The Exodus in Times of Pandemic: Mobility, Migration and Livelihood of Informal Migrant Workers During COVID-19 Crisis in India

Abstract

AbstractThis present study is an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on mobility and livelihood of informal migrant workers in India. The paper is based on a theoretical background built upon the arguments of development economists and scholars of migration. Case studies based on media reporting and newspaper clippings, presentation by scholars have been used to highlight the context of the discussion. The analysis also rests on data collected from Government documents, NSSO and the Census of India, 2011. The focus is on the lower end of the diverse labour market in India, that on one hand constitutes insecure tail end jobs, unequal wages and poor access to basic amenities and infrastructure, deprivation of social security on one hand and on the other constitutes a major part of Government’s nativist project, as it is an essential intra-national economic tool for development, however categorized by unevenness at its core. The paper places an exploratory effort to identify the institutionalized inequalities and mounting vulnerabilities during the ‘exodus’ of the informal migrant workers, amidst the nation-wide lockdown. The research finds that there is a necessity to rethink mobility and migration that has become apparent due to the COVID-19 crisis, and the fallout out of which has been extremely detrimental to the poorest section of the Indian workforce, i.e. the informal migrant workers, of which a vast section constitute the seasonal labourers. This also raises the issue of redistributive conflict and locating the problematic in the allocation of resources on one hand and on the efficacy of the Government schemes in reaching the defenseless ‘poorest of the poor’ on the other. The question here is also indicative of the inherent and persistent problems of data and reliable estimates involving this vast segment of the informal labour, required for enforcement of social safety nets.KeywordsMobilityMigrationLivelihoodInequalitiesExodus