Migration can be termed as the movement of people between regions, interstate and countries due to economic, social, political or environmental factors within India. It has internal and international, voluntary and forced, temporary and permanent cases. Migration helps to foster economic development by sending remittance, providing labour and bringing diversity into the economy. It also presents such problems as urban congestion, social friction, and insecurity among the migrants. The benefits should be utilized and the drawbacks discouraged by means of competent policy, social security and data-based planning.

Key Highlights for RAS Mains

What is migration?

• Migration is an act of people or group of people changing geographical locations, both internally or externally in the country. 
• According to the International Organization on Migration (IOM), a migrant is an individual who moves his residence, be it temporary or permanent, across national or regional borders.

Types of Migration

• Internal Migration
  • Intra-state (e.g. rural to urban in Maharashtra)
  • Inter-state (e.g. UP to Delhi work migration)
  • International Migration (International)
  • For example, Indians IT to USA, Gulf to GCC.
• Voluntarily or Forced Migration
  • Voluntary: to get a better chance
  • Forced: because of war, persecution or natural disaster (e.g. Rohingya to Bangladesh)
• Temporary & Permanent Migration
  • Temporary: seasonal workers
  • Permanent: moving permanently to a foreign state
• Reverse Migration
  • Back to home (e.g. in case of the COVID-19 lockdown in India)

Reasons of Migration

• Economic Factors
  • Push: poverty, unemployment, low agricultural yield
  • Pull: Wages and incentives as well as employment, urban amenities
• Socio-Cultural Factors
  • Matrimonial relationships, learning, avoiding caste discrimination, descent relations
• Political Factors
  • War, persecution, instability (e.g., Kashmiri Pandits, Sri Lankan Tamils)
• Environmental Factors
  • Calamities, drought, global warming
  • Sardar Sarovar Project is an example that displaced more than 40, 000 tribal families
• Development-Induced Migration
  • Because of large infrastructure (e.g. Narmada Dam, Ken-Betwa link)

Effects of Migration

Positive Impacts

• Economic: Labour supply, productivity, remittances ($111 bn in 2022 in the case of India)
• Social: Dissemination of ideas, family planning, school ambitions
• Cultural: diversity, multiculturalism
• Adoption of urban development: Increase in housing, services and markets
• Innovation - Labour flexibility: introduction of skills, gap filling jobs

Negative Impacts

• Demographic Imbalance: Outmigration of youths in villages Ensues → ageing in villages, Feminization of agriculture
• Urban Overcrowding: Overstrain of housing, transport and rubbish tools (e.g. slums Mumbai)
• Social Tensions: Cultural disharmony, job pressure and discrimination
• Environmental Stress: pollution, depletion of resources in towns
• Separation, mental stress: Family Disintegration

Data of Migration in India

• By MoSPI on Migration Report (2020-21)
  • All-India rate of migration: 28.9%
  • Female migrants: 47.9% (primarily with marriage related)
  • Male migration: 10.7% (mostly on work basis)
• 2011 Census
  • Internal migrant- 45.36 crore (37 percent of population)
  • Large origin states; UP, Bihar, Odisha

Migration Challenges in India

• Insecurity of work and its facilities of social security
• Small amounts of PDS, healthcare, education and housing
• Abuse and wage-slavery within the informal sectors
• Weak state mobility of provision
• COVID-19 revealed fundamental weaknesses of the urban migrant labour
• Violence and regional discrimination (e.g., 2008, the assaults on migrants of Bihar to Maharashtra)

Government Initiatives

• e- Shram portal: National registry of unorganised workers
• One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC): Empowers rations wherever it is available
• Affordable rental Housing Complexes (ARHC)
• PM Garib Kalyan Yojana: COVID-19 relief:
• The Labour Codes (Social Security Code): Inter-state migrant workers benefits
• National Migrant Labour Policy (NITI Aayog draft)

International Framework

• There is the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (2018, Morocco).
• New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants by UN (2016)
• International Migrants Day: It is on December 18 every year

Way Forward

• Universal Social Security: Transferability of plans (ONORC, Ayushman Bharat)
• Skill Development & Local Jobs: Reduce distress migration (e.g. PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana)
• Barriers to urban Population Growth: Counter-Magnet Cities (decentralise urban pressure e.g., tier-2 cities like Indore, Surat)
• Labour Protection Laws: Employ equal wages, adequate working conditions
• Data-Driven Policy: Enhance migration surveys that would allow migrating effectively
• Encouraging Integration: Maintain the social inclusion and rights of the migrants

Conclusion

Migration is a privilege and struggle. Although it leads to economic growth, diversity as well as social mobility, it also needs sound policy frameworks that manage its negative effects. Migration can be one of the foundations of sustainable development in India as part of its inclusive governance, skill-building organizations, and migrant welfare programs.