By Supriya
Migration is a way to shift from one place to another for living and for work. Migration of people from their home to another city / state / country is called migration. It happens due to job, shelter and some other reasons.
Migration is not a new word or method. It began in Indian when lakhs of Indians were transported as workers to the European colonies in 1833 as an alternative to European labor during British rule. This system was known as the Indian Indenture system. During this migration 1.5 million Indians were deported to the colonies.
According to the 2001 census, out of 1.02 billion, 307 million i.e. 30% were reported as migrants at the place of birth. Number of migrants – The 2011 Census, NSSO Survey and Economic Survey show that about 65 million inter-states are migrants with 33% of them being workers.
Of these, according to the census, the largest number of migrant women is in the construction sector which includes 67% in cities and 73% in rural areas.
On the other hand number of expatriate males are more in public and modern services which include 16% in cities and 40% in rural areas. (Title – Indian migrants across India, written by – Sushant singh and Aanchal Magarine, 29 April 2020, Indian express, New Delhi).
According to the 2011 census, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have about 20.9 million outbound migrants with 37% being inter-state migrants. (Abhishek Jha and Vijdan, Hindustan Times, 20 July 2020, New Delhi)
According to a study conducted by the Center for Development Economics of Punjabi University, 70% of the people coming to the cities are from outside the state of Punjab and only 30% are rural Punjabis. (70% workforce in Punjab cities is from outside state, says study. Gurpreet Nibber, Hindustan Times, Chandigarh, 15 oct 2020)
If we talk about the migrants from Bihar, then 31% of them are settled in Punjab.
Reasons –
1.Economic reasons- Unemployment and poverty can force people to migrate from one place to another. People usually migrate to cities in search of better employment opportunities.
According to the 2007-08 report of the All India Proportion of Internal Migrants by Reason for Migration , the migration rate of men due to employment or economic reasons in India is 29.1 (integer out of 100) and it’s 0.5 among women (rounding out of 100), this is the rate of those who come from their villages to other villages. The rate is 60.9 (rounded off 100) for men and 2.6 women who come from their village to a city for a job.
There are about 5.20 lakh migrants in India who are from Bihar. While 1.49 lakh people of the state are migrants in Punjab who have settled in Punjab from other states and 14,441 of them are migrants who came to Punjab due to employment reasons. (Punjab tops lists of city migrants, Times of India, Rajinder, Chandigarh, 1 august 2019)
2. Social causes – Migrations can also occur due to social factors like family marriage, children etc. In our Indian society, after marriage, girls have to recide on the residence of the groom.
In India, it is 12.2 for men migrating from one village to another after marriage and 92.6 for women (rounding out of 100). The same rate of men going from one village to another after marriage is 1.6 and that of women is 62.8.
According to the studies at the International Institute for Population Sciences, 47% of women in Bihar are literate, 22% work for wages and 3/4th of them communicate with their husbands over phone. Seasonal migration is more prominent in Bihar, as 90% of the seasonal migration is from Bihar. (50% of Bihar people exposed to migration: study, Times of India, BK Mishra, 15 Feb 2020)
Out of a total of 1.49 lakh migrants, 19,748 migrants are those who migrated to Punjab after marriage.
3. Environmental causes: Due to natural calamities like flood, famine, drought, earthquake etc., people are forced to migrate to a safe place, homeless people have to migrate to other parts of the country.
Over 5 million internal displacements occurred in India in 2019, the highest in the world. In 2019, India was on the number one among all internal displacements caused by disasters worldwide, mostly due to floods, cyclones and droughts.
The southwest monsoon caused 26 lakh displacements due to flooding, while Cyclone Phani experienced 18 lakh displacement, followed by cyclone Vayu and Bulbul. On the other hand, drought conditions in 19 states resulted in another 63,000 displacements. (Lost at home: Over 5 million people internally displaced in India in 2019, says UN report PTI, 5 may 2020, The Hindu)
A state-wise ranking on water resources management and environment was also created. The national average of governance on environment was 5.6 out of 10. Punjab’s score alone was larger than the national average. Punjab’s score was 5.2. Bihar is the most vulnerable state for floods. Roughly, 69.70 lakh hectares of land and 74% of its land area is affected by destructive and recurrent floods (NIDM – National Disaster Management Report 2011)
4. Medical reasons: Some people migrate for reasons of better medical and health care. Some people may experience poor health conditions as the climate of the region may not suit them.
