Through the Lens of Gender: Makeover of ‘ Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, Labour Migration and Covid-19 Pandemic
| Date | 01 September 2021 |
| Author | Priyanka Tripathi,Chhandita Das |
| Published date | 01 September 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/00195561211035377 |
| Subject Matter | Notes |
Through the Lens of
Gender: Makeover of
‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’,
Labour Migration and
Covid-19 Pandemic
Chhandita Das1 and Priyanka Tripathi1
Introduction
The present note critically analyses and interprets the provisions and measures
undertaken specifically for migrant workers as an immediate safeguard of Covid-
19 under the policy of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan (ABA) through the lens of
gender. While the policy is aimed to mobilise economy, strengthen infrastructure
and capacity building, it failed in being inclusive towards the interest of migrant
women workers. It is argued here that the government’s initiatives towards
migrant workers under the trench of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ may be a welcoming
step towards quick relief package, but it has nearly missed the narrative of gender
and subsequently, the ethical focus of self-reliance, that is, ‘self’ of women
workers.
At the beginning of 2020, when Covid-19 hit the Indian scene, it not only
made human beings lose their lives but also had a devastating impact on their
economic stability. According to data available till 4 August 2021, India had
410,353 active cases of Covid-19 with 425,757 cases of mortality (Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare, 2020). Amidst the most vulnerable sections that got
affected by the implementation of a nationwide lockdown from 24 March 2020
with strict overnight restrictions on mass mobilisation and transportation were
migrant workers of informal sectors. They were jobless, homeless and bereft of
food. Over the course of time, India has seen numerous lockdowns. The narra-
tive of migration and migrants frequently became the topic of heated discussions
referring to the misery of the destitutes and poor as an episode of ‘migrant exodus’
Note
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
67(3) 484–491, 2021
© 2021 IIPA
Reprints and permissions:
in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india
DOI: 10.1177/00195561211035377
journals.sagepub.com/home/ipa
1 Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Patna, India.
Corresponding author:
Priyanka Tripathi, Associate Professor of English, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, Bihar 801103, India.
E-mail: priyankatripathi@iitp.ac.in
To continue reading
Request your trial