India's Response to COVID-19 and Migration Challenges

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With the unexpected onset of COVID-19 while the world was trying to safeguard and address the socio-economic impact of the pandemic, India was struggling with another unfortunate issue of reverse migration. In India, ninety per cent of the workers are employed in the unorganized sector. The outbreak of COVID-19 forced migrant workers to shift from urban areas to their native places. With the declaration of the lockdown, millions of these workers were left unemployed and with no savings. This article is an attempt to analyze the reverse migration issue that occurred because of COVID crisis and its impact on migrant laborers that also led to the loss of livelihood of these migrants. The article also emphasizes India’s response to COVID-19, how did India respond to the situation prior to lockdown, and how did Central and State Government respond to challenges faced by the migrant laborers.