Trends and Patterns of Population Migration: Analytical Study In Indian Context

One important facet of study on population is the study of migration arising out of various social, economic or political reasons. For a large country like India, the study of movement of population in different parts of the country helps in understanding the dynamics of the society better. At this junction in the economic development, in the country, especially when many states are undergoing faster economic development, particularly in areas, such as, manufacturing, information technology or service sectors, data migration profile of population has become more important. When a person is enumerated in census at a different place than his / her place of birth, she / he is considered a migrant. This may be due to marriage, which is the most common reason for migration among females-or for work, what is the case as generally among males, etc. It also happens that many return to their place of birth after staying out. To capture such movements of population census collect information on migration by last helps to understand the current migration scenario better. In India, as per census 2001, about 307 million people have been reported as migration by place of birth. Out of them about 259 million (84.2%), migrated from one part of the state to another, i.e., from one village or town to another village or town. 42 million (2%) from outside the country. The data on migration by last residence in India as per Census 2001 shows that the total number of migrants has been 314 million. Out of these migrants by last residence, 268 million (85%) has been intra-state migrants, those who migrated from one are of the state to another. 41 million (13%) were interstate migrants and 5.1 million (1.6%) migrated from outside of the country [1].

In countries like the United States (US), immigration plays an important role in the population increase. However, in countries like India, immigration plays a very small role in the population change. Although people from neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal migrate to India; at the same time Indians migrate to other countries like the US, Australia, and the UK during the 1971 war between India and Pakistan over Bangladesh, the immigration rate increased tremendously [3]. However, currently the migration in India is -0.08 migrants per 1000 population and is decreasing further. This is definitely good for India. This way, the population might eventually come close to being under control and more people may get better job opportunities and further education [3]. Migration is defined as a move from one migration defining area to another, usually crossing administrative boundaries made during a given migration interval and involving a change of residence (UN 1993). The change in residence can take place either permanent or semi-permanent or temporary basis (Premi, 1990). Internal migration involves a change of residence within national borders (Dang 2005). Until 1951, district was the migration defining area (MDA), implying that a person was considered a migrant in India only if he or she has changed residence from the district of birth to another district or a state. Since 1961, data on migration have been collected by considering each Analysis of migration pattern is important to understand the changes taking place in the people’s movement within the country. It is most volatile component of population growth and most sensitive to economic, political and cultural factors (Singh, 1998). Migration can be measured either as events or transitions. The former are normally associated with population registers, which record individual moves while the latter generally derived from censuses compare place of residence at two points in time. A recent survey shows that census is the largest source of information on internal migration at the cross-country level. A study shows that 138 countries collected information on internal migration in their censuses compared to 35 through registers and 22 from surveys (Bell, 2003). In 1971 census, an additional question on place of last residence was introduced to collect migration data. Since then, census provides data on migrants based on place of birth (POB) and place of last residence (POLR). If the place of birth or place of last residence is different from the place of enumeration, a person is defined as a migrant. On the other hand, if the place of birth and place of enumeration is the same, the person is a non-migrant (Bhagat, 2005).

Most people move for economic reasons, but some migrate to escape political or religious persecution or simply to fulfill a personal dream. Some experts divide the many reasons people leave their homes for a new one into push and pull factors. Push factors might be widespread unemployment, lack of farmland, famine, or war at home. The Great Depression (1929–1939) is a good example of a push factor, as hard times encouraged more residents to leave the United States than move in. In the 1980s and 1990s, hundreds of thousands of Africans were pushed out of their homelands to neighboring countries because of famine and civil war [2]. Factors that attract migrants are called pull factors. These include a booming economy, favorable immigration laws, or free agricultural land in the area to which the migrant is moving. For example, the labor shortage in Japan is pulling record numbers of legal and illegal immigrants to fill the low-status, low-paying, or dangerous jobs that Japanese natives reject. In order to keep a working population that can support its elderly, Japan would need 17 million new immigrants by 2050, according to a recent United Nations report. Other estimates have said Japan would need 400,000 new immigrants each year; however the idea of increased immigration is not favorable to most Japanese [2]. country, and more than 90 percent were from Europe (see chart, "Regional Origins of Immigrants to the United States, Selected Years"). By mid-century, just half of the migrants were from Europe. The total number of immigrants fell to around 1 million in the 1940s. In the 1980s the number of migrants increased to levels similar to those at the turn of the century. But 84 percent of these migrants were from Latin America and Asia, and just 10 percent were from Europe. The volume of legal immigration and the prevalence of migrants from Asia and Latin America will continue in the new century. Percentage of U.S. Population Growth from Migration, 1900–2008 Source: U.S. Census Bureau [2]. The origins of immigrants change over time, as do their numbers and the effect that they have on U.S. population growth. According to one estimate, about 42 percent of the U.S. population in 1900 resulted from immigration during the preceding century. Immigration was an even greater factor in growth between 1900 and 1950, when 20 million people entered the country. Natural increase added an average of 1 percent of the population increase per year during that period. At that rate the population would have doubled in about 70 years, but it took only 50 years to double. Migration stepped up the doubling by 20 years (see figure, "Percentage of U.S. Population Growth from Migration"). Many immigrants have children once they arrive in the United States, creating further momentum for population growth. Currently, fertility rates of immigrants are higher than those of the U.S.-born population [2]. Category Migrations by Place of birth Percentage A. Total Population 1,028,610,328 B. Total Migrations 307,149,736 29.9 B.1 Migrants within the state of enumeration 258,641,103 84.2

