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WORLD ANTHROPOLOGICAL UNION

CONGRESS 2024​

Paper

Lost in an Emerging Megapolis: An Ethnographic Study of Abducted and Migrant Children in Pune City of India, Exploring Diverse Viewpoints and Associated Challenges

presenters

    Dr Tishyarakshita Nagarkar

    Nationality: India

    Residence: India

    Presence:Face to Face/ On Site

Keywords:

Child trafficking, ‘ human rights’, ‘ ethnographic proxies and human mobility’

Abstract:

This paper aims to shed light on the aspect of the abducted and experiences of the migrant children in Pune, an emerging megapolis by examining diverse viewpoints and the challenges faced by these children in their new environment. Pune, a rapidly growing megapolis, attracts a significant number of migrant families seeking better opportunities. However, the experiences of migrant children in this urban setting remain largely unexplored. This study aims to understand the complex patterns of mobility that migrant families in the city face present a significant challenge in emerging mega city Pune. The migrant population profile in the city is defined by several cross-cutting dimensions. These dimensions include the nature of migration, such as whether it is inter-state, intra-district, or inter-district. Another dimension is the type of residence in the city, which can be government allotted land, private land, worksite, slum, or street. Additionally, the profile is also shaped by the various labour sectors in which migrants are employed, such as construction, rag picking, domestic work, and sanitation work. In addition to having complex profiles, migrant families and children often relocate between the village and the city, or between various worksites within the city. Choosing a site and a group of participants from this complex profile and the gaps between the traditional ethnographic proxies, the researcher has emphasized in this paper this emerging phenomenon with the method of significant amounts of time in various locations with specific participants. The research topic was chosen due to an arching quest to highlight the challenges migrant children encounter due to their intricate backgrounds and nomadic lifestyles in a multilingual urban landscape that is hailed as a cultural capital in a regional context.