International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 4/Issue 5/May 2021

Food Security and Migration during Covid-19 New

Evidences from Rural India Case Study
Fatma Mabrouk*1 & Puja Pawar2
Department of Economics-College of Business Administration
Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh- Saudi Arabia
Email Id: mabrouk.fatm@gmail.com1 & drpujapawar@gmail.com2

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4812843

Abstract

Migration as a growing phenomenon is affecting global economic, demographic, political, and social policies. The current
universal tendencies reveal differents travesties that faced world populations, who migrate due to lack of food security, crises,
and conflict. Is it possible that migration plays an important role in the risk-reduction strategy for households in developing
countries? While migration has been a source of economic and cultural benefits, it is vital to explore its impacts on our societies,
more particularly during the Covid-19 crisis. In this paper, we tried to find answers to these questions by examining the
relationship between food security, migration, and other related factors during Covid-19 in India. Our results show that Gender,
Household Size, Agriculture Production, Saving, Migration, and Regions are statistically significant. An additional unit in
agriculture production makes 17% more likely household food secure. All the same, one additional member leaving the
household for work is associated with 2% less likely to be food securely. Enhancing agricultural production and controlling rural
migration are crucial to ensuring long-term food security.

Keywords: Regional Migration, Food Security, Qualitative Models, India, Covid-19

Introduction
Migration, as a rapidly growing fact, is a decisive element in shaping worldwide economic, demographic, political, and social
policies. Migration and economic development are two processes interdependent in a globalized world. Indeed, for centuries,
migratory dynamics have influenced the development of states, societies, economies, institutions, the productive system, and the
development process (Mabrouk, 2012) [9]. Moreover, migration has been a source of economic and social benefits, the recent global
trends are revealing different problems faced by populations, the main incentives are to escape suffering condition caused by
poverty, food insecurity, conflicts, lack of employment opportunities, scarcity, and competition for land and water resources.
Demographic forces, globalization, and climate change are likely to rise migration pressures both within and across countries and
from rural zone to another or from rural to urban zones (FAO, 2018) [8]. The major menaces of food security are at the national
level, according to the United Nations World Food Program (2020) 3, an additional 130 million people could face severe food
insecurity by the end of 2020, on top of the 135 million people who were already intensely food insecure before the crisis. The
Covid-19 crisis reveals, troubles in local food supply chains, shock disturbing food production, and loss of revenues and remittances
which engender heavy-duty tensions and food insecurity in many regions. Families have to attenuate the quantity and quality of their
food consumption, because of higher retail prices and reduced incomes, with potentially long-lasting effects on their nutrition and
health (Reardon et al., 2020) [19].
International and rural-urban migrations are facing a critical growing trend and giving away food and nutrition matters in the future.
The annual percent change in the urban population is higher than the global average indicating the rapid pace of internal migration.
It is projected that by 2050, more than 50 percent of the Indian population would be located in city zones. Only China, India, and
Nigeria are expected to increase 900 million urban residents by 2050. Since migration in India is largely from rural to urban areas,

1
mabrouk.fatm@gmail.com
2
drpujapawar@gmail.com
3
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/nobel-peace-prize/wfp-2020

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 4/Issue 5/May 2021

how we manage the expansion of urban areas in the future will be critical for ensuring agricultural growth and global food security
(United Nations World Urbanization Prospects, 2018)4.

World India

Figure 1: Urban and rural population projected to 2050

Sources, UN World Urbanization Prospects 2018, and others.

