Precarity as a Coping Strategy of the Gonds: A Study of Insecure and Long-distance Seasonal Migration in Central India

Abstract

Studies on the informal economy in India show how precarious it is to be a migrant worker in an informal economy and how migrant workers are perpetually at risk of being exploited by market forces. They show how horizontal networks in India along the exploited class of labourers have never worked due to vertical social base (Pattenden, 2010). Therefore, they call for a stronger role of the state in organising and regulating the livelihoods in rural India. On the other hand, scholars studying changing labour, land and capital relations in rural India (Breman, 2010) have shown that there is a constant precarious condition of debt that such workers have to navigate and contest. The article shows how Gonds, a Scheduled Tribe population, who are facing forest evictions and are internally displaced, have resorted to long-distance migration in India. In the absence of state provisioning and formal recourse to law due to the inability to read and write, the Gonds are left to fend for themselves. Precariousness has become a normalised way of life to avoid starvation and indebtedness. However, this article also shows that circular and seasonal migration is valued and considered to be a successful strategy for most rural households. It also involves improving social networking skills and their knowledge of the market and the work. Above all, this strategy helps Gonds to be debt-free and independent as possible.