Male Out-Migration and Its Psychological Bearing on Left behind Women: A Case Study of a Poor Farming Community of Bundelkhand Village of UP, India

Abstract

Out migration from rural areas to developed urban centers as a wage labor is a survival strategy of rural poor for their family and household since older days. However nowadays it’s not only a survival strategy but also an opportunity for getting better employment options, higher income, better wages and availing better facilities for the upliftment of their lifestyle. Although our attitude is quite positive towards this migration phenomena but it also has a darker side which badly affects the left behind women’s mental state. This paper is a part of a complete in-depth study of ‘Male out-migration and its impact on the left behind women in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh’- which is still  going on for assessing the female’s condition in different walks of their life, including physical workload and responsibilities, freedom of mobility (women empowerment), patriarchy & changing status of women, decision-making power & empowerment, and various psychological issues. In this paper, I have attempted to understand the male migration and its psychological effects on left behind women (wife of migrant) in a poor farming community village of Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. In the rural Bundelkhand region of UP, living conditions are harsh especially for the poor who depend mainly on agricultural incomes for their livelihood, and are therefore highly vulnerable to drought, failure in cropping systems and loss of employment & incomes. The analysis is based on semi-structured qualitative interviews of affected women who have experienced their husband’s migration. Surveyed women are varied in age, education and the duration of their husband’s migration. These interviews reveal that mail out-migration had left a very bad effect on the left behind women’s mental state aggravating various problems like loneliness, sadness, depression and huge desperation.