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44 Women in the Economy (MWG-011)
migration among women. Indeed, females have dominated the migration streams within the country
due to the practice of marrying outside the village and the women joining the husband or his family
after marriage. Migration even among the men has been relatively high due to natural calamities such
as famines that uprooted thousands from the agrarian system and shifted them to cities, towns, and
better-off rural areas, in search of sustenance.
The growth rate of migrant population picked up marginally during 1971- 81 which is reflected in a
slight improvement in the percentage of migrants. But this was due to the growth of women migrants
that can be attributed to socio-cultural factors. As far as the males are concerned, the growth rates of
migrants were less than that of the population, both in rural as well as urban areas, resulting in
continuous decline in percentage figures during 1961-91. Importantly, since a large part of female
migration is due to marriage and other social factors, it would make sense to look at the pattern of
male migration only in order to focus attention on mobility of labor due to economic reasons.
Reasons of migration: For the first time, the 1981 Census attempted to gather data on the reasons
for migration, broadly classified as employment, education, marriage, consequent on family
movement and other reasons. The reasons for migration differed by distance and type of origin /
destination. Of the males, the proportion of migrants who moved for employment increased with the
distance moved. When the distance of migration is fixed, rural-to-urban and urban-to-urban
migration streams are found to have a higher proportion of migrants for employment purposes than
other streams.
• More than 61 per cent of the rural-to-urban movements and
• 48.9 per cent of the urban-to-urban movements of interstate male migration were for
employment.
Of the females, the highest percentage (82.8 % by reasons of marriage) was observed among the
short-distance migrations between rural areas. When the rural/ urban status of origin / destination of
migration of migrants was analyzed, maximum males who had migrated for employment purposes
were interstate migrants. On the whole, marriage for females and employment and family movement
for males are the major causes of population mobility in India.
Consequences of migration: Migration from the countryside to the cities bears a close functional
relationship with the process of industrialization, technological advancement and other cultural
changes which characterize the evolution of modern society in almost all parts of the world. Migration
is due not only to the pull of the city and push of the village but is also the interaction of several other
factors. When increasing population in rural areas starts spreading into cities, the influx of this over-
population occurs on a much larger scale than the city can absorb. Since a considerable part of the
working people from the village do not meet the demands made on manpower by modern
manufacturing in view of their inadequate skill and poor experience and the socio-cultural gap
between town and countryside it becomes difficult for the migrants to adapt to the urban
environment; the impact of the city is not reducible to simply pull and that of the village to push.
• The first consequence is uneven regional development. In creating facilities for
urbanization and industrialization, most of the resources are eaten up, leaving the other parts
of the country endlessly aspiring for some favors and privileges from the authority. Conflict,
therefore, arises between the favoured and the non-favoured segments.
• The second consequence is related to the creation of urban areas as a geographical entity.
Two kinds of uprooting take place. Firstly, some people are uprooted from their traditional
rural setting to resettle in urban areas, and secondly the original inhabitants of the urban
areas too get uprooted. This problem becomes most pertinent because of the regional
disparities in development. Areas where facilities are created attract incessant flow of
population from the rest of the country. The geographical area of urban enclaves, therefore,
extends infinitely, creating more intense social tensions. This is the general experience of all
industrialized urban areas in India.
An important consequence of the massive influx of rural population into the cities is a sharp
aggravation of the housing problem, especially in the developing countries. This results in
deterioration of the general ecological balance in large cities, where 30-50 per cent population lives in
dilapidated houses/slums.
Migration causes health, nutrition and even education problems to these slum dwellers and they have
to lead a miserable life. It also leads to physical and other problems to people living in cities, because
the flow is disproportionate and unsystematic.
With the disproportionate inflow into cities, the problem of sanitation etc. increases tremendously,
creating pollution. It increases the load of utilities and transport, etc., for which the city might not
have been planned. Heavy flow of people may create temporary unemployment in these areas and
create all types of corruption in cities.