In this guide
Bhikhari Thakur's play Bidesia, written more than a century ago, tells of a young man who leaves his village for Calcutta to earn a living, and the wife he leaves behind. Audiences in Bhojpur still weep at it — because the story has never stopped being true. Migration is one of the defining features of Bihar's economy and society.
A long history
| Period | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Nineteenth century | Indentured labour to Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname and South Africa — many from the Bhojpuri region; also to the tea gardens of Assam and the jute mills of Calcutta |
| Twentieth century | Calcutta, Assam, the coal mines of Jharkhand, and later Punjab and Delhi |
| After 1990 | Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Mumbai, Gujarat (Surat), Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the Gulf |
Today, leaders of Bhojpuri-speaking origin hold high office in countries like Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago — a legacy of indentured migration.
Scale and patterns
- Census data and the Economic Survey of India (2016–17), which used railway travel data, identified Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as the largest sources of inter-state labour migration.
- Migration is:
- long-term (years away, with visits home);
- seasonal/circular (for example, for the paddy and wheat harvests in Punjab and Haryana, or construction seasons);
- short-distance (to Patna and nearby towns).
- Migrants work in construction, manufacturing, transport, domestic work, security, agriculture and small trade — mostly in the informal sector.
- Students also migrate — for higher education and coaching in Delhi, Kota and elsewhere.
Causes
| Push factors (Bihar) | Pull factors (destinations) |
|---|---|
| Small, fragmented landholdings | Jobs in construction, industry and services |
| Floods and crop losses | Higher wages |
| Limited industry and formal jobs | Established networks of relatives and co-villagers |
| Low wages in agriculture | Education and skill opportunities |
| Caste and social constraints | Anonymity and social mobility |
| Population pressure |
Effects
On households and villages
| Positive | Negative |
|---|---|
| Remittances raise household income, fund education, health, housing | Family separation; stress on women, children and the elderly |
| Reduced pressure on land | Loss of working-age men in villages |
| New skills and ideas brought back | Health risks for migrants (unsafe work, poor housing) |
| Social mobility for some castes | Vulnerability to exploitation and discrimination at destinations |
On women
- Feminisation of agriculture — women take on more farm work and decision-making.
- Women manage households and finances alone, which can bring both burden and agency.
On Bihar's economy
- Remittances form a significant part of rural incomes and consumption.
- They support construction and small businesses in villages.
- But migration also reflects the lack of local jobs — and the state loses young, productive workers.
COVID-19 and the return migration
- During the 2020 lockdown, lakhs of migrants returned to Bihar — many on foot or by bicycle in the early weeks, before special trains were arranged.
- The crisis exposed their vulnerability: no savings, no social security, no records.
- Bihar ran quarantine centres, conducted skill mapping of returnees and expanded MGNREGA work.
- Many migrants later returned to their destinations when economies reopened.
Policy responses
| Measure | Purpose |
|---|---|
| e-Shram portal (Union, 2021) | National database of unorganised workers for social security |
| One Nation, One Ration Card | Migrants can access PDS rations anywhere |
| Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979 (now subsumed in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020) | Registration and protection of inter-state migrants |
| Skill development | Kushal Yuva Program and other state programmes |
| Local job creation | Industrial policy, agro-processing, MSMEs |
| Help desks | Support for Bihari workers in destination states |
Practice
Prelims-style:
- To which countries did indentured labourers from the Bhojpuri region go?
- Which Economic Survey used railway data to estimate inter-state migration?
- What is the e-Shram portal?
- Which Bhojpuri play depicts migration?
Mains-style:
- "Migration from Bihar is both a survival strategy and a development failure." Discuss.
- Examine the impact of male out-migration on women in rural Bihar.
A note on dates and numbers. Exam patterns, vacancies and schedules change from year to year. Always confirm the current details in the latest notification on the Bihar Public Service Commission website .
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