Examining the Effects of Reverse Migration on Rural Women

Migration not only affects the physical count of the population of an area but also the composition and distribution across the area. Migration can be responsible for changing the economic and socio-cultural setting of the population of a place. It is a widely accepted view that the COVID pandemic had been responsible for one of the most recent changes in the population dynamics of the world. In India the exodus of migrant labour from cities to villages, reverse migration had successfully challenged and changed the previous status quo of population distribution. Reverse migration has not only led to changes in numbers of males and females within the villages of India. But there are deep seated economic and socio- cultural implications of the change in population dynamics. Most studies dealing with reverse migration, pandemic and population dynamics remain confined to the implications and difficulties faced by the migrant labour themselves. Taking all this into consideration this paper would try to analyse the implications of the reverse migration on the women who did not migrate to the cities, instead stayed back. It would explore the connections between reverse migration of especially males, its economic, socio-cultural effects on rural women and their vulnerabilities who in turn form a crucial part of rural development. This study would primarily use literature review to elucidate its points.