COVID-19 Pandemic and Psychological Health of Migrant Workers in India

Description

Page: 32-36

Satendra Kr Singh¹, Sweta², Raja Upadhyay³, Upendra Singh⁴, and Satabdi Chakraborty⁵ (Inclen Trust Internation, Somaarth, Palwal, Haryana¹, Department of Clinical Psychology, Chacha Neharu Bal Chikitsalay, Delhi², District Mental Health Program, Distric Hospital Bhabhua, Mohania, Bihar³, Department of Psychychiatric Social Work, CEIMH, ABVIMS & Dr RML Hospital, New Delhi⁴, and Department of Psychiatric Social Work, Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Scinces, New Delhi⁵)

Migrant workers are people contributing significantly to their countries’ economies. The pandemic caused a loss of jobs and income sources for them. Being the lower strata of the economy it is assumed that migrants are significantly prone towards developing morbid mental conditions. Study aimed at measuring the impact of a pandemic on the psychological health of migrant workers in India. The data collection material used in the study was Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) on a purposively selected sample of 1003 participants. Results suggest that Out of 1003 participants 16.7% were daily wage labors, 18.5% were rickshaw pullers, 21.7% were factory workers, 11.4% were homemakers, 27.1% were vendors and only 4.6% were drivers. The result shows that almost 69%, 66% and 65% participants reported to experience symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, respectively because of the pandemic condition. The study results can be concluded as necessary to assess the mental health conditions of the migrants.