Did Labor Migration Policy Reform or Perform? A Tale of Circular Migration in India During COVID-19

Abstract

There were many policies that the Government of India framed to help migrant workers during the pandemic period with work, food, travel, and shelter needs that arose by virtue of their informal nature of work. These policies and schemes included Free Food Grains, MGNREGA, shelter homes, and shramik trains to help the migrant workers tide over joblessness and hunger. The authors are intrigued by the decision of the migrant workers to return to cities of work destination even in light of the poorly performing and reforming policies that intended facilitation but remained dissevering. Witnessing an increase in the trend of returnee migrant workers, we are motivated to understand the decisions made by these workers to return and re-join, or recreate previous or new work with an unanticipated change in factors that led to their decision to leave (circular migration). Our interviews with a sample of 30 returnee migrant workers helped us enlist the push and the pull factors that led to the decisions to return to work cities amidst their experience of supportless governance systems. The study exposes us to the informal migrant workers’ core vulnerabilities and the governance ecosystem's insensitivities that grossly overlook citizens' plight due to their bias towards denizens.