A lot of people in India migrate for cities and towns for work. But how many among them tasted success? A good number, actually. This is according to the recently published National Sample Survey Office’s 78th round, Multiple Indicators Survey.

Data shows that, of the people who had an income before leaving their homes, 56.2 per cent noted an increase in their income. The proportion was 46.5 per cent for people who moved to rural areas, but a whopping 67.7 per cent for the ones who moved to urban India.

The trend isn’t uniform across States. For instance, 81.6 per cent of the already employed people who moved to Haryana saw an increase in their income. It was 81.4 per cent in Telangana and 66 per cent in Tamil Nadu. However, of this group of people, only 24.8 per cent who moved to Kerala saw an increase in income.

The drivers and destinations

Even in 2021, marriage was the reason that drove most Indian women to move out of their homes. Close to 90 per cent of India’s women migrants (86.8 per cent, precisely) left their homes to go live in a different place due to marriage.

Just 1.3 per cent of women, who are migrants right now, left their homes for jobs or to search for jobs. The survey defines a migrant as anyone who has been staying for six months or more in a place, which is not their hometown. The findings of this study are not quite different from what the 2011 census showed. However, the proportion of women who migrated, owing to marriage, has reduced from 97 per cent to 86.8 per cent.

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At the same time, of the male migrants, only 6.2 per cent said that they moved out of their hometowns because of marriage. Most men move in search of jobs. That is 42.9 per cent of the total male migrants in India. “Among males, employment was the main reason for migration, being 38.7 per cent in rural areas and 56.1 per cent in urban areas. For females, marriage was the main reason for migration, being 93.4 per cent in rural areas and 71.5 per cent in urban areas,” the survey observed.

The survey also notes that close to 30 per cent of India’s population are migrants. Among the larger States, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala house a large proportion of them. Of Himachal Pradesh’s population, 45.7 per cent are migrants. The proportion is 38 per cent in Kerala. This includes inter-State and intra-State migrants.

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