To stay put or migrate: Dynamics of migration in a village in Jharkhand, India

Abstract

Through a study of a village in Jharkhand, India, the paper maps the migration process of workers due to the structural transformation of the rural area. The nature of transformation in Jharkhand has led to a process of migration as a temporary strategy. This paper illustrates the processes wherein the socioeconomic dynamic of the village is reflected in different migration strategies which take the form of identity and assignment-based networks. The paper develops a rudimentary typology of migrant workers to map the differential effects of reverse migration. Reverse migration due to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in lost skills, lost opportunities and increased competition which has affected workers in different networks and identity groups to varying extents. The breakdown of networks and their revival in the subsequent period led to the solidification of the identity-based networks, which is a reflection of the hierarchy in the village. The paper argues that reverse migration and the subsequent revival of the migration networks are taking on an exclusionary form that affect an already vulnerable population disproportionately.