Factors in Internal Migration in India : A Case Study of Ludhiana City

Abstract

Internal migration is an important instrument for filling demand and supply gaps, thereby providing dynamism in the labour market. Migrants play a very important role in urban development. Migrants do all types of jobs which are generally rejected by locals and in the process, they have become an important segment of the urban labour market in relatively developed states of India. With the development of Punjab's economy, the demand for labour increased at a fast rate. A major share of the migrant workers working in agriculture, industrial, and informal sectors of Punjab belong to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Odisha. The present paper made an attempt to examine the socioeconomic factors affecting internal migration decisions in India. The study was based on a survey of 250 migrants working in the urban informal sector in Ludhiana city. The study identified the factors affecting migration decision by using logit and probit regression approach. The study found that both push and pull factors were responsible for internal labour migration in India. Lack of job opportunities, agriculture not being profitable, unemployment, lack of land ownership in the native place, and family problems pushed people in backward states to work in more developed and prosperous states of Punjab where even informal sector employment is more remunerative. Better working conditions, support, and help from relatives and friends who had migrated earlier were the main pull factors.