South Asia Fewer Indians Moving to Cities: Report Reveals A Surprising Discovery About Labour Migration

[Krishna with Flute]

Date of Event: Jan 8, 2025 Source : https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/fewer-indians-moving-to-cities-report-reveals-a-surprising-discovery-about-labour-migration/ar-AA1x95Dx?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=a6df8c2746ed4992941d1f4a5f046bf8&ei=2

Fewer Indians Moving to Cities: Report Reveals A Surprising Discovery About Labour Migration​

Story by Vidhee Tripathi
• 5h • 2 min read

Fewer Indians Moving to Cities: Report Reveals A Surprising Discovery About Labour Migration
The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) recently released statistics from a research called "400 Million Dreams!" that shows a decrease in India's rural-to-urban migration. According to the data, there have been 5.4 million fewer migrants, or 11.8%, than in 2011.


The decline is due to several reasons, such as enhanced government services and increased economic opportunities in rural areas.

Decline in India's Labour Migration Rate​

In 2011, India's migration rate was 37.6%; by 2023, it had dropped to 28.9%. The number of workers migrating for economic reasons has dropped to 5 million, making up just 6.7% of the workforce. This represents a significant decline from 9.3% in 2011 and 8.2% in 1991 and 2001. While migration declined by -1 percent, the workforce has expanded at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.8%.

Factors Behind Reduced Migration​

According to the study, increased infrastructure, connectivity, and government services like health and education have all helped to reduce migration. The truth of this claim is dubious, nevertheless, evidence suggests that the labour movement has decreased in spite of these advancements.

Indicators of Reduced Economic Migration​

The paper uses data from railway tickets to show that post-pandemic migration decreased by 6.7% during peak months. In addition, bus traffic has decreased by 16% since FY11. Another indicator of a decline in economic migration is the decline in the number of passengers on non-suburban trains.

The study evaluates urban-rural remittances by analyzing savings account to current account (SA/CA) ratios. Whereas smaller ratios show strong economic activity, higher SA/CA ratios show locations with outbound migration. In contrast to rural areas like Bihar, which have a high ratio of 10.14, major cities like Delhi and Mumbai have lower ratios, indicating increased economic activity.

Ruralization is the New Trend​

According to the survey, the decrease in migration is more indicative of a growing tendency toward ruralization than urbanization. Increased reliance on agriculture has resulted in stagnating rural earnings and disguised unemployment. This tendency is a result of both increased automation and a decline in economic activity.

 

[Dogun18]

@Sharma Ji

 

[Sharma Ji]

@Sharma Ji

Ya, good trend, this. Traditionally folk from smaller towns and villages have moved to the cities looking for opportunity and work which results in a lot of overcrowding, and other problems, such as we saw in Maharashtra some years ago. The local blue collar transport and cabbie drivers were getting violent against these internal migrants because their jobs were being taken over etc

 

[Krishna with Flute]

We need to reactivate Kalam sir's idea of rural facility in urban area.

 

[Sharma Ji]

We need to reactivate Kalam sir's idea of rural facility in urban area.

what was that ?

 

[Krishna with Flute]

what was that ?

A kalam sir's report on developing rural area making a cluster of villages and of say 15 to 25 villages and provide all facilities such as Hospitals, good school and colleges in different villages which will be connected by good road and this cluster will be connected to highways by a road. It is a elaborate report. You may explore.

 

[Krishna with Flute]

Some villages of Gujarat can be the roll-models for villages. They are ultra rich with amazing infrastructure and mind-boggling arrangements.

 

[Guru Dutt]

A kalam sir's report on developing rural area making a cluster of villages and of say 15 to 25 villages and provide all facilities such as Hospitals, good school and colleges in different villages which will be connected by good road and this cluster will be connected to highways by a road. It is a elaborate report. You may explore.

well you forget that when MODI ji became PM in 2014 he started programme for every NDA Member or Parliament of adopting a Village which did change destiny of many villages in last 10 years

then infra development in last 10 years with all those labharti programmes like Ujjwalla and PM housing schemens and sending clean water and electricity & internet to every village had its own effects

just look at the fact a cunstruction worker in 2012-13 used to work for 150-200 today they are not avilable for even 500

 

[Krishna with Flute]

well you forget that when MODI ji became PM in 2014 he started programme for every NDA Member or Parliament of adopting a Village which did change destiny of many villages in last 10 years

then infra development in last 10 years with all those labharti programmes like Ujjwalla and PM housing schemens and sending clean water and electricity & internet to every village had its own effects

just look at the fact a cunstruction worker in 2012-13 used to work for 150-200 today they are not avilable for even 500

I Know that and I had been to Arun Jaitley's adopted village few times. However, the problem is that village level leadership is lacking these villages who can carry these villages forwards with the collective efforts of villagers.