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Seasonal Migration and Welfare/Illfare in Eastern India: A Social Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Ben Rogaly
  • Daniel Coppard
  • Abdur Safique
  • Kumar Rana
  • Amrita Sengupta
  • Jhuma Biswas

Abstract

Over 500,000 people are regularly engaged in seasonal migration for rice work into southern West Bengal. This paper analyses social processes at work in the interactions between employers and workers, and the welfare/illfare outcomes. Group identities based on religion and ethnicity are strengthened through the experience of migration and deployed by some migrants to make this form of employment less degrading. In West Bengal seasonal migration can involve practical welfare gains. Importantly, an informal wage floor has been put into place and managed by the peasant union allied to the largest party in the Left Front regime. However, the costs and risks of migration remain high.

Suggested Citation

  • Ben Rogaly & Daniel Coppard & Abdur Safique & Kumar Rana & Amrita Sengupta & Jhuma Biswas, 2002. "Seasonal Migration and Welfare/Illfare in Eastern India: A Social Analysis," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(5), pages 89-114.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:38:y:2002:i:5:p:89-114
    DOI: 10.1080/00220380412331322521
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Abu S. Shonchoy, 2015. "Seasonal Migration and Microcredit During Agricultural Lean Seasons: Evidence from Northwest Bangladesh," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 53(1), pages 1-26, March.
    2. Rajarshi Majumder & Farhat Naaz, 2016. "Workers on the move: Migrated labour in India in early 21st century," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 59(3), pages 419-440, September.
    3. Nicholas Awuse & Patrick Tandoh-Offin, 2014. "Empirical Analysis of Internal Migration Influence on Development in Ghana From 1990 to 2012," Journal of Social Science Studies, Macrothink Institute, vol. 1(2), pages 1-12, July.
    4. Katy Gardner, 2009. "Lives in Motion," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 4(2), pages 229-251, July.
    5. Leela Visaria & Harish Joshi, 2021. "Seasonal sugarcane harvesters of Gujarat: trapped in a cycle of poverty," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 23(1), pages 113-130, June.
    6. Kijima, Yoko, 2006. "Caste and Tribe Inequality: Evidence from India, 1983-1999," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(2), pages 369-404, January.
    7. Guirguissou Maboudou Alidou & Anke Niehof, 2020. "Responses of Rural Households to the Cotton Crisis in Benin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-16, May.
    8. Mazzucato, Valentina & Cebotari, Victor & Veale, Angela & White, Allen & Grassi, Marzia & Vivet, Jeanne, 2015. "International parental migration and the psychological well-being of children in Ghana, Nigeria, and Angola," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 215-224.
    9. Ravi Srivastava & Rajib Sutradhar, 2016. "Labour Migration to the Construction Sector in India and its Impact on Rural Poverty," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 10(1), pages 27-48, April.
    10. Priya Deshingkar & Shaheen Akter, 2009. "Migration and Human Development in India," Human Development Research Papers (2009 to present) HDRP-2009-13, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), revised Apr 2009.
    11. Ahsan, Quamrul, 2005. "Micro-credit, risk coping and the incidence of rural-to-urban migration," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Kiel 2005 2, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    12. Ben Rogaly, 2003. "Who goes? Who stays back? Seasonal migration and staying put among rural manual workers in Eastern India," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(5), pages 623-632.
    13. Peter Davis, 2007. "Discussions Among the Poor: Exploring Poverty Dynamics With Focus Groups in Bangladesh," Working Papers id:1106, eSocialSciences.
    14. Jajati Keshari Parida, 2016. "MGNREGS, distress migration and livelihood conditions: a study in Odisha," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 18(1), pages 17-39, October.
    15. Shonchoy, Abu S., 2011. "Seasonal migration and micro-credit in the lean period : evidence from northwest Bangladesh," IDE Discussion Papers 294, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    16. Emily Rains, 2018. "Urbanization and India’s Slum Continuum: Evidence on the Range of Policy Needs and Scope of Mobility," Working Papers id:12633, eSocialSciences.
    17. Muhammet Ali Köroğlu, 2023. "Sociocultural problems of seasonal migrant agricultural workers in Manisa region (Turkey): a qualitative study," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.

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