Migrants: The Souls Of India

The mists of lockdown wafting all over, Today is fast dissolving into yesterdays And tomorrows are no more the plasma of future, Some shadows surreptitiously Look out through the thick crimson curtains as though exhorting “Awake, arise or be forever fallen”. Destroy the intruder, Burn this invisible Ari. and re-restore the emotional resonances Between man and nature, Induce An invisible catalysis for a silent catharsis of our Mother Earth. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

- Dr A. A. Sinha

There is a loud stillness in the midday air The breeze has run away into the nest of sparrows. High above, the tall robust trees Bellowing painfully at the azure sky, Streaked with crimson patches of clouds.

Far away, faded Christmas chrysanthemums Hopelessly clinging to the dark window sills Waiting for Easter Sunday.

Seasonal migration for work is a pervasive reality in rural India. An overwhelming 120 million people or more are estimated to migrate from rural areas to urban labour markets, industries and farms. Migration has become essential for people from regions that face frequent shortages of rainfall or suffer floods, or where population densities are high in relation to land. Areas facing unresolved social or political conflicts also become prone to migration. Poverty, lack of local options and the availability of work elsewhere have become the trigger and the pull for rural migration respectively.

Some regions like UP and Bihar have been known for rural migration for decades – however, newer corridors like Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and recently even North East have become major sending regions of manual labour. Among the biggest employers of migrant workers is the construction sector (40 million), domestic work (20 million), textile (11 million), brick kiln work (10 million), transportation, mines & quarries and agriculture.