Case Study - The role of seasonal labour migration in household resources: a case study in Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

In India, the exodus of labour from the rural areas is an important issue that is steadily gaining more significance because of the complexity of the labour migration process. Apparently, the growing part of such migration is seasonal and cyclical or repetitive in nature. Seasonal or circular migration is different in terms of its nature and characteristics from other types of migration. It could be distress-driven or development driven in nature. In this context, it examines the role of seasonal labour migration in household resources. In order to fulfill these objectives, the study collected data from a primary level survey conducted in 2006 from Akkaram village in Achampet Mandal of Mahabubnagar District of Andhra Pradesh, India. It enumerated all the households in the village. The study reveals that migration could not influence migrant households’ asset structures, which are by and large stagnant in the study village. It also infers that if the migrant’s household resources are weak or scarce then the effect of income or earning from migration will not be effective to raise their resource holding as a result resource holding does not get much altered when the nature of migration is seasonal. It also showed that migrant’s income largely goes into daily consumption and repayment of debts.