Covid 19 and Migration: A critical study on the challenges, policy perspectives -policies, and an accessibility v. exercisability of voting rights as a possible way out for the inter-state informal mi
Author Name
Sweta Kumari
Keywords
COVID-19, Migration, Policies
Abstract
Extreme vulnerabilities of migrants, especially of the casual migrants around the globe have been exposed during Covid-19. The challenges faced by interstate short term migrants across India working in informal sector, based in Bangalore, would be the initial focus of my paper. Since covid 19 was an unforeseen catastrophic global event, like many other countries, India too was not prepared to prevent the worsening conditions of resourceless migrants of its country. Nonetheless, in case of India, it was not just the lack of emergency-response rather there is a shortcoming in existing socio-economic welfare policies for such migrants, including a lack of pro-active governance and indifferent attitude towards this section of society from all stakeholders, possibly. I contest that the challenges migrants faced during these covid years are not the immediate outcomes of the covid lockdown, rather it has been a prolonged denial to their ever-existing vulnerable situation by the State. It is in fact, pertinent to deepen our study further into the existing policies supporting such migrants. Therefore, in the above-mentioned context, second part of my paper would deal with the critical analysis of the policy perspectives-policies towards informal migrants under the two decades of 20’s. Lastly, as, I argue, the denial of basic dignified lifestyle of these migrants have persisted due to their lack of exercisability of voting rights, and this arrests their opportunity to improve their condition. Being able to exercise political rights is like the feeling of being empowered and having a strong possibility of being heard. Thus, I postulate that accessibility of political rights is just not enough, having been able to exercise it, would change the course of contemporary migrants, since political right is a powerful tool to be able to seek opportunities for their better prospects.
Conference
4th International E-Conference “Migration, Governance, and Covid-19: Perspectives, Policies, Opportunities, and Challenges”