Q. Do you think that forced displacement of labourers has caused their deprivation and resultant inequalities during the recent past years? Elaborate.

Forced displacement of labourers in India encompasses both crisis-induced shocks (like COVID-19 reverse migration) and Development-Induced Displacement (DID). This dual phenomenon severely deepens deprivation and exacerbates structural socio-economic inequalities.

Mechanisms of Deprivation and Inequalities

• Capitalist Development and Dispossession: A.R. Desai argues that India’s capitalist path of development structurally marginalizes the rural poor. Walter Fernandes highlights that Adivasis constitute over 40% of all displaced persons despite being just 8.6% of the population, showcasing acute structural inequality.
• Socio-Cultural Alienation: Virginius Xaxa emphasizes that DID severs Adivasis from their land (Jal, Jungle, Zameen), destroying their traditional economies and cultural identities.
• Capability Deprivation: Crisis-induced displacement transforms workers into “footloose labour” (Jan Breman), trapped in a vulnerable precariat class (Guy Standing). Through Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach, this represents profound capability deprivation—the loss of health, education, and basic social security, not just wages.

Nuances and Internal Debates

Escape vs. Distress: While Utsa Patnaik frames forced rural out-migration as a squeeze on the peasantry caused by agrarian distress, Dipankar Gupta offers a counter-narrative. For Dalits, forced displacement from villages is sometimes an attempt to escape traditional caste hierarchies, although they often encounter new class-based exploitation in urban slums.

Citizenship Deficit and State Response: The pandemic exodus exposed the failure of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979. Millions survive in what Partha Chatterjee terms “political society”—lacking substantive citizenship rights. Recent policies like the e-Shram Portal and One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) attempt to rectify this by formalizing the informal workforce and ensuring welfare portability.

Conclusion

Forced displacement is not merely a temporary economic shock but an institutionalized process of social exclusion. Addressing resultant inequalities requires a rights-based development framework, ensuring marginalized labourers transition from precarious subjects into empowered, rights-bearing citizens.