Data set on Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health of Internal Migrant Workers in India: Corona Virus Anxiety Scale (CAS) Approach

India has witnessed a dramatic shift in the movement of workers within the nation. There are more than 100 million migrant workers in different Industries according to official employment estimation. Migrant workers employed in informal sectors mostly engage in temporary, unskilled work, characterized by low wages, job insecurity, and economic vulnerability, which are peculiar characteristics of informal work environments (Atnafu, 2014)They are exposed to experience multiple psychological disorders like anxiety and depression due to cultural differences in migrated states, loss of social network, identity crises and lack of access to public health care facilities in addition to other problems like malnutrition and acute poverty. COVID 19 has worsened the problem of migrant workers with increased rates of anxiety, stress, and distress psychiatric conditions. With the lockdown and travel restrictions, many groups of stranded laborers were struggling to reach their hometowns. Migrant workers were identified as the most vulnerable group to the risk of catching the COVID- 19 infections. This has added to their mental health issues. With the focus on migrant workers as the subject of investigation, this data set is aimed at enhancing the knowledge of the users of the data on the impact of the pandemic on the mental health issues of the internal migrant workers. Our survey probes into the psychiatric issues that migrant works face and trauma that they underwent during the pandemic using Corona Virus Anxiety Scale (CAS) which was originally developed by Lee in the year 2019. The scale uses four dimensions namely Cognitive, Emotional, Behavioural, and Psychological. The data was constructed with the help interview schedule which was developed by employing Corona Virus Anxiety Scale (CAS). We have developed this data out of 1350 valid responses elicited through the telephonic interview. The data were collected from June to August 2020 which is considered to be the peak pandemic period. We consider the period was crucial since it was characterized by the uncertain atmosphere with job markets badly hit and workers having the fear of reintroducing travel restriction being imposed by the government. Thus the data provides insights and guidance for the interested researchers to carry our related studies on the mental health of vulnerable groups like migrant workers. The data would also enable researchers and academicians to investigate the impact of such pandemic and uncertain events on the mental health of vulnerable groups. This data would enable the researcher to understand the possible adverse impacts on the anxiety levels of the dispersed population of migrant workers