Global Initiative of Academic Networks
International Migration from South Asia:
Context and Policies
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Overview
International migration is characterized by three primary actors- the individual migrants, the
source country and the destination nation. The process itself involves several contradictory
processes and multitudes of outcomes which South Asian countries have witnessed for a
prolonged time. It includes on the one hand, outmigration of skilled labor, which contributes to
remittance outcomes as well as shortage of skilled human resources. On the other hand, there
lies the practice of illegal migration, especially to the OECD countries, which has been on the rise
for the past couple of decades.
At a surface level, it seems convenient to explain this migration aspirations of individuals, in terms
of inadequate infrastructural and employment availability condition at home country and
abundant opportunities at destination countries. However, underlying the individual intention to
migrate, exists the global political economy, which has established migration as a right and as a
solution facilitating economic liberalization. Under this economic order, member countries of
international organizations become important stakeholders and regulators of migrant influxes,
thereby complicating the process, in the meantime. Amidst the consequent differential agencies
of home and host country in setting rules and limitations for migration process, lies another
power dynamics. Individuals who earn higher status in their home country for migrating and
becoming “successful”, face discrimination and stigma from the natives of host country, for
taking up their domestic jobs. Times of crisis like the recent pandemic add far more nuances to
such issues confronted on an everyday basis by migrants, who often work odd jobs at odd hours
for a better future in a place far away from homeland.
The course, therefore, intends to throw light on the history, empirical realities and broader
political economy aspect of international migration, by emphasizing the agencies of individual as
well as institutions. Simultaneously, the course has elements focusing on recent research trends,
data gaps and various frameworks to explicate migration. The objective here is to help fellow
researchers and migration studies enthusiasts, get a glimpse and sense of research scopes in the
area.
Objectives
1. Exposing participants to the multitudes of perspectives in studying international
migration.
2. Providing an understanding of the history and context of human migration.
3. Discussing basic tenets of migration in terms of motives, means and broader theoretical
debates around migration.
4. Highlighting the empirical realities of migration in the context of individual migrants,
source and destination countries, with a special focus on South Asian migrants.
5. Informing the participants about the immigration policies, and migrant responses to
policy changes.
6. Familiarize participants with the current research trends, methods and challenges in the
field of migration research.
Duration April 21st – 25th, 2025.
The Number of participants for the course will be limited to fifty(50).
You Should • You are a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree student
Attend If… • You are a Ph.D. Scholar or Independent Researcher
• You are a faculty or employee from an Academic/Research
institution or NGO interested in learning about different
theoretical frameworks and political economy of international
migration.
Fees The participation fee for the course is as follows:
Participants from abroad: US $500
Industry/NGO and other participants: INR 5000/-
Faculty from Academic/Research Institutions: INR 3000/-
Students and Ph.D./Independent scholars: INR 1000/-
The above fee includes all instructional materials and working lunch.
The accommodation will be provided to outstation participants on payment
basis.
How to Register The Link for the Application Form (FORM1) for the course is:
[Link]
The applicant will receive the confirmation of their slot via email, then
they have to pay the registration fees via NEFT and fill-up the
Registration Form (FORM 2). The link for FORM 2 will be shared in the
confirmation mail.
LAST DATE TO APPLY: 11th April 2025
LAST DATE TO PAY & REGISTER: 15th April 2025
Registration fee can be paid through National Electronic Transfer (NEFT),
to the account of Central University of Haryana GIAN ; Account No:
7824000100044572; IFSC Code: PUNB0782400, Branch: Jant Pali; Swift
Code: PUNBINBBBRR; MICR code: 123024106
The Faculty
Dr. Radha Adhikari is a Lecturer in School of
Patron:
Health and Life Sciences, at the University of the
West of Scotland. She works on international
migration of healthcare professionals, global
healthcare labour market, migrants’ rights, migration
governance, global health inequality, gender, decolonizing
nursing education and practice, and has published extensively Prof. Tankeshwar Kumar,
on international nurse migration, emerging global challenges in Vice-Chancellor,
nursing education and workforce management. Her latest Central University of Haryana
research monograph, Migrant health professionals and the
Course Co-ordinator:
global labour market: the dreams and traps of Nepali nurses, Dr. Reema Gill
was published in 2019, by Routledge, and co-edited volume
(with Plotnikova), Nurse migration in Asia: Emerging patterns Local GIAN Coordinator:
and policy responses was published in May 2023 by Routledge. Prof. Gunjan Goel
Sessions Co-ordinator:
Ms. Sneha Maji
Dr. Ellina Samantroy is working as a faculty at the
V.V. Giri National Labour Institute under the Contact Details:
Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE). She is Mob: +919899470775;
a Sociologist by training and has a PhD in Sociology
from JNU, New Delhi. Her research interests are in the area of Email:
Unpaid work, Time Use Studies, Gender and Social Protection, gianonmigration@[Link],
Labour Codes and International Labour Standards. She has reemagill@[Link]
more than 18 years of professional experience. She has
undertaken several research projects/consultancy assignments
both with international organizations particularly, UNICEF,
World Bank, ITC-ILO, Turin, the ILO and at the institute on
issues pertaining to gender and labour. She has published
extensively in the form of books, research monographs, articles
in peer-reviewed academic journals, chapters in edited
volumes, book reviews and articles in newspapers and digital
dailies. Her book ‘Gender, Unpaid Work and Care in India’
was recently published (2023) by Routledge, UK
She has represented the Government of India in various
international forums like BRICS EWG, South Africa (2023) and
L20 under India's G20 presidency in 2023. She is a member of
the recently constituted Task force on Improving Female
Labour Force participation in India (2023) by the MoLE.
