Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.21861/HGG.2013.75.02.03
Labour Migration as a Livelihood Strategy in Far East Bhutan: a Case Study of a Marginal Bhutanese Community
Raghubir Chand
; Kumaun University Nainital, Department of Geography
Abstract
The phenomenon of labour migration in Bhutan is triggered by the disparities in regional patterns in resource use under different sets of social and ecological conditions. The incidence of high poverty at large as well as climatic adversities of the place force people to move to more favourable places and nearby town areas to earn a livelihood on a temporary basis during certain periods of the year, particularly in the winter months. The focus of the present paper is on migrant workers and their families engaged on purely remunerative activities. These migrant workers are temporary workers and the most general reason for their movement is poverty. The relief of domestic unemployment pressure and earning of cash income serve two main objectives. With increasing demand for labour and awareness in the local market in recent years, labour has become a source of local economy and a safety valve for domestic unemployment. There has been no serious attempt as yet to study this aspect of labour migration in Bhutan. The present paper aims at investigating the current situation of labour migration in Bhutan on the basis of primary data collected in the year 2009 from the remotest village of Lauri located in eastern most corner of Bhutan.
Keywords
livelihood strategy; labour migration system; Bhutan
Hrčak ID:
113524
URI
Publication date:
15.1.2014.
Visits: 4.147 *