Gosaipur and Majauli are two villages in north Bihar. Out of a total of 850 households in the two villages, there are more than 250 men, who are employed in rural Punjab and Haryana or in Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Hyderabad or Nagpur. Such migration is common in most villages across India. Why do people migrate? Can you describe (based on your imagination) the work that the migrants of Gosaipur and Majauli might do at the place of destination.
1. People tend to shift to cities from villages because of lack of work in the rural areas. Urban areas have greater employment opportunities than the villages. Most of the migrants are landless laborers or small farmers who need to constantly search for work when they do not get work in the agricultural sector.
2. (i) Those men who are employed in rural area might be working as household servants in the house od big Zamindaars.
(ii) They might be working as farm labourers.
(iii) In Delhi and other big cities they may be:
(a) Working in small factories.
(b) Working in hotels, grocery stores or garment stores etc.
(c) Rickshaw pulling.
(d) Helping the plumbers, electricians etc.