The agriculture sector is suppling a big part of the food consumed but unfortunately, many factors are impacting agricultural
production as environmental degradation, climate change, increasing conversion of land for non-agricultural activities (Satterthwaite
et al., 2010)[20]. Furthermore, population circulations arising from different migrations types contribute to accelerated malnutrition,
hunger, undernutrition, and over-nutrition in the form of overweight and obesity (Vermeulen et al., 2019) [27]. Households living in
rural are facing challenges for nutritious food, adequate employment, social protection, housing and, water and sanitation facilities.
Rural-urban migration can be considered as an opportunity for food security, sustainable agriculture, and rural development. For
instance, loss in human capital and agricultural labour may have harmful influences on agriculture production and food security.
This loss can be compensating by remittances sent by migrants (Mabrouk and Mekni, 2018) [10]. At the same time, traditional food
value chains are being transformed to meet the demands of urban regions. Developing trade of agricultural goods, nutrition
transformation, and commercial market growth are affecting food value chains to adjust and satisfy urban food demand. The
growing use of modern inputs, information and communication technologies, and linking rural producers to wealthy urban
consumers are important aspects of these changing trends (Borsellino et al. 2020) [2].
This research expands the grasp of the interaction between migration and food security during the Covid-19 by using a case study
approach, which involves recent survey data published by the World Bank (2020) [28], " COVID-19-Related Shocks in Rural India
2020, India.
The objective of this paper is to investigate the relationship between migration and food security in India during the Covid-19 and to
help in providing important policy recommendations. The paper then contributes to the debate over the relationship between
migration and food security in three major ways: (1) little microeconomic empirical works on this issue have been conducted in
Asian countries; (2) the food security issue remains a major concern around the World and particular in Southern Asia during the
Covid-19. A key channel through which COVID-19 touches societies is the food and agriculture sector; (3) the food security
problem concerns a large number of policymakers and international organizations. The issue is expected to be particular about feeble
institutes and already dealing with emergencies, such as conflicts, pandemics, and weather tragedies.
The paper is structured as follows: The next section presents the literature review illustrating the relationship between food security,
migration behavior, and Covid-19. The econometric approach, the data, and variable construction for the analyses are discussed in
Section 3, Section 4 reports the results and how they relate to the literature. Section 5 summarizes, concludes, and develops
limitations and implications.

Literature Review
Migration has become a growing phenomenon in the effect of covid-19. Migration gives social and economic benefits but migration
due to lack of food security and other problems has a negative impact. Migration is now a strategic factor for the livelihood of rural

4
https://population.un.org/wup/

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 4/Issue 5/May 2021

households in developing countries. Therefore, many organizations have provided their support in this regard to benefit from
migration in reducing poverty and giving livelihood to many thus attaining sustainable human development.
Currently, there is the growing significance of ‘food security for all as an important development objective, particularly since the
2007–2008 global food crisis. Various estimates show that access to adequate food is still away from reality for many people
especially, in rural areas. (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2015) [7]. This calls for immediate attention to act to reduce or
eliminate hunger and providing food security at least by 2030 (United Nations, 2015) [24]. However, many exceptions have been
sidelined that give little attention to the linkages between food security and sustainable human development (Craven & Gartuala,
2015 [5]; Crush, 2013 [6]; Zezza et al., 2011[29]). (This point in yellow can be deleted/reduced according to the recommendation)
The Covid-19 pandemic along with the global recession has triggered the most crisis in the world economy since the Second World
War and 2008 financial crisis. The safeguarding policy including lockdown and social-distancing measures harms social and
economic activity. The situation worsens for countries like India who is already dealing with many conflicts and climatic disasters in
various parts of the country.
As per the Indian Government Census data 2011, the migration rate in 2020 was -0.369 per 1000 population, a 3.66 percent decline
from 2019 which was -0.383, a 3.28 percent decline from 2018, was -0.396 per 1000 population, a 1.28 percent increase from 2017.
Thereafter, migration was in the opposite direction, more from urban to rural areas since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Food security in India is of significant concern for migrants, as they face many constraints due to a lack of social networks in their
host locations (Choudhury et al.,2020) [4]. Labourers who leave their hometowns for employment also face a lack of access to
subsidized food that is made available through the public distribution system, i.e., ration shops. This is because the ration cards,
which grant access to subsidized food for citizens, have not been portable either within the state or across state borders, in other
words, a ration card could not be used easily to procure subsidized food outside the card holder’s hometown. Surveys in India also
show that the existing food ration available in the ration shops or centres will get over in few days. Also, migrants that have limited
income or meagre income may be forced to travel back to their hometowns to get access to food. Such movement will not only
increase the health risk faced by migrants but may also accelerate the spread of the virus. These types of concerns are all over the
world (Choudhury et al.,2020) [4]. Another interesting study by Nagata et al., 2020 [14]highlighted the convergence of the corona
pandemic and food problems in the United States as well, which throws light on the negative impact of food insecurity on health
conditions. According to them, food insecurity can be due to nutrient deficiencies, which can weaken defense and thereby increasing
susceptibility to Covid-19. Food insecurity is an increasing concern around the world. More than 1 billion people are affected by
nutrient deficiencies. According to recent data, the number of food-insecure individuals has increased over the years (Smith and
Wesselbaum, 2020) [21]. This might push people into starvation, therefore, correct and timely measures are important to end this
issue.

