The Conversation Series: Crisis within a Crisis: Domestic Migration in India
It is estimated that 122 million jobs were lost during April 2020 alone. A large share of them were migrants. Besides loss of jobs and income, reasons for the exodus of the migrant labour from cities was lack of social protection and immediate support from the government or private sector during this time of crisis.
We will discuss the Hotspots of Migration and the geographical flow of domestic migrants in the country. In the current context, and as our speaker is an Economic Historian working on past pandemics such as plague and the Influenza of 1918, we will discuss its impact on the population in India and whether there are any similarities with the current pandemic. How did India respond to the plague and flu back then, and how are we doing it differently this time? Given the already existing economic slowdown, how can this 'crisis within a crisis' be best handled as the return of the migrants to the cities appears crucial? What lessons can we learn regarding the gearing up of the public health system in the country?
