Paper short abstract:

This study will use household data provided by National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) to analyse changes in the intra-state migration and remittances of rural Dalits in Bihar, the state with lowest GDP but highest growth in 2000s. The paper will look at data from three decades.

Paper long abstract:

In the 1980s and 1990s, at the introductory stages of economic liberalization, the average per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) level and distribution of households which receives remittances from out-migrant to within India were much lower than non-migrant households for SC and Non SC-ST(Scheduled Tribe) households. Also, mobility of poor SCs looked limited. However, in 2007-08, on contrary, the levels and distributions of MPCE of out-migrant households with remittance are higher than those of non out-migrant households for all social classes. Moreover, SCs showed increased mobility, which is very notable in rural Bihar, where the average consumption level of agricultural labour SC households with remittances from outside the state began to exceed ones of the NonSC/ST households without out-migrants, and the average yearly amount of the remittance sent to Dalits' households in Bihar is estimated to almost equivalent to yearly minimum wage in India. Also, this study tries to investigate how the distribution of mobile phone to Dalits in Bihar affected their mobility. Via migration, this increased access of SCs to enhanced economic resources outside may contribute to their empowerment for possible social mobility in rural Bihar, due to the recent remarkable economic growth led by constructing infrastracture and the increased access to the information such as growing use of mobile phone.