Structure of Answer:

Introduce your answer by quoting statistical data of Rural-Urban migration ( 20-30 words) Write the cause of migration- under push and pull factors ( 60-70 words)

Write a note on impact- both positive and negative ( 60-70 words)

Content: (source: Kurukshetra)

Migration is being attributed to push and pulls factors. While push factors are mostly repelling and compelling ones the pull factors are largely the attracting ones. An analysis done by Greenwood on migration to urban areas in India using 1961 census data concluded that economic factors such as transportation costs, income and job opportunities significantly affect individual’s decision to migrate to city in less developed country like India. The push factors include the population pressure, declining yields, institution of marriage, disintegration of joint family system, lack of livelihood opportunities, etc; the pull factors include better educational, health care facilities, modern means of transport and communications, more employment opportunities and a growing craze for urban life.

1. Push and Pull factors

 Population Pressure: The growing population pressure on our natural resources has led to a stage where they are being used and depleted at a rate more than their natural rate of formation. The population pressure limits already limited opportunities and resources in the rural areas. More population means more and more peoples have to share the limited resources available with the rural families. This also forces them to migrate to safe destinations.

2. Decreasing per capita availability of land:

The increasing population has led to the fragmentation of land. The per capita availability of land has decreased considerably. More than eighty per cent of the farmers are now marginal and small. Such small holdings have now become uneconomical. The growing number of farmer suicides and the dropping out of farmers from their profession is an indicator of this. Farming community is now looking out for other alternatives. This also has catalytic effect in migration to urban centers for better earning opportunities.

Climate refugee: South, Southeast, and East Asia will face risks of reduced agricultural productivity as large parts of the region face increased risk of floods and droughts. By 2025, cereal crop yields will decrease 2.5-10 percent. The number of peoples who will migrate to other places to save themselves from the harsh extremities of weather due to increasing temperature will be more than from any other type of migration in the coming decades.

Lack of livelihood opportunities: Lack of livelihood opportunities in rural areas coupled with the absence of even day to day basic needs like good schools, health care facilities, financial institutions, inaccessibility and suitable markets have also compelled the rural peoples to migrate to their nearest urban centers.

The areas which once were inaccessible and beyond reach are now accessible having good roads, communication and transport facilities. This has favoured migration of the rural communities. Whenever they have lean periods or off season they migrate to urban areas for earning and then return back with the start of sowing season. Such type of seasonal and circular (also known as cyclical, oscillatory) migration has long been part of the livelihood portfolio of poor people across India. Urban areas also represent better educational, healthcare, employment opportunities which act as a pulling force for the rural peoples towards them.

Most of the rural peoples leave their houses and move to cities in search of employment in various types of industries. In urban areas many different type of industries flourish which have the capacity to absorb work force in large numbers.

Generally, migrations are caused by a variety of factors including economic, social and political factors. But, most common factors are:

1.  Marriage:

One of the important social factors of migration. Every girl has to migrate to her in-law’s house

after marriage. This has resulted in rural-urban migration. (Not considered migration officially)

2.  Employment:

Most of the people migrate from rural to urban areas in search of employment. In rural areas, employment opportunities are less due to limited types of industries but in urban areas, there is a vast scope for employment in industries, trade, transport and services. Population increase is insufficiently met by economic opportunities in rural area which lead to increase in mobility of the rural population. The social restrictions in employment like the caste system also make people resort to migrate to cities where they can work freely under the urban anonymity.

The depletion of hitherto village common properties like ponds, forests, grazing lands etc for which the marginalized communities and the tribals depended for their livelihood, made them to look into cities for their survival.

3.  Education:

There is a substantial lack of educational facilities, especially those of higher education which result in migration of people to the urban areas for this purpose. Many of them settle down in the urban areas for earning a livelihood after completing their education.

4.  Lack of Security:

Political disturbances and cultural conflicts also result in rural-urban migration. Example: Many people migrated out of Jammu and Kashmir and Assam due to disturbed conditions there

Consequences of Migration:

1.  Urbanization: Migration aids in Urbanizaton. The UN also estimated that about 60 per cent of the urban growth in developing countries is due to the rate of natural increase of urban areas and the remaining 40 per cent is due to migration. Migration is the chief mechanism by which all the world’s greatest urbanization trends have been accomplished
2. Rural depopulation: Migration to urban areas results in rural depopulation. As most of the productive work force leaves rural areas in search of better opportunities the rural areas are left behind with the old and the unable
3. Social status: Migration is helpful in equalizing social status, income of rural urban settlements, checking fragmentation of land holdings and promotes concept of division of labour and specialization. Migration also helps in cultural diffusion and cultural assimilation as peoples from diverse cultures settle and in due course of me they share and exchange their cultural values and ethos thus helping in cultural diffusion.

4. Remittances: Income sent home in the form of monetary assistance can help in paying the debts, increasing food security, help diversify livelihoods and to reduce vulnerability associated with shocks. The NSSO 64th report also states that nearly 10 per cent of the households in the rural areas had used remittances for ‘debt repayment’ and nearly 13 per cent of the households in the urban areas had used remittances for ‘saving/ investment’. These remittances have a great role in poverty reduction and development

Advantages of Migration

Migration is essential for development. It is a desirable phenomenon. But what is not desirable is the distressed migration, found in most of the developing countries resulting in overcrowding of cities and mushrooming of slums.

If well managed, migration can ensure a better living for the rural poor. In terms of the impacts of migration – it can be concluded that migration generally seems to have a positive impact on the household involved and; migration has the potential to contribute to poverty reduction, with widespread and generally beneficial impacts. Migration between urban and rural areas has fundamentally changed interactions between rural and urban settlements and the way in which we perceive the countryside. Many rural-urban migrants retain strong links with their home villages to the benefit of household members in both locations (for example, through remittances, food supplies, childcare, work at harvest me etc.). Long distance migration, usually to cities, contributes an increasing share of household income. It helps individuals and their families to increase their income, learn new skills, improve their social status, build up assets and improve their quality of life.

Migration can contribute to the empowerment of women by providing women migrants and women whose husbands have migrated with income and greater status, autonomy and self- esteem. It is important therefore, that development policy and planning to reduce poverty takes account of the complexity of migration, and the different ways in which poor men, women and children may benefit from, or lose out as a result of, migration. Migration can influence social and political development, with internal labour mobility being seen as essential to economic growth. But at the same me international migration must be managed, internal mobility must be planned for, and the rights of all migrants need to be addressed.

Migration should be managed in such a way that it can play a positive role in the process of economic development and can provide a sound basis for national prosperity. The ad-hoc policies related to urbanization and migration need to be replaced by a consistent, logical and systematic policy which can be sustained over a period.