Patterns and trends of migration in India and Delhi since the 1990s

This paper explores the migration trends in the country and specifically in Delhi from 1991-2011 using Census and NSS data. An analysis of migration trends in the country shows rising migration after 1991 with employment opportunities reducing in the rural areas. There has been an increase in the migration to urban areas and a decline in the migration to rural areas. There has been an increase in the urban-urban migration stream, a decrease in the rural-rural migration stream and a rise in the dependent migration. These trends are reflective of the migrants belonging to an upper socio-economic stratum. The paper specifically studies the migration trends in urban areas like Delhi which have a high migrant population. There was a rise in the urban to urban migrant stream to Delhi implying an improvement in the economic status of the migrants to Delhi. While a large proportion of the male migrants moved to Delhi as they were unemployed and subsequently found employment, there could also be many who could not get a foothold in the city and were left behind.