The recently released paper titled “400 Million Dreams!” by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) sheds light on the state of migration in India, reflecting significant trends and patterns based on contemporary data.
Key Highlights of the Report:
- Decline in Domestic Migration:
- The number of domestic migrants in 2023 stood at 40.20 crore (402 million), which is 11.78% lower than the figure reported in Census 2011.
- The migration rate has dropped from 37.64% (Census 2011) to 28.88% of the total population.
- Data Sources Used: The report employs three granular and high-frequency datasets to analyze migration trends:
- Indian Railways Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS): For passenger volumes.
- Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI): For mobile subscriber roaming data.
- District-level Banking Data: To assess the economic impact of migration at the origin points.
- Migration Dynamics:
- Major Urban Centers as Origins:
- Districts around urban agglomerations such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, and Kolkata are the primary sources of migrants.
- Top Migration Dyads:
- Uttar Pradesh → Delhi.
- Gujarat → Maharashtra.
- Telangana → Andhra Pradesh.
- Bihar → Delhi.
- Major Urban Centers as Origins:
- State-Level Migration Trends:
- States with Growing Inflows:
- West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Karnataka show the highest growth in the percentage share of arriving migrants.
- States with Reduced Share:
- Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have seen a decline in their share of total migrants.
- States with Growing Inflows:
