An international webinar on the topic “MIGRANTS AND DISPLACED PERSONS AMID COVID-19: ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND POLICY OPTION” was organized by the Centre for Indian Diaspora Studies (CIDS), School of International Relations and Politics, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala in collaboration with Department of Social Sciences, FLAME University, Pune, Maharashtra and Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism [GRFDT], New Delhi from 15th October 2020 to 17th October 2020. The second session on Day 1 of the webinar was focused on internal migration. The session was moderated by Dr. Rakesh Ranjan, TISS Patna, and coordinated by Miss Athitha Sunil.
Pandemic and Mobility
The first presentation began with Miss Anila KT, Assistant Professor, ITSR, University of Calicut, Kerala, on the topic of “COVID-19 travel bans and dilemmas of migrant workers in India”. Starting with the facts of internal migration, Anila focused on the issue of mobility of migrant workers. “There were many instances of migrant workers traveling home, where 198 of them died due to fatigue. The scene was not much different from the case of Shramik trains in which the death too was about 97”, said Miss Anila. Even after resuming production activities, the norm of social distancing cannot be followed in production places. Moreover, the pandemic has made the migrant workers who are the backbone of the economy, visible to the public, she concluded.
The next paper was presented by Miss Annesha Mech, Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Dakha Devi Rasiwasia College, Assam, titled “Effects of COVID-19 on demand of public transport services”. Taking the scenario of Assam, Annesha centered around the long-term effects of the pandemic on the public transport system. Her study pointed out the shift in the mode of transportation to bicycles and the plight of private vehicle owners in taking up other jobs to sustain their livelihoods. She also found that better educated people are much more health conscious and are concerned about the virus spreading if they use public transport. “People irrespective of their income prefer to travel in private vehicles, while lower-income people opt for two-wheelers”, she concluded.
Addressing Physical and Psycho-Social Needs
Miss Anuja Rajam Cherian, LLM student, Department of Law, Central University of Kerala, started her presentation entitled “The need for conductive housing and workplace conditions for migrant workers in Kerala” with the social and cultural background of migrant workers. With no resting place at their worksites while living in shared rooms ,migrant workers have high chances of infection. She highlighted the need for initiatives from private companies to ensure basic minimum facilities to them. She concluded with an emphasis on the need for more inter-state migrant worker facilitation centers such as the Shramik Bandhu Labour Department at Trivandrum and Perumbavoor in the state of Kerala, India.
Miss Bhavani CH, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Megha Women’s Degree and PG College, Hyderabad, spoke on the topic of “Psycho-social traumatic conditions of migrant workers amid COVID-19 pandemic”. According to her, migrant workers as the backbone of many economies, bear their own priorities of earning money. Though physically separated from their families, the extra money that they earn gives them a sense of happiness. Migrant workers are deprived of psychological bonding, and in the background of the pandemic, social distancing in their living quarters is a myth. “More than 3000 migrant workers were left with no rations and they were treated as potential carriers of the virus”, said Miss Bhavani.
Gender Division
Miss Chitra Saini, a Research Scholar from Jawaharlal Nehru University, in her paper entitled “Pandemic and gender division of differences in implications in India” pointed out that the lockdown resulted in a steep increase in gender-based violence and sexual harassment cases against children. “The complete lockdown disrupted the economic progress of the world to the level of 1930’s great depression and it has pushed several millions of people into poverty and joblessness”, said Miss Chitra Saini. Women were affected largely since the informal sector had shut down during the pandemic. Dependent women were left with little or no savings, which resulted in malnutrition among them. She concluded that 11 million girls are about to leave school and it will lead to child marriage and teen pregnancy.
On the Frontlineswith Health Professionals
The final paper on the conference was presented by Mr. M.M Muhammed Jabir, Assistant Professor at Madras School of Social Work at Chennai, on the topic “ Women migrant health workers in India amid COVID-19: challenges and policy options”. Starting with a brief account of the health sector, Mr. Jabir pointed out that India faces an acute shortage of health care professionals, particularly nursing and paramedical staff. Furthermore, he brought out the regional disparity in the health sector workforce. While discussing the problems of frontline health workers, he brought to light a clear violation of rules and guidelines by the Indian Nursing Council [INC]. According to Jabir, some of the major issues that they confront are the lack of social protection schemes, discriminatory behavior from hospital administration, non-payment of salary, facing social stigmas, sexual and gender-based violence, lack of safe and hygienic quarantine facilities, etc. Focusing on the mental health of health workers during the pandemic, he said that many of them experienced severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, and distrust. Recommendations that he put forward included meeting the gaps by increasing the employment of health workers, increased government spending and increased representation of women health workers.
Mr. Unnikrishnan. V is pursuing a Master’s in Economics. He has a deep-rooted interest in Migration, Development, and Health issues. Twitter ID- @unnikrishnan_21