Covid-19 pandemic: Migration in Maharashtra was due to death fear, urge to be with family, says Study  

Fearing death due to Covid-19, over 63 per cent of households in urban areas of Maharashtra reported migration during the Covid-19 pandemic while in rural areas 49 per cent of households reported migration for the same reason. 

The State government’s special study on the Covid-19 outbreak and lockdowns published in the Economic Survey 2021-22 released on Thursday reveals that the fear of death due to Covid-19 was the biggest cause of migration in urban and rural areas. 

The second major reason for migration during the Covid-19 pandemic is that people wanted to be with their families. People in over 36 per cent of households in rural areas and 24.8 per cent in urban areas said that they wanted to stay with the family during the pandemic. 

 Over 29 per cent of households in rural areas and 26 per cent in urban areas reported migration due to business closure during the lockdown. 

Interestingly, the closure of educational institutions due to lockdown was the reason of migration quoted by 21.6 per cent of households in rural areas. However, only 13.8 per cent of households in the urban area reported migration due to the closure of educational institutions. 

Impact on livelihood 

About 29.8 per cent of salaried persons from rural areas and 39.1 per cent from urban areas in the State reported that work was temporarily closed during lockdown but full/ partial salary/ wages were received.  

About 47.1 per cent from rural areas and 19.8 per cent of people from urban areas reported that work was temporarily closed during lockdown and salary/ wages were not received

About 64.0 per cent of self-employed persons from rural areas and 62.0 per cent persons from urban areas reported that business was temporarily closed due to lockdown. About 32.4 per cent of persons from rural areas and 34.0 per cent persons from urban areas reported no change in business after lockdown. 

Infected patients and expenditure 

Covid-19 cases in the State since outbreak up to 15 January, 2022  were 71.70 lakh, of which 67.60 lakh cases were recovered.

The report states that the maximum number of Covid-19 infected persons reported were from the age group 30-44 years (31.6 per cent) followed by age group 45-59 years (29.6 per cent) and age group 60 years and above (18.3 per cent). 

About 48.9 per cent of persons in rural areas and 52.1 per cent in urban areas reported expenditure up to ₹10,000 for the Covid-19 treatment. About 16.6 per cent from rural areas and 15.5 per cent from urban areas reported expenditure between Rs ₹10,000 and Rs ₹50,000 for the treatment. About 12.8 per cent in rural areas and 15.9 per cent in urban areas reported expenditure above ₹50,000 towards Covid treatment. 

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