National Workshop on Internal Migration and Human Development in India Vol. 2 - Workshop Papers

In 2001 the Census reported 309 million internal migrants.

70.7% of them are women, 67.2 were rural migrants and 32.8 were urban migrants.

In the urban stream there were 53.1% male migrants and 24.4 women.

Among women, 91.3 per cent in rural areas and 60.8 per cent in urban areas (83.9 per cent totally) gave marriage as the reason for migration in 2007–2008.

In 2007–2008, 28.5 per cent of rural male migrants and a majority – 55.7 per cent – of urban male migrants gave economic reasons for migration.

Gross out-migration (both inter-state and international) are high for some high- and middle- income states (Kerala, 8.01 per cent; Punjab, 6.52 percent; Haryana, 6.72 per cent) along with low-income states (Uttarakhand, 7.81 per cent; Bihar, 6.37 per cent; Uttar Pradesh, 4.99 per cent; Rajasthan, 3.96 per cent; Jharkhand, 3.37 per cent).

The NSS round estimated that a total of nearly 12.24 million people stayed away from their UPR (usual place of residence) for work/seeking work for a period that was between two and six months.

There were an estimated 15.2 million short-duration out-migrants, of whom 12.9 million (85.1 per cent) were male and 13.9 million (71 per cent) were rural out-migrants

In out-migration endemic rural areas of central and tribal regions, such as Andhra Pradesh, north Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, the incidence of families with at least one out-migrant ranges from 30 per cent to 70 per cent.

Following the introduction of MGNREGA, there is a reported decline in seasonal out-migration.

60 per cent of female short-duration out-migrants came from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe households compared with only about 38 per cent males.

As per the NSS estimates, only 82,370 children below the age of 15 or 0.4 percent of the migrating children in 2007–2008 were reported as migrating for work, while 70 per cent were reported as accompanying their parents or earning members.

The more concentrated growth is in certain regions and areas, the greater will be the demand for migrant workers.

The NSS estimates report that total remittances by out-migrants amounted to Rs 493.5 billion in 2007–2008.

Agriculture accounted for just 15.6 per cent of male labour migrants in 2007–2008, but constituted 46.6 per cent of the country’s income-earning male workforce in the same year.