Model Question and Answers for APSC | Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last four decades.

Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last four decades.

Model Question and Answers for APSC | Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last four decades.

Ans: Intra-National and International mobility is an essential aspect of the development process, especially for India, which possesses a large demographic dividend as a distinguishing asset.

Internal migration

Internal migration is an important and pervasive feature of the Indian economy and society. The 2011 Census enumerated 450 million internal migrants.

International migration

India has the largest diaspora population in the world with 18 million people from the country living outside their homeland in 2020, according to a report by the United Nations.

Trend of migration within India:

  1. The two broad types of internal migration- Long term and seasonal migration.
  2. Most short-term migrants belong to socioeconomically deprived groups, such as Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, having negligible educational attainment, limited assets and resource deficits; Females (70%) more than males (30%); And a significant portion is child migrants; Normally for blue unskilled jobs like construction workers
  3. The shares of inter-district and interstate migrants are 24 and 13 per cent, respectively.
  4. Interstate migration has increased at the fastest rate since economic liberalisation;
  5. Key destination states are Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Karnataka; Migrants are mostly employed in the following subsectors: construction, domestic work, textile, brick-kilns, transportation, mines, quarries and agriculture.
  6. Migration from North Indian states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh to South Indian states as cheap unskilled labour
  7. Migration to urban centres like delhi from West Bengal and Bihar for blue collar jobs, cab drivers and domestic help

Trend in migration outside India:

  1. The oil price boom in 1973 caused an explosive growth in migration to the middle east region. According to the world bank report UAE is the largest destination for Indian migrants specially from South Indian states like Kerala
  2. Migration to the USA following the silicon valley led to a technological revolution. Frequent issue of H1B visas brings enormity of this migration into light
  3. Migration of Indian medical professionals to western world for better income and quality of life
  4. At the same time, the volume of labour migration within the Asian region was growing with rapid economic growth in East Asia and the emergence of newly industrialising economies such as Malaysia and Thailand.

Evidence from different studies suggests that migration results in significant global welfare increases. As such, developed countries and regions could simply increase global welfare by opening their doors to more immigration.