Emerging Patterns of migration streams in India: A State Level Analysis of 2011 Census

Abstract

This article discusses changing patterns of migration in India using the data from the 2011 Census. In this study, the statistical (growth rate, percentage distribution) and cartographic methods have been used to analyse and map the changing patterns of migration across the states in India. It is found that in India, 37.5 percent of the population experienced spatial mobility in the 2011 Census which is higher than that of the 2001 Census (30.8 percent). The volume of migrants in the intercensal period (2001 to 2011) increased from 98.3 million to 161.4 million, an increase of over 64 percent. Overall, migration is more likely among the rural populations compared to the urban. However, substantial increase in the volume of urban-urban movements (14 million in 2001 to around 33 million in 2011) is the focus of the current study along with the rural-urban flows. For the first time in Indian Census history, the volume of urban-urban migration overtook the rural-urban migration volume in the last intercensal period. Creation of additional 2700 new Census Towns in the 2011 Census may be the real driving force for this staggering increase