B.12 Migrants from other districts of the state 76,841,466 29.7 B.2 Migrants from other states in India 42,341,703 13.8 B.3 Migrants from other countries 6,166,930 2.0 Source: Table 1 India, Census of India 2001.

TABLE 2: NUMBER OF MIGRANTS BY PLACE OF LAST RESIDENCE – INDIA 2001

A. Total Population 1,028,610,328 B. Total Migrations 314,541,350 30.6 B.1 Migrants within the state of enumeration 268,219,260 85.3 B.11 Migrants from within the districts 193,592,938 72.2 B.12 Migrants from other districts of the state 74,626,322 17.8 B.2 Migrants from other states in India 41,166,265 13.1 B.3 Migrants from other countries 5,155,423 1.6 See Reference [1] Opportunities in urban areas for employment, education, etc have been a pull factor attracting migrants from rural to urban areas and from smaller towns and cities to larger urban areas. There is also migration in the opposite direction from urban to rural areas due to various reasons. The migration during the last decade, i.e., migrants with duration of residence of 0-9 years at the place of enumeration, by various migration streams are summarized in the following table:

Rural Urban status of place of last residence Rural unban status of place of enumeration Total Rural Urban Total 97,560,320 61,428,374 36,131,946 Rural 73,949,607 53,354,376 20,595,231 Urban 20,655,277 6,266,503 14,388,774 Unclassified 2,955,436 1,807,495 1,147,941 Source : Table D-2, Census of India 2001 See Reference [1]

Pattern The pattern of internal migration may be divided into the following: intra-state movement in the case of movement of people within the state itself, and inter-state movement when the migrants cross the borders of a state and settle down in another state. The bulk of intra-state migrations were not caused by economic factors. Since about three-fourths of all migrants were females, it becomes obvious that marriage was the prime reason for such migration [4]. Generally, about one-half of male intra-state migrants belong to rural-to-rural category. Most of these R→R migrants are from backward states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. It is obvious that migrants moved from their place of origin in search of better jobs in agricultural farms or other establishments in rural areas [4]. Out-migration mostly takes place from underdeveloped states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Migrants had a tendency to move into comparatively developed regions like West Bengal, Maharashtra, the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Chandigarh, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Assam and Madhya Pradesh also witnessed in-migration but on a lesser scale. Uneven development between regions is believed to be the major cause of migration. It is unfortunate that most of the major metropolitan cities of India are currently witnessing heavy in- migration and migrants [4].

Migration is the most difficult component to predict and is most affected by government policies. Because nations can control their borders, they may regulate the flow of legal immigrants. The oil-producing countries in the Middle East offered financial incentives to attract immigrants, just as the United States and Australia once offered free land. In 1990, Japan permitted employment rights and residence for ethnic Japanese from Latin America. The United States' immigrant population (legal and illegal) reached an estimated 37.9 million in 2007. An estimated 12 million were unauthorized.

1. http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/mi grations.aspx 2. http://www.prb.org/Publications/Lesson-Plans/HumanPopulation/Migration.aspx 3. http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/population/factors-influencing-growth-pattern-of-population-in-india/39538/ 4. http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/india-2/migration-and-trends-of-migration-in-india/42411/ 5. Bell, Martin. 2003. “Comparing Internal Migration between Countries: Measures, Data Sources and Results.” Paper Presented in Population Association of America 2003, Minneapoplis, May 1-3. 6. Bhagat, R.B., 2005. “Conceptual Issues in Measurement of Internal Migration in India.” IUSSP XXVth International Conference, Contributed Papers, France, July 18-23. 7. Census of India 2001. Soft copy, India D-series, Migration Tables. Registrar General and Census commisioner, India. 8. Dang, N.A., 2005. Internal Migration: Opportunities and challenges for the Renovation and Development in Vietnam, APEC, Hanoi. 9. Premi, M. K., 1990. “India”. In Charles B. Nam, William J. Serow, and David F. Sly (eds.), International Handbook on Internal Migration. New York: Greenwood Press. 10. Singh, D.P., 1998. “Internal Migration in India: 1961-1991” Demography India 27(1): 245-261.