Dr. Ramya Ranjan Patel is working as an Associate Professor at JNU (Centre for
Economic Studies and Planning. He holds PhD in Economic from Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU). Before joining JNU, he was working as an Assistant Professor at the
Centre for Labour Studies and Social Protection, Tata Institute of Social Sciences,
Guwahati Campus. Prior to TISS, he worked as an Associate Fellow (Faculty) at V. V. Giri National
Labour Institute (Ministry of Labour and Employment, Govt. of India). He has also taught at Delhi
University for nearly thirteen years.
His writings are published in various National/International journals (SCOPUS enlisted) and
edited books. The major areas of publications are related to Development Economics,
Agricultural Economics, Labour Economics, Tribal Development, Rural Development and
Gandhian Economics. The journals include the Journal of Poverty (Routledge), Journal of South
Asian Development (Sage), Economic and Political Weekly, Journal of Land and Rural Studies
(Sage), International Journal of Innovations and Sustainable Development, Gandhi Marg Journal,
and Journal of Rural Development, among others.
He has presented several research papers including World Bank, Washington DC (Land and
Poverty Conference). He was the winner of the National Essay Competition organized by the
Ministry of Finance (Indian Economic Service) in 2011.
Dr. Reema Gill is an Assistant Professor at Department of Sociology, Central
University of Haryana. Her area of interests is international migration of health
workers, Sociology of health and medicine, population studies, research
methodology and qualitative research tools. She has published work on the different
aspects of migration in indexed journals. She also received grant from Indian Council of Social
Science Research (ICSSR) to undertake research on international nursing migration from Punjab,
India. Dr. Gill has also contributed paper for the Global Partnership Network (GPN) collaboration
on nursing migration from different countries. GPN is a collaboration of higher education
institutions and civil society groups for research, teaching and workshops around the SDG 17:
“Global Partnership for Sustainable Development” and is based at University of Kassel, Germany.
About the Host University
Central University of Haryana is one of the fifteen new Central Universities established by
Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India (GoI) in XI Five Year Plan (2007-
2012) under the Central University Act-2009 of the Parliament. The University has been
accredited with ‘A’ Grade in the second cycle of NAAC assessment and accreditation conducted
in August 2023. The University has been listed among the top 150-200 Universities in NIRF
ranking. The University is spanned over 484 acres of lush green campus in Aravalli Foothills
([Link] and offers 85 different programmes through 34
departments under 8 schools. The CUH is home to more than 4500 students from 25 different
states and is one of the fastest growing research universities. The CUH is one of the fastest
growing research universities with an h-index of 53 and credited with 40 patents, 05 DST-FIST
sponsored departments, 39 ongoing extramural projects, 50 functional MoUs and more than 300
consultancy projects.
About the Department
The Department of Sociology was introduced in the academic year 2014-15. The Department
currently offers two courses, namely Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). The
Department also offered [Link]. programme from 2018-2021, however, after the
implementation of National Education Policy 2020, it was discontinued. The Department is
functioning under the School of Humanities and Social Sciences which is the oldest School of the
University. The Department has made significant progress in a short period of time and there are
students from different states, thus reflecting the diversity of the Department. In the field of
research, it is continuously trying to innovate new research tools and techniques to provide a
holistic glimpse of Society.