Data and Measures

Data
Data employed in this study are obtained from the India-COVID-19-Related Shocks in Rural India 2020, Survey Round (II)
published by The World Bank in September 2020 to evaluate the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Rural India
and to communicate policies recommendations to Indian policymakers. Rigorous and open access data were collected during 19-23
July 2020 for six states in India: Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh. The survey
encompasses several socio-economic aspects. The subsequent themes can be summarized as follow: Agriculture (1) Income and
consumption (2) Migration (3) Access to relief (4) and Access to health facilities and knowledge of COVID-19 (5).

Food Security Measure

Food security is a complex concept to measure as it depends on the production, distribution, and consumption of food. Different
methods were implemented to define how to measure food security: i) The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) method for
estimating calories available per capita at the national level; ii) household income and expenditure surveys; iii) individual's dietary
intake; iv) anthropometry; and v) experience-based food insecurity measurement scales (Pinstrup, 2009[18]; Pérez and Segall,
2008[17]). The World Food Summit, (1996)5 defined food security as when all people, at all times, have physical and economic
access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
According to this definition, four key perspectives of food security are recognized: (1) Physical availability of food (2) Access to
food (3) Food utilization (4) and Stability. However, Food insecurity can be used more easily to quantify, evaluate and analyze. It
important to understand that food security, famine and hunger are not similar: food security refers to the availability of food whereas
famine and hunger are the results of the non-availability of food, in other words, the effects of food insecurity.

5
http://www.fao.org/3/w3548e/w3548e00.htm

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 4/Issue 5/May 2021

In this study, we consider food security - insecurity levels as dependent variables we create an index for it during the lockdown and
during the last 7 days as described in Figure 2 using these five statements
0. None of the below statement has happened
1. Your household limited portion size or reduced meals?
2. Your household ran out of food?
3. You or someone in your household was hungry but did not eat?
4. You or someone in your household went without eating for a whole day?

Figure 2: Dependent variables definition

Source: Authors presentation based on the India-COVID-19-Related Shocks in Rural India 2020, Survey Round (II) published by
The World Bank in September 2020.

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 4/Issue 5/May 2021

Table 1: Independent variables

Code Variable definition Choice justification

variable

Gender Gender of the respondent (Male In most rural regions, the land belongs primarily to men and is transferred
/Female). between generations to men. As a result, women's access to land, water, and
livestock rights is marginal. Moreover, even when women can access the land,
lack of ownership creates obstacles for agriculture investment which impacts
revenue and food consumption. (Valdivia, 2001[26]).
Religion Which religion does your Religion influences food security at the regional level. (Mahadevan and Suardi,
household follow? Hinduism, 2013[11]).
Islam, Buddhism, Christianity,
Others.
Household How many people normally live The large family size harms house food security. (Olayemi, 2012[15]).
Size in your household?
Land What is the ownership status of The land rests a key element of agriculture production in most developing
Ownership the land on which your current economies. Higher food security levels for the households having livestock
house is built? (Owned/Not ownership compared to households having no livestock ownership (Ali and
Owned). Khan,2013 [1]).
Agriculture Are you cultivating on the In rural regions, a decrease or absolute right loss to use the land leads directly to
Production largest part of your land? We are income and access to food loss (Maxwell and Wiebe, 1998[12]).
talking about crops that you are
growing for sale (Yes /No).
Saving Do you currently own an item – Saving money or any other kind of wealth designates short-term household food
Gold (Yes / No). accessibility. (Olayemi, 2012).
Migration Before lockdown, of the X The relationship between migration and food security at the household level
people, you said normally leave seems to be complex and hardly assessed especially, during pandemics and
in your household for work? crises. (Mabrouk and Mekni, 2018[9]).
Regional Regions: Jharkhand, Rajasthan, The socioeconomic and geographical disparities produced by historical
Dummy Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, development models affect food security through its regional zones (Torres and
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh. Rojas Martínez, 2020[23]).

Source: Authors presentation based on the India-COVID-19-Related Shocks in Rural India 2020, Survey Round (II) published by
The World Bank in September 2020.

