ABSTRACT

This chapter is a study of the patterns of migration of workers in the flood-prone region of North Bihar. It looks at how this migration was governed locally, how labour power was monetized and how these released political forces to govern the creation of new stakeholders, formal and informal, and collective action. It argues that in post-liberalization India new forms of local governance have emerged that try to manage conflicts at a more ‘micro’ level than before and hence the emphasis on strengthening the panchayati raj system. Accompanied by this is the new governmental technique deployed by the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar in which considerable emphasis is placed on doling out cash for self-employment, housing schemes and unemployment benefits. This cash-as-incentive technique has created a form of claim-making that revolves around attempts to extract relief thereby re-emphasizing caste and kinship ties through the new forms of local governance.