Republic of India Livelihoods in intermediate towns

2.6: Beyond Agriculture: Diversification and Migration: The growth of the non-farm economy has corollaries for social transformations at the level of the individual, the household and the community. Even those who report or remain primarily employed in agriculture tend to diversify through becoming ‘pluri-active’, where members of a household are engaged in different kinds of occupations (Jodhka 2014: 5). Such diversification is undertaken due to a combination of factors including seasonality in agricultural activities, reduction of risks and imperfect labour markets among others (Wiggins and Hazell 2011). According to Sharma and Bhaduri (2009) there is a ‘tipping point’ of the transition in its agriculture-dependent population that India is witnessing as a large proportion of the youth in the countryside are trying to severe their links from farming, which is evident even in villages farther removed from towns.

However, moving out of agriculture is constrained by the nature of resources one possesses – economic, social and cultural. While education, particularly a college degree, ‘drastically increases the chances of long term migration’ (Rodgers et. al. 2013: 97), it may not always be the case. The number of desirable jobs in the towns is limited and the educated rural young men are often confronted with the prospect of being “all dressed up with nowhere to go” (Deuchar 2014) or just engage in ‘time-pass’ (Jeffery 2010). Since the 1980s economic change has typically failed to accelerate the generation of white-collar jobs within the manufacturing and services sectors, which has created a crisis of educated unemployment.

Migration towards the lower level of income and employment is relatively easier and that is an important mode of diversifying the source of income for rural households. Many of those who are not able to find employment locally, or find their farms unviable, tend to go out to work, often to far off places, rural and urban. Migration to an urban centre for work almost always implies moving out of the agricultural economy. Even when a labourer migrates to rural Punjab for agricultural work, he rarely works on land as tenant farmer. Further, once used to migration, he easily moves between other forms of employment, in the village and in town, at the site of destination.
Out-migration also has the potential for inducing other forms of non-farm employment at the site of origin. Remittances induce a new form of consumer behavior, creating a demand for consumer goods by migrant households, which could result in the growth of markets. Similarly, the surplus income generated from working outside is often invested in construction and renovation of houses, generating a further demand for non-farm activities.
According to Rodgers et. al. (2013), the NSSO data reveals that the rate of out-migration from Bihar is the highest among major states in the country, at 31 per 1000 population. According to the IHD Bihar Survey 2009-10, on an average 18 per cent of the total population from Bihar migrates out. The levels of outmigration are higher for the backward districts of North Bihar such as Madhubani, Purnia and Araria than the better off districts of South Bihar like Rohtas and Gaya. An overwhelming majority (73 per cent) of these migrant workers are in the age group of 15-35 years. Deshkingar et. al. (2006) also report that ‘young people are now consciously opting to migrate to explore other areas and in the case of lower castes to break away from caste oppression in the village’. Migration is hence also a strategic decision in case of the young and the vulnerable groups who chose to move out of the rural agricultural economy. Remittances that come back to the family left-behind generate its own dynamics of development (Sharma 2005).
Another study by Dayal and Karan (2004 as cited by Deshingkar et. al. 2006) covering 36 villages across six districts (Nalanda, Rohtas, Gopalganj, Gaya, Madhubani and Purnia) in the north and central Bihar demonstrates that approximately 12 per cent of males in the sample households were seasonal migrants and 9 per cent permanent migrants. They also found the intensity of migration to be the greatest in Madhubani district where 25 per cent of the sample households reported at least one member of their family having out-migrated.
While we have a good amount of literature on the broad trends emerging in the non-farm rural economy and employment, mostly based on large data sets of surveys carried out by economists, we know very little about the qualitative aspects of the economic changes taking place in rural economy of different regions and sub-regions of India.

3. The Fieldwork: Imagining the ‘rural’ is more than often synonymous with imagining what is ‘agricultural’. Evoking ‘rural’ in Bihar is further attached with attributes of poverty, underdevelopment and backwardness given the performance of Bihar along economic and social indices. The ubiquitous resonance of rural Bihar is therefore framed by a classic imagination of not just a village but a backward village. Moving through the landscape of ‘rural’ Bihar, however, conveyed to us a complex, and often contradictory social and spatial reality.
If one were to travel from Patna towards Madhubani, a journey of around 200 kilometers by road, one can obtain a glimpse of everyday life in urban centers and of the countryside sprawled in between them. State operated and private buses as well as private taxis ply with a convenient frequency between Patna and Madhubani. Madhubani is also well connected with urban centers like Darbangha, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Hajipur among others both by road and by rail. The taxi ride from Patna to Madhubani takes an average of 4 to 5 hours. Situated in the northeast of Bihar, Madhubani is also connected by rail link to the national capital and some other major cities of the country. The Census Town of Satghara also has a rail link and a train station (Rajnagar). Madhubani is widely known for its folk paintings, named after the region. Located close to the Nepal border, the town is also popularly viewed as capital of the Mithila cultural region.
On the road stretch between Patna and Madhubani, the journey moves from one cluster of markets and commercial activities to another, with contiguous settlements at every ten to twelve kilometers. Sown agricultural land flanks the road in between these commercial centers. A glimpse on the move reveals brightly coloured and neon lit signboards for mobile shops, coaching and tuition centers, grocery retail outlets accompanied by the hustle of cycle rickshaws, fruit and vegetable vendors, auto-rickshaws and motorcycles. As one encounters these recurring sights, it soon becomes difficult to distinguish where the ‘urban’ ends and ‘rural’ begins.
The arrival into Madhubani town is marked by heavy and unorganized automobile traffic – buses, taxis, auto-rickshaws and motorcycles that crisscross the market centre. Centered around the Madhubani railway station, movement of people and vehicles radiates in all directions. Madhubani town houses the district headquarters for the district of Madhubani and hence invites people from surrounding villages and settlements for all public errands – a visit to the hospital, to the RTO, students going to study in the colleges.