Methodology
We estimate two Ordered Logistic Regressions. The First model investigates the impact of migration on food Security-Insecurity
during the lockdown due to COVID-19. The Second model explores the last 7 days during the second Round (II) of the data
collection which is corresponding to the period 19-23 July 2020. Recent data that indicate 12,095,855 total Coronavirus, 162,147
deaths and 11,393,021 recovered (Worldometers by 30-03-2021).
The logistic and normal distribution functions (appropriately scaled) have similar shapes so, the probit and logit models typically
produce similar estimates for the response probabilities and marginal effects. One advantage of the logit model is that the
distribution function is available in closed form that speeds computation. In the ordered logit model, there is an observed ordinal
variable (Y) which is a function of another variable, (Y*), that is not measured and whose values determine what the observed
ordinal variable Y equals to

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 4/Issue 5/May 2021

The probability that observation will select alternative is

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( )
To interpret the results we calculate the marginal effects
Results

Table 2: Determinants Of Food Security: Ordered Logit Regressions

Model 1 Model 2
During the lockdown During the last 7 days
Demographic and personal characteristics
Gender -0.2156* -0.1465**
(0.0897) (0.0171)
Religion 0.2110 -0.1435
(0.2560) (0.4360)
Household Size 0.0344** 0.0500***
(0.0152) (0.0027)
Agriculture characteristics
Land Ownership 0.0233 -0.0493
(0.9519) (0.903)
Agriculture Production -0.7213*** -0.6647***
(0.0001) (0.0001)
Economic characteristics
Saving -1.1449*** -0.1360
(0.0001) (0.8378)
Migration 0.0917** 0.0948*
(0.0466) (0.0522)
Regional characteristics
Regions 0.1401*** 0.1766***
(0.0007) (0.0001)
The cutoff points
Cut 1 -0.0134 1.5203*
(0.8845) (0.0732)
Cut 2 1.6304*** 3.1817***
(0,0038) (0.0002)
Cut 3 2.6044*** 3.9838***
(0.0001) (0.0001)
Cut 4 3.4085*** 4.6932***
(0.0001) (0.0001)
Nb. Obs. 1975 1975
Log pseudolikelihood -1932.56 -1406.315
Wald χ2 104.46 71.44
(p. value) (0.0000) (0.0000)
Pseudo R2 0.0245 0.0251
Percentage of cases correctly predicted 61.9% 77.5%
Notes: Robust standard errors are reported into brackets. Levels of statistical significance: ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.05, *p < 0.1.
Source: Authors' calculations based on the India-COVID-19-Related Shocks in Rural India 2020, Survey Round (II) published by
The World Bank in September 2020.

Table 3: Marginal effects of Food Security regressions - Models 1 to 2

MODEL 1 During the lockdown

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 4/Issue 5/May 2021

Food Mild Food Moderate Food High Food Sever Food

Security Insecurity Insecurity Insecurity Insecurity
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)

Gender 0.0514 -0.0300 -0.0120 -0.0049 -0.0043

(0.094) (0.085) (0.108) (0.123) (0.120
Religion -0.0495 0.0297 0.0112 0.0045 0.0040
(0.256) (0.256) (0.256) (0.263) (0.267)
Household Size -0.0080 0.0048 0.0018 0.0007 0.0006
(0.015) (0.016) (0.017) (0.019) (0.019)
Land Ownership -0.0054 0.0033 0.0012 0.0004 0.0004
(0.952) (0.952) (0.952) (0.951) (0.951)
Agriculture 0.1688 -0.0993 -0.0392 -0.0160 -0.0143
Production (0.000) (0.000) (0.000) (0.000) 0.000)
Saving 0.2783 -0.1152 -0.0841 -0.0401 -0.0387
(0.000) (0.000) (0.002) (0.011) (0.020)
Migration -0.02153 0.0129 0.0048 0.0019 0.0017
(0.047) (0.047) (0.048) (0.056) (0.057)
Regions -0.0328 0.0197 0.0074 0.0030 0.0026
(0.001) (0.001) (0.001) (0.002) (0.002)

