Reverse migration: Challenges and opportunities for the states of India

Reverse Migration has been a critical problem during the period of Covid19 pandemic witnessed mainly by the states of UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Rajasthan. Besides inter-state and intra-states, the migration has also been witnessed in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. It has been estimated that 12 crore workers have become unemployed and the rate of unemployment has reached 27.1percent during the months of April and May 2020. This paper has been divided into six sections besides introduction. Section two presents the reasons for migration of labourers to other states and then reverse Migration to their native states. Section three discusses the types of migration, which are broadly categorised in three categories. Section four brings forth the government efforts to meet this challenge both at the centre and state level divided into three, namely immediate, short term and long term measures. Section five puts forward suggestions which are required to be incorporated in the policies that have been developed by government to fight this problem. The understanding of the opportunities that have emerged with the coming of labourers has also been discussed, considering that the labourers are not a burden but an asset to the states in which they are coming back. Section six is the conclusion.