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Reverse Migration of Labourers amidst COVID-19
Migrant workers returning to native places in COVID-19 times were the host for urban to rural transmission of cases as the migrant-receiving states witnessed over five times increase in the number of districts having a more significant concentration of COVID-19 cases from 1 May to 31 May 2020. There is an urgent need for the skill mapping of the migrant workforce and creating social security schemes to protect them under any socio-economic or health emergency.
The highly contagious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has overnight created a nightmare worldwide, leading to lockdowns in many countries, which have victimised the informal sector migrant labourers in most of the developing countries like India. With increasing reverse migration of the workers, there was a common perception among various state governments that the migrant labourers are carrying COVID-19 from high contagion zones in metropolitan or million-plus cities to low-risk rural areas in the process of reverse migration amidst COVID-19. Given the inherent heterogeneity in employment opportunities and wage differentials in rural and urban areas, metropolitan cities and larger urban agglomerations have historically emerged as the hub for job opportunities for daily earners.
Impact on the Indian Economy
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