‘Don’t go east, my dear king…’This folk song, which has been passed down for generations, still reflects the reality of many villages. BiharWhere men are forced to leave in search of greener pastures.Migration has long been woven into the social and cultural landscape of Bihar. But long-standing gaps in local employment coupled with rising aspirations have increased the pace of migration from villages in recent years.And what is left behind? A plot of land, a half-built brick house and, most importantly, women who have been left to hold everything together.
migration and bihar
Bihar has long served as the great labor reservoir of the country.In the early 19th century, widespread poverty and underdevelopment led the region’s youth to migrate. After independence, this trend continued, with large-scale migration to the more developed states of India.Even today, Biharis can be found in a variety of roles across the country: from running small businesses like tea shops in Jammu and Kashmir, working in factories in Gujarat and Maharashtra and contributing to agriculture in Punjab and Haryana, to taking up skilled, professional and entrepreneurial roles in fast-growing cities.
The decline of traditional industries including sugar, jute, rice, flour, pulses, oil and paper mills along with slow expansion of local employment opportunities has made employment generation a major challenge in Bihar.The migration is visible at almost every railway station in the state, where trains bound for other parts of India are filled with youth leaving for a mix of aspiration and economic necessity.An estimated three crore Biharis now work outside the state. Roughly one in four adults and two in three households have a family member living remotely.Migration is no longer limited to the poor. It is beyond caste, class and community. Yet it is mostly men, and women constitute barely five percent of the migrants.
rural setting
Men in Bihar often leave their villages with the aspiration to provide a better standard of living for their families. However, remittances are not the only outcome. The migration of men also worsens the demography of villages and changes family dynamics.Just 36 km from Patna, Baikatpur village offers a glimpse of the human cost of Bihar’s migration story.Ashok Kumar Dutta, a resident of the village, describes the situation as “devastating”.Speaking to The Times of India, he said that men from almost every household have migrated to big cities in search of work. While migration has marginally improved the economic condition of some families, it has also left behind villages where women, children and the elderly largely live.“When people migrate, they do not take their entire families with them. Those who migrate rarely earn as much as they expected. As a result, instead of improving, the economic condition of the family often worsens,” Dutta told TOI.
She added, “Left women and even the elderly and children are forced to do menial jobs to make ends meet. Women from the poorest households have little choice but to work in the fields, transplant paddy and do daily wages.”Subhash Kumar, founder of Samadhan Kendra, an NGO that works with women self-help groups in Vaishali district, presents a similar picture.He says large-scale migration has decimated the village economy and created a severe labor shortage. Even families planning to build homes often have difficulty finding enough workers.“If you look at the villages today, it is natural that there are less young people there. There is no source of income here.” When there are no jobs locally, youth have no option but to leave,” Subhash Kumar told The Times of India.“Why do they migrate? Because they believe they can earn better money elsewhere. Their calculations may not always work, but they still see more opportunities outside Bihar than at home,” he said.
role of women
It is encouraging when women in any society become economically and socially independent. However, in Bihar this change has often come by necessity rather than choice. Many women have had to take on additional responsibilities beyond the home, including roles they were less likely to previously perform.Subhash Kumar says a family cannot survive on the meager money sent by migrants alone. To generate additional income, women often raise livestock or work as daily wages to support the household.“Today, it is not possible for the entire family to survive on the husband’s earnings alone. Suppose the husband works outside the state and sends home Rs 5,000 or Rs 10,000 every month. A family cannot survive on that money alone. If there is a wedding in a large family, a social function, a medical emergency or an unexpected expense, they need extra,” said Subhash Kumar.
“Now imagine if the husband falls ill or is unable to send money for two-three months. How will the house run? In such a situation, women work as daily wage labourers.” They work in the fields or wherever they can find work locally. If no work is available then they rear cows, buffaloes or goats. “Whatever little income one earns from livestock helps in running the household,” he said.Nabaneepa Bhattacharjee, professor of sociology at Sri Venkateswara College, says seasonal migration, which is prevalent in Bihar, often creates a temporary gender imbalance in villages, with women outnumbering men for most of the year.Professor Bhattacharjee told The Times of India, “Migration has pushed women into roles that they did not traditionally occupy. They now manage agriculture, run households, look after children and the elderly and handle the finances sent back in the form of remittances. You can call it the feminization of agriculture.”“When men are away, women have to manage everything. However, the power to take important decisions still largely rests with men,” she said.
Professor Bhattacharjee said that despite the increasing role of women in villages, their workload and separation from husband and wife have increased emotional stress.“Although seasonal migration temporarily skews the village population toward women and expands their roles, it does not automatically translate into greater social status or rights,” she said.
critical economics
The Government of Bihar has launched several welfare schemes to make women economically independent in rural areas and improve the long-term viability of women-led enterprises. Schemes like Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana provide a grant of Rs 10,000 to domestic women, with additional assistance of up to Rs 2 lakh linked to the progress of their enterprises.Jeevika is another poverty-alleviation program that aims to empower rural women socially and economically by organizing them into self-help groups. These groups help women save money, learn new skills, start small businesses, and become part of the formal economy.
Jeevika has engaged more than 1.4 crore women in self-help groups across Bihar, one of the largest women’s groups in the world.Initiatives such as self-help groups and community-based livelihood programs like Jeevika have expanded women’s economic participation by promoting collective entrepreneurship and creating local livelihood opportunities. But for many families, migration still determines whether these efforts will succeed.However, according to Subhash Kumar, these schemes operate even in a difficult rural economy. She says direct financial assistance can help women start work, but low purchasing power in villages and dependence on remittances continue to hinder the survival of small enterprises.“Most women here take loans, but that loan also depends on the men in the family. Suppose the husband has gone out for work. As long as he keeps sending money home, the loan installments are repaid on time. But if, for some reason, the money stops coming for two months, four months or six months, how can the family avoid default?” he told The Times of India.This is the paradox of migration in Bihar. It provides a lifeline to families, but also leaves women burdened with homes, farms, debts, and decisions that are not always theirs to make.Until local work becomes stable enough to keep men close to home, Bihar’s villages will continue to run on two engines: remittances, and women’s unpaid, underpaid and often invisible labour.
