As per an NSSO survey (55th round conducted in 1999-2000) as many as 27 per cent of Indians are migrants — a set almost as large as the SC and ST population combined. As many as a third of the total urban population is migrant as opposed to a fourth for rural areas. But many of these have been in their new location for many years. If we concentrate on those who have migrated in less than a decade, the figures are still large — about 11 per cent (16 and 9 per cent of the urban and rural population respectively). On top of that another 1 per cent of the total population migrates seasonally to other places for more than two months a year. However, the recent killings in Assam and the sordid tale in Noida both indicate that India is not ready for the large-scale migration.

The bulk of the migration is for employment, though more than half of the women migrate due to marriage and many children migrate as their parents migrate, ultimately almost all of the long-term location choice is for employment opportunities of household members. This is of course natural. As some parts of the country grow faster, they create more opportunities than other areas. Not surprisingly net migrants to population rates are highest in states such as Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, each showing sustained high economic growth historically. And not surprisingly, Bihar and UP are by far the largest suppliers of domestic migrants.

... contd.