MODEL 2 During the last 7 days

Food Mild Food Moderate Food High Food Sever Food
Security Insecurity Insecurity Insecurity Insecurity
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
Gender 0.0632 -0.4476 -0.0096 -0.0043 -0.0044
(0.025) (0.023) (0.036) (0.050) (0.047)
Religion 0.0243 -0.0175 -0.0035 -0.0015 -0.0016
(0.436) (0.436) (0.440) (0.446) (0.442)
Household Size -0.0084 0.0061 0.0012 0.0005 0.0005
(0.003) (0.003) (0.006) (0.009) (0.006)
Land Ownership 0.0084 -0.0060 -0.0012 -0.0005 -0.0005
(0.905) (0.905) (0.906) (0.906) (0.906)
Agriculture 0.1142 -0.0816 -0.0170 -0.0076 -0.0078
Production (0.000) (0.000) (0.000) (0.000) (0.000)
Saving 0.0239 -0.0171 -0.0035 -0.0016 -0.0016
(0.843) (0.842) (0.846) (0.847) (0.848)
Migration -0.0160 0.0115 0.0023 0.0010 0.0010
(0.052) (0.053) (0.057) (0.067) (0.068)
Regions -0.0299 0.0215 0.0043 0.0019 0.0019
(0.000) (0.000) (0.001) (0.002) (0.002)

Notes: Marginal effects account for the change in explanatory variables on the change in the probability of outcomes in logistic
models-for an infinitesimal or discrete change (respectively) in each continuous or dichotomous independent variable: Food Security
/ Mild Food Insecurity / Moderate Food Insecurity / High Food Insecurity / Severe Food Insecurity. Bold characters denote the fact
that the coefficient associated with the variable is statistically significant at least at 10%.
Source: Authors' calculations based on the India-COVID-19-Related Shocks in Rural India 2020, Survey Round (II) published by
The World Bank in September 2020.

We use Stata a Software for Statistics and Data Science to apply Ordered Logit Regression which is a specific type of generalized
specific model, using 1975 observations. The whole data published by the World Bank contains 5005 observations, we choose to
drop missing or incomplete observations (dropped observations are equal to 3030).

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 4/Issue 5/May 2021

Model (1) and Model (2) present respectively The Likelihood Ratio Chi-square test with a value of 398.401 [P-value =0.0000] and
359.824[P-value =0.0000]. it shows that well as compared to the null the pseudo-R2=0.0245 and R2=0.0251. The cut points shown
at the bottom of the output indicate where the latent variable is cut to make five groups that we observed in our data. As we
explained before this variable is continuous. The intercept cuts are significantly different from each other so our five categories can
be used and should not be combined.
Both Religion and Land Ownership are not significant in both models. Food security is closely linked to socio-cultural influences
like gender and family but not to religion. A possible explanation is that in India, there are many religions like Hinduism, Islam,
Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism, so its impact can be marginal and no significant. Concerning the Land Ownership
variable, the historical analysis, legal issues (owned, owned but mortgaged, tenant cash payment, tenant in-kind payment, the tenant
with no payment), and the remedying exclusion of females from rural land ownership in India can be used as an important
explanation for this complex issue.
Gender, Household Size, Agriculture Production, Saving, Migration, and Regions are statistically significant at least in one model.
The food security level is better with higher household size and migration. However, it is lower with agriculture production and
saving.
Model (1) During the lockdown indicates that one unit increase in household size is associated with being 0.8% less likely to be high
in food security level and respectively 0.48%, 0.1%, 0.07%, and 0.06% more likely to be in mild, moderate, high and severe food
insecurity. Compared to the during the last 7 days Model (2), the household size marginal effects are associated with higher values
of food security and mild food insecurity levels, but fewer values for the rest of the categories. The respondents with high household
sizes are significantly more food insecure than other families. This result is conforming with Tabrizi et al., (2018) [22] findings
supposing that household size, employment status, and level of education are significant explanatory predictors of food insecurity.
Results explain how better agricultural production and productivity are related to food security (Mozumdar, 2012) [13]. An
additional unit in agriculture production makes 17% more likely household food secure, and respectively 9%, 5%, and 1% less likely
to be in mild, moderate, and high or severe food insecurity. Agriculture production is considered a key factor in boosting food
availability and reaching food security. Better food provision can be ensured by increasing the productivity of agriculture and
expanding the range of agricultural land use (Pawlak and Kołodziejczak, 2020[16]). Agriculture production variable is more
significant in Model (1), Agriculture production variable is more significant in Model (1), During the lockdown. COVID-19 shock
affects agricultural production activity like many other shocks as price fluctuations, trade policies, political instability, weather
conditions, natural disasters higher than during the last 7 days Model (2) as this period is already after The agricultural season (19-
29-July).
One additional member leaving the household for work is associated with 2% less likely to be food securely. The agriculture sector
is not too mechanized in India, labour migration can lead to lower production of food, and may reduce food security. During COVID
19, we suppose that remittances are limited because many migrants lose their jobs and are still blocked in their destination regions
due to the lockdown period. As mentioned by Mabrouk and Mekni (2018) [10], the net effect of migration and remittances to food
security at the household level in the country of origin cannot be easily assessed especially during pandemics and crises. The
relationship between received remittances and the enhancement of food security seems to be mixed and depending on many other
factors. On a related matter to our results, one unit increase in migrant number is respectively 1%, 0.4% and 0.1% more likely
connected to mild, moderate and high or severe food insecurely as they cant not be active workers in agriculture production and can
not send remittances.
The saving variable is defined as if the household is currently owning Gold. The idea is to find a proxy of respondent financial
situation. If yes, that means buying gold can be considered a way to save money. During the lockdown, one additional unit was
saved to make it 28% more likely household food secure. All the same, it is respectively 11%, 8%, 4%. and 3% less likely to be in
mild, moderate, high, and severe food insecure. However, the saving variable is statistically non-significant for Model (2) During the
last 7 days as. A possible explanation, the Indian nationwide lockdown in March 2020, during the pandemic the household can not
save more due to the income reduction.
The six regions employed in the study are known by agriculture production and characterized by a low level of income compared to
the urban zones. Regions are associated with 33% and 30% less likely to be food securely respectively from models (1) and (2). It
seems that food insecurity largely affects the rural poor and is not equally shared among the different regions in India. Another
explanation that can be considered is the effect of COVID-19 on agriculture production.

