policy, sociology, and gender studies as well as policymakers, government bodies, civil society, and interested general readers. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Ashwani Kumar and R. B. Bhagat;individual chapters, the contributors.
ABSTRACT
The worldwide spread of COVID-19 first reported from Wuhan in China is attributed to migration and mobility of people. In this article, we present how our understanding of migration and livelihood could be helpful in designing a mitigating strategy of economic and social impact of COVID-19 in India. We conclude that there are many challenges migrants face during the spread of COVID-19 resulting from nationwide lockdown. Many internal migrants faced problems such as lack of food, basic amenities, lack of health care, economic stress, lack of transportation facilities to return to their native places and lack of psychological support. On the other hand, COVID-19 has also brought into sharp focus the emigrants from India and the major migration corridors India shares with the world as well. There is a huge uncertainty about how long this crisis will last. This article further provides some immediate measures and long term strategies to be adopted by the government such as improving public distribution system, strengthening public health system, integration of migrants with development, decentralisation as a strategy to provide health services, and providing support to return migrants to reintegrate them, and also strengthen the database on migration and migrant households. © 2020 MIGRATION LETTERS Transnational Press London