By: SOUMYAJIT SINGHA ROY, RAJKISHORE MAHATO
This study examines the migration patterns of the Jogi community – a nomadic, unregistered group found in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh – using a multi-sited ethnography conducted between 2021 and 2022 among 1,211 individuals in eleven urban, peri-urban, and rural settlements. The research demonstrates that Jogi migration is neither voluntary mobility nor simple displacement, but a complex, multi-phase process driven by the collapse of the jajmani economy, widespread landlessness, constitutional classificatory ambiguity, and increasing urban precariousness. Distinct patterns are identified: kinship-based chain migration, double migration (rural origin → urban center → urban periphery), and pronounced gender asymmetries, with women serving as immobile anchors for male circular migration. The paper critically assesses the main theoretical models of migration, finding them inadequate for historically nomadic groups, and introduces the concept of Involuntary Adaptive Migration (IAM), defined by a lack of real choice, forced occupational transformation, and the perpetuation of precariousness. The policy implications involve constitutional recognition, migration-sensitive welfare, urban housing security, forest rights, and diversification of livelihoods.
