Lived Experiences of Interstate Migrant Workers during COVID-19 Lockdown: An Oral History in West Bengal

Abstract

Migration serves as a livelihood strategy for many people. The imposition of a nationwide lockdown in India in March 2020 (PIB, 2020) increased the rate of reverse migration, which deepened socio-economic inequalities among the most vulnerable population, such as the migrant workers in underdeveloped areas of Jangal Mahal in the state of West Bengal, India. In this regard, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) attempt to reduce inequalities within and among countries (Goal 10) and ensure that no one is left behind (UN, 2020). The paper's main objective is to explore the ways the COVID-19 lockdown has deepened the existing livelihood insecurities based on the experiences of interstate migrant workers in Jangal Mahal. Oral history was used as a qualitative research strategy to collect migrant workers' lived experiences within the context of the COVID-19 lockdown. Using the snowball sampling technique, eight interstate migrant workers from the Bankura and Purulia districts of West Bengal were selected for the study. Semi-structured interview sessions were recorded ethically with their consent during June and July 2022. Their first-person narratives of migrant workers suggest that during the lockdown, most were compelled to face a lack of transportation, harassment by the police, discrimination, loss of savings, lack of food, lack of safe drinking water, lack of shelter, loss of income, and poor sanitation facilities in the quarantine centres.