key: cord-1010914-aldic99g authors: Das, Diganta title: Regional disparities of growth and internal migrant workers in informal sectors in the age of COVID‐19 date: 2020-08-16 journal: J Public Aff DOI: 10.1002/pa.2268 sha: 4de5a558f31c776918768323ad92a67560c3336c doc_id: 1010914 cord_uid: aldic99g Why does the migrated worker face with the crisis of livelihoods in general and informal sectors in India, particularly during the age of corona? Migrant workers in informal sectors constitute a major percentage of total workforces in India, who have contributed for the economic development. Due to the overlapping nature of migration, it would not be possible to estimate the exact numbers of migrated people in India. This article is an attempt to discuss about how workers are deprived in informal sectors. Again, the study also discusses how, in the age of coronavirus pandemic, millions of workers, faced with higher form of informalistion, faced with the threat of survival. Secondary data are used as methodology. This article argues that, in India, maximum numbers of workers, who migrated from poor Human Development Index (HDI)‐scored states to high HDI‐scored states, faced with higher informalistion of their jobs, due to deprivation from basic rights in the age of Corona. Why does the migrated worker face with the crisis of livelihoods in general and informal sectors in India, particularly during the age of corona? Migrant workers in informal sectors constitute a major percentage of total workforces in India, who have contributed for the economic development. Due to the overlapping nature of migration, it would not be possible to estimate the exact numbers of migrated people in India. This article is an attempt to discuss about how workers are deprived in informal sectors. Again, the study also discusses how, in the age of coronavirus pandemic, millions of workers, faced with higher form of informalistion, faced with the threat of survival. Secondary data are used as methodology. This article argues that, in India, maximum numbers of workers, who migrated from poor Human Development Index (HDI)-scored states to high HDI-scored states, faced with higher informalistion of their jobs, due to deprivation from basic rights in the age of Corona. On the midst of the lockdown, migrated workers of informal sectors faced with desperation across India to go back to their home. Hence causing them to come into the street, by foot, only because of livelihood loss, which pushed them to stay dependent on civil society for their survival. They faced with moderation of humanities from the hands of polices personnel and from others. They walked along with their children without having enough money in their pockets to buy foods on their ways, neither they had any ideas about the future source of livelihood at their native village nor did they know when to come back again to urban areas once the situation becomes normal. Such distress of the workers towards their native place, called "reverse migration," in the age of COVID-19 virus, shows the failure of the government's development model under the banners of "Sabka Vikaas (Growth for All), 'Shining India' and 'Achche Din (Good Days)'" and so forth. This article is about the plight of informal sector's migrated workers in the age of novel coronavirus, and also displays how regional disparities in the line of Human Development Index (HDI) are caused due to workers' migration to a developed state with higher HDI. This study argues that workers from poor state joined informal sectors' jobs after reaching a developed state, and are faced with worst forms of informalistion of job tenures. Only informal sectors are examined in this article because India's maximum numbers of migrated workers work in the informal sectors. Again, there is substantial evidence that, in the age of corona, workers faced with extreme informalistion of job tenures, cause due to loss of jobs overnight, after the announcement of nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of corona. Workers did not get any compensation for their job loss. This article is based on the data collected from research papers, census data, planning commission, Government official reports, National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), reports from media, commentaries from civil society and the author's individual comments. Migration happens within frameworks where some parts of economic, socio-cultural and institutional structure changes create both source and destination points of migrants, which could be rationalized with the best argument of disproportionateness development between both the places ( de Haas, 2009 ). Neoclassical macro theory of migration argued migration as a part of county's economic development and stated that internal migration occurs due to different geographical differences on supply as well as demand of labour, which is prominent amid the primitive mode of agricultural and modern manufacturing sectors in urban areas. Again, the basic model (Lewis, 1954; Ranis & Fei,1961 , 1986 , which grew out of trade theory, argued that the growing modern sector has helped to accumulate capital by attracting labour from traditional agriculture sector with the lure of positive wage structure. But this theory relegated when wage equalisation happened in both traditional agricultural and modern industries. As per dual labour market theory, Piore (1979) stated that migration occurred due to some temporary pull factor, where more demand occurs for structural works. As per world systems theory, Wallerstein (1974) stated about a historical structural approach, which argued about the role of disruptions along with dislocations due to upraise of colonialism in peripheral parts of the world, later it has extended through neoclassical governments towards multinationals. Mabogunje (1970) stated that the occurrence of migration is a dynamic spatial process. Zelinsky (1971) argued through the theory of hypothesis of mobility transition in migration, and stated that parts of wider economic process and social changes also occur inherently interlinking under the process of modernisation. This theory is part of functionalist theories stated about social change, and argues about functional interlink among different substances of development. As per Lee (1966) , who for the first time formulated migration within a push-pull framework of an individual level and has given emphasis on both supply and demand side of migrants. Again, Wolpert's stressthreshold model (1965) , stated about behavioural model of internal migration, is similar with cost-benefit analysis and assumed individuals as rational ex-ante rather than not necessarily so ex-post. As per behavioural model, where the value-expectancy model (Crawford, 1973) stated about a cognitive model and pointed out about migrant's conscious decision to migrate based on their values and expectations, which is totally personal and demands on household characteristics like education, societal norms and so forth. In a similar note, place-utility approach of Wolpert stated that migration totally depends on migrants' subjectivity. Again, other similar micro-based individual behavioural decision-making models (De Jong & Fawcett, 1981) and adjustment-to-stress approach (Ritchey, 1976) stated about the non-economic factors and societal influences for migration. Hoffmann-Novotny's approach of social systems (Hoffmann-Nowotny, 1981) stated that migration happens due to resolving structural tensions (power questions) and anominal tensions (prestige questions). Migrants hope to gain their status in the destination places but it is seen as the transformation of tension instead of reducing the problem. Again, in regards of family migrations, Morokva sic (1984) stated that women migration is influenced by several factors like economic motives, married, social constraints, low rights and lack of protection against domestic violence and so forth. Again, Sandell (1977) and Mincer (1978) argued migration as a holistic family decision for positive net gain. Bigsten (1988) also argued that migration as a household decision and calculative measure to accumulate wage gains of family members. In India, inter-state migration happened in the colonial period also, people used to do migration from native places to avoid exploitation from Zamindars system. Especially, farmers were seen to do so after the termination of land rights, and lost the land to the hands of landlords due to incapability to pay rent. But, even today, people do migrate for jobs/works, as they lost the source for livelihood at village due to lower level of agricultural production, distribution of land among members, landlessness and due to other socio-economic barriers in village. Social capital/caste/kinship bonds have inspired people to migrate to urban areas, and helped them to find out jobs (see Banerjee, 1986; Banerjee, 1991; Banerjee & Bucci, 1994; Mitra, 1994 and Sovani, 1964) . Some of the workers in the informal sector come to urban areas for a long-term while some others are seasonal, which has contributed to the economic development. As per census date of 2011, the esti- Dasgupta, 1993; Sen, 1985; Sen, 1987; UNDP, 1990) . Here, the government has taken Human Development Index (HDI), which is considered as a tool to measure the overall development of individuals and the idea was brought with the launch of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) from 2000 onward. The focus is to eradicate poverty and hunger with the achievement of universal primary education, gender equality, reducing infant and child mortality and so forth. Since the inception of independence of India, the government has stepped up its efforts to bridge the gap of regional disparities between developed and undeveloped region within the country. Such effort accelerated after 1991 with the help of structural reform of India's economy. Although eradicating regional disparities were the foremost objective through improvement of people's standard of living, but evidence has shown overall increasing gaps of regional disparities into different layers like inter-state, inter-district, rural-urban and so forth among states in India. Such an effort got more momentum with the introduction of Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-12); the objective was to achieve "faster and more inclusive growth," but has failed to achieve its goal to include every section of people in the process of growth. Regional disparity of Human Development Index is continuously seen for having gaps among regions (for example, Dholakia, 2003 Dholakia, , 2009 Ghosh, 2006 Ghosh, , 2008 It is proved from the below (Figure 2) , which has portrayed about higher gaps of regional disparities among different states of India with regards to the achievement of human development Index. The fact is that states with lower HDI score like Bihar, Jharkhand, UP, MP and so forth send more workers into states like Kerala with higher HDI score. Aggregate HDI score is above 3, over the few decades, for states like Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Haryana, as against the states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and MP with HDI rate less than 1 over the decades. Few studies (Ahluwalia, 1978; Ghosh, 2008 Ghosh, , 2009 Dholakia, 2003 Dholakia, , 2009 Ghosh, 2006 Ghosh, , 2008 Kurian, 2000; Tilak, 1987) have proved about the positive relation among human development index, increasing level of per capita income and higher expenditure. How does a worker get over exploit in the informal sectors? It is a well-known fact that higher economic growth rate cannot generate more employment, especially in the formal sectors of a developing country like India. But in India, the informal sector is doing well as (1983, 1993, (1999) (2000) (2004) (2005) (2009) (2010) (2011) (2012) of each state. hierarchies. But labours do not have strong political or union representation for their struggle against such higher informalistion. Workers cannot seek legal help due to the informal nature of their contracts. In the word of Mundle (1993) protective clothing and so forth. They could not achieve their goal to reach the real beneficiaries due to ineffective implementation and inaccuracy about the numbers of migrated workers, which was far higher than the estimated numbers by survey agencies. Current migrated workers' deplorable scenario has proved again the failure of the government policies for the upliftment and protection of human rights of workers. For the same cause, the government should need to revise their structure of welfare schemes along with other administrative and economic structure that could meet the aspiration of the workers in the age of coronavirus. Human rights for a worker should be needed to ensure them by providing basic fulfilment facilities like livelihoods. It is time to give more focus on the welfare approach, for that the government needs to provide them cash benefit along with job security. 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