Crisis as inflection point in the urban governance of domestic migration in India: a policy frames analysis

The exodus of millions of domestic migrants from Indian cities during COVID-19 highlighted the failure of urban governance to address their vulnerabilities and reconfirmed that migrant integration is an intractable policy problem, where actors take oppositional and irresolvable positions. Drawing on frame analysis, which outlines agenda-setting aspects of complex policy issues, this paper explores the ideas, perceptions and beliefs of diverse governance actors - politicians, bureaucrats and civil society members - and questions whether the COVID-19 migrant crisis generated new directions in the urban governance of migration. Results show that the COVID-19 crisis generated framing contests around the role of cities in migrant inclusion that shaped new governance agendas regarding improving urban services and welfare delivery. However, owing to a persistent belief in rural sedentarism, COVID-19 failed to act as a tipping point for definitive policy towards improved urban governance of migration. The findings suggest that deeper analysis of policy frames can enrich literature on the governance of domestic migration and encourage theoretical convergences between domestic and international migration.