Remittance arrangements within India and Covid-19: Kerala’s Migrant Construction workers from West Bengal

Abstract

This article highlights emerging patterns of domestic remittance arrangements among migrant construction workers from West Bengal in Kerala that have now become defunct because of COVID-19. Earlier field surveys and in-depth interviews showed how Bengali migrant construction workers, relying on networks of friendship and trust, were learning to remit through formal channels, in contrast with many micro-studies showing the dominant role of informal channels in domestic remittances. High wage rates in Kerala enabled such migrant construction workers to send significant amounts, used for productive activities besides household expenses. However, there were significant changes in arrangements, before COVID-19 enforced a dramatic suspension of remittances, raising important questions about future possibilities.

Imperatives of recognising the complexities: gendered impacts and responses to COVID-19 in India

“…Moreover, 10% of Indian rural households depend for over 30% of their annual household expenditure on domestic remittances from migrants (Tumbe, 2011 ), and many more depend on international remittances. These flows have been largely cut off under COVID-19 restrictions (Reja & Das, 2020 ). Although we know rather little about the impact of this loss on the dependent households, and especially the impact on women, we can expect women to bear the burden of making do with less.…”

Harsh realities of female migration during the COVID epoch

“…The reason stated by the researcher for migration is better employment opportunities in other states, which are much more economically developed. Similarly, Reja and Das (2021) performed a study on 300 returnee migrant workers from Kerala. They state that the reason for their migration is the better wage pay in Kerala than in their hometown.…”

“…Low incomes, minimal savings, and a lack of investments have rendered females in the informal sector susceptible to financial instability (ILO, 2020b; Schneebaum et al, 2018). Better earnings and easy job availability have attracted these individuals to seek work in regions other than their hometowns (Barman, 2020; Reja & Das, 2021). However, the pandemic eroded such sources of income for women and manifested severe challenges to their survival.…”

“…Millions of people from economically crippled backgrounds have no other choice other than to move to other developed cities in search of better employment opportunities (Banerjee, 2020). Challenges in earning a decent living in their home states drive them to migrate to urban areas where better wages and job prospects are available than in their hometowns (Reja & Das, 2021). It is a fact that the sectors facing the hardest hit by the pandemic are predominantly female dominated, especially those requiring an unskilled labor force (Bonnet et al, 2019; Holder et al, 2021; Kabeer et al, 2021).…”