Conclusion and Recommendations

This paper looks at the relationship between food security, migration, and other related factors during Covid-19 in India. Results
confirm that an additional unit in agriculture production makes 17% more likely household food secure. All the same, one additional
member leaving the household for work is associated with 2% less likely to be food securely. Migration harms food security, the
main important explanation can be reported of the loss of the agriculture labor force and the non-compensation of migrants revenues

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 4/Issue 5/May 2021

related to the Covid-19 and job destruction. Future research can be conducted to compare between different periods before/after the
covid-19 and during the Covid-19.

Agricultural production plays an important role in achieving food security as more than 90% of the food consumed is from the
agricultural sector. Agriculture is affected by environmental factors, changes in climatic conditions, and more land used for non-
agricultural purposes. Migration has accelerated malnutrition, adequate employment, housing, sanitation, and social protection. It
then becomes important to focus on developing rural-urban linkages thereby increasing opportunities for rural people, especially
women and youth this can help in reducing the negative effects of migration.

For many countries, especially India, effective policy is needed to provide food security and protection in this period of pandemic
and the resultant lockdown. Government should therefore focus on ensuring food security policies are implemented effectively and
immediately.
Keeping this in mind, the State governments should design agricultural and rural development projects such that it brings more in-
vestment, technologies, and knowledge in rural areas. The population employed in agriculture should also adapt to changing tech-
nologies and markets as discussed in the current fiscal policy and budget in February 2021. Also, the current agricultural policy fo-
cused on the specialization of skills, diversification of agricultural production in many parts of the country. With this, it is expected
that it will not only provide food safety but enough income to the farmers or agricultural laborers. It will also encourage the youth to
carry on their inherited occupation. Both the Central and State governments must intervene and formulate effective policy that re-
duces hardships of farming and issues of health and nutrition and other social and physical infrastructure to make migration a volun-
tary choice and not forced because of distress.

Although the Government of India declared 2010-2020 as the "Decade of Innovation” and many advancements are made in making
India digital, the government still lacks to monitor or enhance the public use of digital technology. With large-scale digital success
like the launching of the Aarogya Sethu app, the government can now utilize digital platforms to manage the problems of the
migrants, making proper allocation of labour across the nation, and develop and enhance further skills. Technology is future-
oriented. With low costs and more scalability, India can completely secure its digital interests for all in the future.

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