Migration Theories

Rajan, Sujata; Bhagat, R. B.

doi:10.4324/9781003329572-3

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“…In previous work, I have argued that these sources are imprecise, dated and partial in scope , which limits the capacity of both the union and state governments to frame an informed, comprehensive migrant welfare policy. The intensity of the crisis, which prompted large-scale movement across the country by any means possible, thus, elicited a haphazard, incomplete response whose roots primarily lay in a lack of authoritative quantitative information (for a summary of key migrant data sources, see Rajan & Bhagat, 2021). Although several scholars have pointed out the characteristics of India's internal migrants and extracted incredible value from the data available (for a comprehensive compilation, see Rajan & Sumeetha, 2020), the sources are generally acknowledged to be limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpretive Methods as Policy Tools: The COVID-19 Migration Crisis in India and the Case for Policy Innovation

Srinivasan

2024

Urbanisation

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Attempts to quantify and measure migration in India have proved inadequate as far as policy change is concerned. The Census of India 2011 and the National Sample Surveys (particularly the 64th Round conducted between 2007 and 2008), while useful, are too infrequent and temporally limited to offer insights into real-time movements and seasonal migration. On the other hand, even when data is available, it can be difficult to use it to understand future patterns and reactions to policy changes, as the COVID-19 pandemic-induced crisis showed. It was not just the number of migrants residing in major cities that was unanticipated. The government and local authorities also failed to anticipate the impetus for migrant labourers to move back to their hometowns once their revenue streams were cut off. This suggests that the government had not considered the subjective, emotional concerns that migrants had about their well-being, and consequently failed to predict how they would react. This article argues that a paradigm shift towards a deeper, more wide-ranging use of qualitative-interpretive methods is in order if we are to obtain a fuller picture of migrant needs and actions. This qualitative data may then be used in tandem with surveys, enumerations and quantitative studies to predict both the quantum and the direction of migrant movements, actions and reactions. These methods are, therefore, not just supplementary, but critical policy tools in themselves, allowing policymakers to craft interventions and responses that account for the subjective considerations surrounding migrant mobility.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpretive Methods as Policy Tools: The COVID-19 Migration Crisis in India and the Case for Policy Innovation

Srinivasan

2024

Urbanisation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Migration Theories

Cited by 1 publication

References 0 publications

Interpretive Methods as Policy Tools: The COVID-19 Migration Crisis in India and the Case for Policy Innovation

Interpretive Methods as Policy Tools: The COVID-19 Migration Crisis in India and the Case for Policy Innovation

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