Migration is an essential phenomenon of nature. There are numerous causes of migration, regardless of the state of the economy. Social, political, cultural, and environmental, health, and educational considerations are only a few of the many variables that affect migration. Migration is an essential phenomenon of nature. There are numerous causes of migration, regardless of the state of the economy.
Social, political, cultural, and environmental, health, and educational considerations are only a few of the many variables that affect migration. One of the highlighted reasons for migration is growing urbanization.
While comparing patterns & reasons for migration among interstate & international migrants, depending on data from the 1991 census and the 2001 census, it was found that the North Zone of India has the highest number of interstate migrants as compared to other zones due to higher literacy rates, GDP, and urbanization.
Also, the Western zone shares more interstate migrants due to employment & business, and the Southern zone of India shares more interstate migrants due to education. As a whole, factors including income, literacy rate, and education are mostly responsible for internal migration.
Factors like employment and business are greatly responsible for international migrants. The COVID-19 pandemic badly hit the economic condition of the world by creating a lockdown situation. It adversely affected human life & mostly migrants because migrants neither have jobs/earnings nor enough resources to survive at their destination places.
It forces the migrants to go to their native places. To encounter a threat, it is necessary to accumulate details of migrant workers about their native place and the history of work and to organize counseling services. As per the Census of India, 2011, Maharashtra has the highest number of migrant workers at 7,901,819, followed by Gujarat (3,041,779), Tamil Nadu (3,487,974), and Andhra Pradesh (3,737,316).
The Census of India, 2011, shows that variations in migration patterns exist among different states in Northeast India, with states like Assam showing higher shares of migration. India has become the main country of origin for migrants, according to the OECD’s International Migration Outlook report on Migration 2023. The most common type of migration across India is internal migration, which constitutes 37% of the total population.
The Census of India 2011 shows that India’s internal migration is over 450 million people, shifting people from one town or village to another within their domestic territory. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) Report Migration in India, 2020–21, shows an overall migration rate of 28.9%, with a 26.5% rate in rural areas.
The 2011 Census of India revealed that the Northeast region in India has a slightly higher share of migration based on place of birth (14,540) and place of residence (14,955), with Assam having the highest share (71.49% and 71.16%, respectively). The Northeast states, including Tripura (1,299 thousand) and Meghalaya (759 thousand), collectively account for only about 3.3% of the total migration within the country, compared to the overall total migration of 455,409 thousand. Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya are the top three states in terms of total migration based on place of residence.
Studies reveal that various factors, including employment opportunities and better wages, significantly influence migration patterns in India. These factors include the search for better employment, loss of jobs, and closure of units or lack of employment opportunities. Poverty is a significant factor driving rural-to-urban migration, as poor people often move to urban areas to find jobs and improve their lifestyles.
However, they face challenges such as discrimination and inequality in urban areas. The Census of India 2021 highlights the importance of effective planning and infrastructure for poor migrant workers in urban cities. The motivation behind increasing net migration is high per capita income, access to employment, better living standards, and improved infrastructure.
Migration has both pros and cons, but it plays a crucial role in restoring globalization and helping the recovery of the economy through business networks and ease of foreign direct investment policy frameworks.
The expansion of secondary and tertiary sectors of the Indian economy, particularly the industrial sector, start-ups, and small and medium establishments, has affected migration patterns. In Northeast India, migration intensity is high, with a significant number of individuals moving within the region.
However, increasing immigration negatively impacts economic development in the Northeastern states. To address this, tribal people have introduced Interline Permits to restrict in-migration. Young migration increases labor supply to the destination and boosts productivity and economic growth.
However, migration also creates regional imbalances, necessitating the urgent implementation of schemes in underdeveloped regions to ensure people can find work in their native places and enhance the development of these regions.
~ Himasri Barman
Research Fellow-II, Population Research Centre, Gauhati University