Some cities may have high pollution levels and therefore may not allow people with poor health to live in society. Such people move to other cities with lower pollution levels and where proper health care is possible.
Migration is an integral part of population dynamics. According to the National Sample Survey 2007-08, the number of migrant families per 1000 households in India was 33 in urban areas. Two-thirds of the families migrated due to employment related reasons. Another 21% of the families moved for the purpose of the study.
Other reasons for migration of families include forced migration (natural disaster, social / political problem, and displacement by development projects), acquisition of own flats / houses, housing problems, health care, postpartum marriages, and so on. (Indian journal of community medicine) In Bihar there are about 0.2% of people who migrate for medical reasons.
5. Educational reasons – Due to lack of educational facilities at the place of residence, people migrate to urban areas in case of internal migration and other countries in terms of international migration for better educational opportunities.
In 2020, India has become the world’s largest pool of young people, on the contrary, India lacks employment opportunities, emigration of deserving people. Out of 1.49 lakh migrants in Punjab, 886 cases were in which people had migrated due to educational reasons.
According to NSSO’s Reason of Migration from Bihar to Other States 2007-08 report, about 1.9% of migrants from Bihar are migrating due to education.
Positive impact –
1. Labor Demand and Supply – Migration fills gaps in the demand and supply of labor, efficiently allocating skilled labor, unskilled labor, and cheap labor.
2. Economic Remittance – The economic well-being of migrants provides families with insurance against risk in the core areas, increases consumer spending and invests in health, education and wealth creation.
3. Skills Development – Migration enhances the knowledge and skills of migrants through contact and interaction with the outside world.
4. Quality of life – Increases the chances of migration, employment and economic prosperity which in turn improves the quality of life. The migrants send additional income and remittances back home, thereby positively impacting their place of origin.
5. Social Remittance – Migration helps to improve the social life of migrants, as they learn about new cultures, customs and languages which helps to improve brotherhood among people and more equality and tolerance Ensures.
6. Demographic advantage – As a result of outbreaks, the population density of the place of origin decreases and the birth rate decreases.
Negative effect –
1. Demographic profile: LargLarge numbers of migrations can change the demographic profiles of communities, as most youth move out, leaving only women and the elderly to work on land.
2. Political boycott: Migrant workers are deprived of many opportunities to exercise their political rights like the right to vote.
3. The population explosion and the residence of workers increases competition for jobs, homes, school facilities etc. and a large population puts a lot of pressure on natural resources, facilities and services.
4. Uneducated and unskilled migrants are ineligible for most jobs, due to lack of basic knowledge and life skills, but are also at risk of exploitation, trafficking, psychological exploitation and gender -based violence in the case of female migrants.
5. Increased Slum: Mass migration leads to increase in slum areas, infrastructure at destination and compromise in quality of life, which in turn leads to many other problems like unknown conditions, crime, pollution etc.
Remittances from other countries –
Today, India has the largest global expatriate in over 110 countries. There are 30 million Indians abroad and India was the top recipient of remittances in 2018 with an inflow of $ 79 billion.
These millions of people sending billions of dollars as remittances to their families have helped India, as it has become an indispensable source of their well-being and national income also.
The states which witness large scale migration in India are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. These states account for more than 80 percent of India’s total remittances, with Kerala being the highest (19 percent). UP has the highest number of migrants, followed by Bihar.
While the Indian economy as a whole is not dependent on remittances from abroad, states like Kerala and Punjab are among the most remittance-dependent economies in the world. (moneycontrol.com, Nila Nair, 1 may 2020)
Reverse migration –
This sudden lockdown due to corona virus has caused problems to the workers mostly. Millions of workers walked millions of miles to go back to their homes. Some of them also died on the way, whose data is not available. (According to the government).
Reverse migration has had the greatest impact on the population and resources in the states like UP and Bihar, where 2.36 million migrants returned during the lockdown. (livemint, Anuja and Ayan Verma, 23 June 2020) About 6.4 lakh migrant laborers from other states in Punjab wanted to return home. (The Economic times, Prashant Kumar, ET bureau, 3 May 2020)
If we talk about India’s migration rate of 2020, then this time it was -0.369 per thousand population. There is a decrease of 3.66% in the migration rate of 2020 from 2019, which was -0.383 in 2019 as per population of 1000. (UN-World population prospects).
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