Condition of migrants of Bihar amidst corona crisis
- Bihar Journal of Public Administration
- 18(1A), Jan-Jun, 2021: p.20-34
Covid-19 pandemic has brought a tidal-wave of consecutive impacts on social, economic, cultural and public health systems. While pandemics and their impact are not completely unknown to human beings, it seems the modern world was not very well prepared for this global-scale pandemic. As we learn by taking steps to manage and minimize its effects on the human population, it is important to consider the greater burden that COVID-19 has put on migrants, calling for a fresh design for the emergency response. The pandemic has disproportionately affected the states of India. The capacity to respond is also different in different states. For disadvantaged states like Bihar, where sizable proportion of the population have migrated to other states and country for earning, the pandemic raises the challenge of reverse migration and livelihood. In this pretext, the paper tries to answer some basic questions in the context of Bihar – (i) what is the pattern of migration? (ii) what is the impact of COVID-19 on migrant’s health and psychology? (iii) what is the effect of Covid-19 on migrants and economy (iv) lastly, the government’s responsiveness. – Reproduced