“A qualitative study to understand, from the lens of the Culture-Centered Approach (CCA), how migrants engaged with and navigated the Pandemic and the national lockdown, with all their sources of income closed down.
Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 54 internal migrants in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and West Bengal (WB).
The Study
We aimed to understand the effects of the Pandemic and the consequent lockdown on the lives of workers, who were forced to reverse-migrate to their home-towns and villages.
The Findings
Loss of income and savings, mounting debt, anxieties about work and earning in the future had led to severe economic stress for these migrants.
However, the pandemic-forced lockdown also led to some healthful consequences in the context of food, open-air, and the much-needed care and time at home.
The Future
The study showed the need for social security and structural support to allieviate the economic distress experienced by internal migrants.
Further research, focusing on the economic structural constraints faced by marginalized people, in terms of borrowing, is necessary to shape any future policy.
https://www.ihrb.org/uploads/reports/COVID_India_Internal_Migrants_Report_-_IHRB.pdf