Distance Mobility of Migration in Rural India: The Social Ecology and Interpretation

Migration is an integral part of human civilization. It can be occurring due to perceived benefits or it can be a result and consequence which is inhabitable. The present study aims at delineating the social ecology of migration, perceived benefits of migration and ecological factors of migration. The rural areas of Chakdah and Haringhata C.D. blocks in Nadia district in West Bengal was selected for the study. For the selection of state, district, block and villages, purposive sampling techniques were adopted. 100 respondents have been interviewed for more than six months with well-constructed table to elucidate the comprehensive information about the social ecology of migration. The present study reveals that from the social ecology of agriculture, people are quitting their own land and settlements just to find a better livelihood option elsewhere. The variables age at survey, age at migration, marital age, reasons of migration, source of help at destination, amount received by household in last one year, duration of stay at home, destination of migration, pattern of migration, frequency of visiting home, deciding authority in migration, communication with out-migrant’s and utilization of additional benefits have been found extremely relevant to impact on the social ecology of migration.