Migration and Its Aftermath: A Study of Socio-Economic Challenges Faced by Internal Migrants in India

Background: Internal migration has emerged as a central feature of India's socio-economic landscape, involving the movement of millions of workers from rural and semi-urban areas to urban centres in pursuit of livelihood. Despite their critical role in sustaining the informal economy, these migrants continue to face severe socio-economic deprivation after migration. Objectives: This paper examines the socio-economic challenges encountered by internal migrants in India's informal sector after migration, with particular attention to livelihood precarity, housing conditions, access to basic services, and social exclusion. Methodology: The study's main focus is a critical analysis of secondary data from the Economic Survey of India, Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), National Sample Survey (NSS) reports, Census of India, and peer-reviewed academic literature. The analysis is grounded in a Marxist political economy framework. Findings: The paper finds that migration, contrary to being a pathway to upward mobility, frequently reproduces and deepens structural inequalities. Migrants face exploitative wages, inadequate housing, exclusion from welfare entitlements, and social discrimination. Conclusion: Rights-based policy interventions and a structural reimagining of India's social protection architecture are urgently needed to address the systemic vulnerabilities of informal migrant workers.