The article maps the emergence of a new migration corridor from Ganjam district, on India's east ... more The article maps the emergence of a new migration corridor from Ganjam district, on India's east coast, to Kerala, in southern India, since the late 1990s. It marks a significant shift from the decades-old, well-established Ganjam-Surat corridor. The article traces the trajectory of Odiya migrants, particularly from the historically marginalised SC and ST communities, suggesting that caste is a structural force shaping migration and contributing to the emergent corridor from Ganjam to Kerala. It describes how caste and migration mutually influence and shape each other. Caste is not only an identity marker of the migrant workers but has a bearing on all aspects of migrants' work and lives as a social structure. The article illustrates how caste continues to be reproduced through the referral-based recruitment that takes place in urban India. The findings from this study affirm findings from earlier studies that attest to caste continuing to be a crucial factor in migration decision making. Migrants tend to cluster around in areas where there is a large presence of people from their communities. While doing so, the social stratification that prevails at the source tends to be replicated at the destination too, limiting the scope of social emancipation that migration could potentially offer to the marginalised communities. This can compel migrants from the marginalised communities to explore newer destinations that are more egalitarian, where the caste hierarchies do not curtail their human development and where they have the potential to accelerate the social mobility.
Socially and economically disadvantaged communities from rural India constitute the majority of t... more Socially and economically disadvantaged communities from rural India constitute the majority of the migrant workers who make temporary or circular moves in India to eke out a living. The national lockdown in the country in 2020 exposed the plight of the migrant workers and their families both at the source and destination regions. It also exposed the poor preparedness of all stakeholders towards the challenges faced by the migrants. In this paper, the authors synthesise the programme experience and lessons learned by the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development and Gram Vikas, two non-profits that are engaged in a source-destination intervention promoting safe migration in Odisha-Kerala corridor. The paper summarises some of the high-impact strategies that could promote the inclusion of migrant workers at the grassroots.
An estimated 3.5 million interstate migrant workers have become an indispensable part of Kerala's... more An estimated 3.5 million interstate migrant workers have become an indispensable part of Kerala's economy. The state also offers the highest wages for migrant workers for jobs in the unorganised sector in the entire Indian subcontinent. Further, the state has evolved several measures for the inclusion of the workers and was able to effectively respond to their distress during the national lockdown. This paper examines labour migration to Kerala, key measures by the government to promote the social security of the workers and the state's response to the distress of migrant workers during lockdown, by synthesising the available secondary evidence. The welfare measures as well as interventions initiated by the state are exemplary and promising given the intent and provisions. However, some of them do not appear to have consideration of the grassroots requirements and implementation mechanisms to enhance access. As a result, the policy intent and substantial investments have not yielded the expected results. The state's effective response to the distress of workers during the lockdown emanates from its overall disaster preparedness and resilience achieved from confronting with two consecutive statewide natural disasters and a public health emergency in the immediate past. While the government has played a strategic role through policy imperative and ensuring a synergistic response, the data presented by the state indicate a much larger but invisible role played by the employers and civil society in providing food and shelter to workers.
Road map for developing a policy framework for the inclusion of internal migrant workers in India, 2020
Discusses the state of internal migration and migrant workers in India and draws a roadmap toward... more Discusses the state of internal migration and migrant workers in India and draws a roadmap towards their inclusion
Leaving No One Behind Lessons from the Kerala Disasters, 2019
Unravels how the floods and landslides that devastated Kerala state of India during 2018 impacted... more Unravels how the floods and landslides that devastated Kerala state of India during 2018 impacted the most vulnerable populations such as migrant workers, persons with disabilities, indigenous populations, women, children and older persons
The article maps the emergence of a new migration corridor from Ganjam district, on India's east ... more The article maps the emergence of a new migration corridor from Ganjam district, on India's east coast, to Kerala, in southern India, since the late 1990s. It marks a significant shift from the decades-old, well-established Ganjam-Surat corridor. The article traces the trajectory of Odiya migrants, particularly from the historically marginalised SC and ST communities, suggesting that caste is a structural force shaping migration and contributing to the emergent corridor from Ganjam to Kerala. It describes how caste and migration mutually influence and shape each other. Caste is not only an identity marker of the migrant workers but has a bearing on all aspects of migrants' work and lives as a social structure. The article illustrates how caste continues to be reproduced through the referral-based recruitment that takes place in urban India. The findings from this study affirm findings from earlier studies that attest to caste continuing to be a crucial factor in migration decision making. Migrants tend to cluster around in areas where there is a large presence of people from their communities. While doing so, the social stratification that prevails at the source tends to be replicated at the destination too, limiting the scope of social emancipation that migration could potentially offer to the marginalised communities. This can compel migrants from the marginalised communities to explore newer destinations that are more egalitarian, where the caste hierarchies do not curtail their human development and where they have the potential to accelerate the social mobility.
Socially and economically disadvantaged communities from rural India constitute the majority of t... more Socially and economically disadvantaged communities from rural India constitute the majority of the migrant workers who make temporary or circular moves in India to eke out a living. The national lockdown in the country in 2020 exposed the plight of the migrant workers and their families both at the source and destination regions. It also exposed the poor preparedness of all stakeholders towards the challenges faced by the migrants. In this paper, the authors synthesise the programme experience and lessons learned by the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development and Gram Vikas, two non-profits that are engaged in a source-destination intervention promoting safe migration in Odisha-Kerala corridor. The paper summarises some of the high-impact strategies that could promote the inclusion of migrant workers at the grassroots.
An estimated 3.5 million interstate migrant workers have become an indispensable part of Kerala's... more An estimated 3.5 million interstate migrant workers have become an indispensable part of Kerala's economy. The state also offers the highest wages for migrant workers for jobs in the unorganised sector in the entire Indian subcontinent. Further, the state has evolved several measures for the inclusion of the workers and was able to effectively respond to their distress during the national lockdown. This paper examines labour migration to Kerala, key measures by the government to promote the social security of the workers and the state's response to the distress of migrant workers during lockdown, by synthesising the available secondary evidence. The welfare measures as well as interventions initiated by the state are exemplary and promising given the intent and provisions. However, some of them do not appear to have consideration of the grassroots requirements and implementation mechanisms to enhance access. As a result, the policy intent and substantial investments have not yielded the expected results. The state's effective response to the distress of workers during the lockdown emanates from its overall disaster preparedness and resilience achieved from confronting with two consecutive statewide natural disasters and a public health emergency in the immediate past. While the government has played a strategic role through policy imperative and ensuring a synergistic response, the data presented by the state indicate a much larger but invisible role played by the employers and civil society in providing food and shelter to workers.
Road map for developing a policy framework for the inclusion of internal migrant workers in India, 2020
Discusses the state of internal migration and migrant workers in India and draws a roadmap toward... more Discusses the state of internal migration and migrant workers in India and draws a roadmap towards their inclusion
Leaving No One Behind Lessons from the Kerala Disasters, 2019
Unravels how the floods and landslides that devastated Kerala state of India during 2018 impacted... more Unravels how the floods and landslides that devastated Kerala state of India during 2018 impacted the most vulnerable populations such as migrant workers, persons with disabilities, indigenous populations, women, children and older persons
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