Recent crises have exposed a persistent faultline in India’s growth story. When systems come under stress, it is the migrant worker who is left to fend for himself. During the Covid lockdowns, the sight of workers walking hundreds of kilometres home laid bare the fragility of our support structures. More recently, supply-chain disruptions and fuel-linked slowdowns in manufacturing hubs have once again shown how quickly migrant workers are pushed to the margins. They sustain cities, yet in moments of disruption, they are often the first to be rendered invisible. Bihar sits at the centre of this reality. The question is not political but structural: What does Brand Bihar stand for, and how can it be rebuilt with credibility? Any serious answer must begin with migration, because it shapes everyday life across the state. Working-class migration from Bihar is not a recent phenomenon. It runs through folk memory, colonial labour flows, and contemporary economic circuits.…