Indian Society
2011 Census Data on Migration
- 24 Jul 2019
- 3 min read
According to census data, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have a disproportionately high number of out-migrants, while migrants constitute more than one-third of the population in metros like Delhi and Mumbai.
Migration is the movement of people from one place to another. It can be over a short or long distance, be short-term or permanent, voluntary or forced, intranational or international.
- According to the 2011 Census, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are responsible for the most number of migrants as 20.9 million people migrated outside the state from the two states.
- This is 37% of the total number of people who were inter-state migrants according to that enumeration.
- Delhi and Mumbai are widely considered migrant magnets and the 2011 Census bears that out. According to it migrants from other states in Delhi and Mumbai numbered 9.9 million, or almost a third of the combined population of 29.2 million.
- The Hindi belt is the main source of migrants. According to the census, four states, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh accounted for 50% of India’s total inter-state migrants.
- On the other hand, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana housed 50% of the country’s inter-state migrants.
- These shares are much higher than the share of these states in India’s total population.
- Uttar Pradesh figures in both lists – while there are people who leave it in search of livelihoods, there are also clearly people who head for it in search of livelihoods.
Inter-state migrations in India
- Uttar Pradesh has the highest share of out-migrants while Maharashtra has the highest share of in-migrants.
- The number of inter-state migrants grew at 55% between the 1991 and 2001 Census.
- This came down to just 33% between the 2001 and 2011 Census.
Reasons behind Migration
- The reasons vary by gender, two-thirds of women migrated from their last place of residence because of marriage. The gender-gap in migration for economic purposes (work, business and education) increases with the distance of migration.
- For every woman who migrated for work, business or education, the number of men who migrated within district, across districts but within states and across states was 3.2, 4.3 and 7.4 respectively.
- Among men, work and business account for one-third of total migrations, which is also the single largest reason for migration among men.
- While migration for marriage among women is skewed towards closer distances, men do not seem to factor in distance while migrating for work.
