Page 92 - IJPS-10-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Pandemic spurs interstate outmigration in India

2020). The Kerala state government announced relief economic normality is restored is crucial. The other short-
packages, opened shelter homes, and provided free meals term measures undertaken by the government during the
through community kitchens, initiated through the local initial period of COVID-19 were somewhat insufficient
self-government department (LSGD) with the support of (Srivastava, 2020b).
Kudumbasree (women’s self-help group), which provided In the long term, several policy measures require
more than 8,651,627 free meals to the migrant laborers, attention. First, the government needs to ensure food security
those who are in quarantine, isolation, destitute, and for all migrants through portable ration cards linked to the
other needy individuals. Even before COVID-19, the Public Distribution System (PDS). In this regard, the central
Kerala government’s welfare schemes for migrants (i.e., government announcement of the “One Nation, One Ration
Apna Ghar Housing Scheme, Aawaz Insurance Scheme, Card” initiative is a good step, which is yet to be implemented.
and Interstate Migrant Workers Welfare Scheme 2010) Second, the country should have reliable and real-time data
were well recognized (Peter et al., 2020). On the other on migrants to avoid further migrant crises. According to
hand, the Odisha state government opened a registration Kundu (2020), the government (state or central) should
portal for migrants and arranged 14-day quarantine collaborate with industries, non-government organizations
facilities at the panchayat level (Pedi & Adabar, 2020). (NGOs), and other state governments to identify migrants.
Moreover, it announced a cash transfer of 2000 rupees to Moreover, the government should replicate scientific sample
all migrants who completed the 14-day quarantine period, surveys such as the Kerala Migration Survey to identify
a commendable initiative (Rajan & Sami, 2020). migrants and protect their rights (Rajan & Sami, 2020).
Similarly, other state governments such as Maharashtra, Third, the rural economy can be revived by strengthening
Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan were the MSME sector. Strengthening the MSME sector could
prominent in providing support to the migrant workers. absorb more labor, decrease unemployment, and increase
The Maharashtra and Gujarat governments released funds production in rural areas (Behera et al., 2021). Finally, apart
from the State Disaster Relief Fund to address the issues of from this specific measure, there are some general measures,
stranded immigrants. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, such as creating rural employment opportunities through
and Rajasthan implemented steps to ensure adequate food MGNREGA, ensuring social protection in terms of the best
and shelter for migrants. wage rate, strengthening agricultural marketing, and so
on, that need to be implemented to mitigate the migration
4. Conclusion problem in the country.
The literature and our analysis underscore that interstate Internal migration has been normalized in India
migration happens from low-income to high-income over the years and occupies an important place, given
states. Hence, people with low economic opportunities the nature of the country’s development. Since 1991, the
use migration as a strategy to diversify their income or trend of internal migration in the country has increased
improve their living standards (Datta, 2016; Mishra, rapidly and is expected to increase further as many urban
2016; Parida et al., 2015). However, the issue is that these development policies (Smart Cities Mission, Swachh
migrants face many challenges both at their destination Bharat Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
and their places of origin. Most of the time, they fail to get/ Transformation, etc.) have been introduced in recent
enjoy their fundamental rights. From a government policy years. The economic-related outmigration in the country
perspective, these migrants receive inadequate recognition, is mainly determined by the developmental force. This
as highlighted by recent migrant crises. Now, the time means that the development of the state is the main reason
has come to recognize the importance of migration in for the attraction of migrants to the country. However,
economic development and poverty reduction (Bhagat, outmigration has also been seen from developed states.
2017b) and to implement necessary socioeconomic States such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka
policy measures to mitigate the long-term and short-term have immensely contributed to the outmigration of the
problems of migrants (Rajan et al., 2020). country. However, migrants from developed states are not
To address the current crisis of COVID-19, both distressed migrants. This trend of outmigration has also
central and state governments must implement measures been analyzed by Bhattacharjee (2020) in his study.
to ensure employment guarantees for migrants in their This study highlights that economically poor states
hometowns, as witnessed in the large-scale exodus of such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan are the top
migrants, thereby instilling confidence in them to return sources of outmigration in the country. Various economic
to urban areas for work (Behera et al., 2021). Furthermore, reasons, such as lower agricultural output, skewed
extending free ration distribution for food security until distribution of land, higher dependency on agriculture,

Volume 10 Issue 3 (2024) 86 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0916