Page 86 - IJPS-10-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Pandemic spurs interstate outmigration in India

in the analysis. In the third section, key findings and migrate to different parts of the country for various reasons
interpretations are presented, which encompasses an (Mishra, 2016). According to the Census of India 2011,
overview of interstate outmigration, the associated there were an estimated 54.4 million inter-state migrants
challenges, government responses, and the plight of (Figure 1), constituting 12.09% of the total internal
migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the migration in the country. However, the Economic Survey
fourth section encompasses concluding remarks, including of India 2017 estimated that an average of 5 to 6 million
policy implications, conclusions drawn from the study, and Indians migrated annually between 2001 and 2011, leading
its limitations. to an inter-state migrant population of approximately
60 million (Government of India, 2017). Although the
2. Methods latest migration data is unavailable, it is believed that the
Migration is the movement of individuals from one inter-state migration population may have increased due
location to another, often involving crossing administrative to the socio-political and economic conditions of the
boundaries for various reasons (voluntary or involuntary) country. The central government has introduced several
within a given period (United Nations, 2002). Migration urbanization policies, such as the Smart Cities Mission,
is categorized into two types: internal and international Swachh Bharat Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation,
migration. Movement among/between the countries is and Urban Transformation, which might have promoted
known as international migration, while movement within migration. A recent study by Rajan & Bhagat (2022)
the country is known as internal migration. Internal predicted a migrant population of 600 million people in
migration, in turn, is divided into inter-state migration 2021 based on the trends observed in the 2001 and 2011
and intrastate migration. Interstate migration refers to censuses.
migration among/between the states, whereas intrastate The unequal distribution of income and the
migration explains migration within the state, including concentration of industries in some states have induced
interdistrict and intradistrict migration.
migration from low-income states (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Until 1951, migration in India was primarily defined Odisha, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan) to high-income states
at the district level. In 1961, revenues village, or urban (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Haryana)
settlement, was a separate unit. This implies that an (Srivastava, 2020a; Rajan & Bhagat, 2022). In Table 1, we
individual is considered a migrant if their birthplace have presented the top 10 interstate out-migrating states of
differs from the place of enumeration (Lusome & Bhagat, the country from the 1991 to 2011 Census. As depicted in
2020). While migration data were initially provided based Table 1, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are the topmost migrating
solely on place of birth until 1971, since then, the Census states, accounting for 30% to 35% of interstate outmigration
of India has provided data based on both place of birth in the country. Various economic factors, including
(POB) and place of last residence (POLR). Consequently, chronic poverty, a high unemployment rate (Table 2),
an individual is considered a migrant if either their place lower agricultural output, skewed land distribution, higher
of birth or place of last residence differs from the place of dependency on agriculture, or lack of industrialization,
enumeration. Notably, migration data based on the place have explained the heavy outmigration from these states
of last residence is generally considered a more accurate (Sharma, 2005). Moreover, outmigration will continue to
measure. Therefore, in this paper, the place of last residence increase as long as there are economic incentives to move
has been utilized. and the ownership and operation of agricultural land are
In this paper, we referenced data from the Census of no longer the predominant source of households’ income.
India as the source for migration data, given its status as On examining the table, we can observe that Rajasthan
the largest repository of information on internal migration is the third-largest migrating state in the country across
(Lusome & Bhagat, 2020). For employment data, we utilize
information from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Our
analysis employs simple statistics, such as percentages and
coefficients of variation, to examine the data.

3. Results and discussion
3.1. Interstate outmigration in India
Over the past two and a half decades, migration within
India has become a common occurrence. Regardless of Figure 1. Internal migrants in India from 1981 – 2011 (Census of India,
caste, gender, or class hierarchy, thousands of individuals 1981 – 2011)

Volume 10 Issue 3 (2024) 80 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0916