A recent study involving workers migrating from West Bengal found 15.94% of the respondents faced discrimination in housing, and 14.09% faced harassment over language.
The study by Kolkata-based Sabar Institute included more than 7,500 migrant households in urban and rural Panskura, a town in Purba Medinipur district with high outward migration. The researchers engaged about 100 students from the Panskura Banamali College (Autonomous) between July 27 and August 10, 2025 to conduct the study.
About 62.87% of the respondents cited better employment as the main reason for migration.
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Migration severely impacted the education of students, the study found, as 60.23% of the respondents were students before they migrated for work. “This suggests that migration contributes to high dropout rates [in higher education] in West Bengal. Over 51% [for the respondents] had only completed [their education upto] Classes 10 and 12, indicating that many discontinued education to migrate for work — a sign of distress migration,” the report based on the study said.
