MIGRATION PATTERN WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO NORTH EASTERN REGION OF INDIA

North East India, popularly Known as „Seven Sister States‟, comprising Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland , Tripura and recently including Sikkim can earned a diverse and unique identity within and outside the nation. The Siliguri corridor, which connects mainland India with the rest of the North Eastern states, is regarded as the „Mongoloid Fringe‟, from where the land of the Mongoloid races starts. This uncommon area of nations with natural boutiques attracts the migrants from all over the world leading different problems on local people. This paper mainly tries to examine the pattern of migration of North Eastern region by considering impacts of migration on the migrated region.


Methodology:-
To prepare this paper we used analytical method, the study is based on the various observations as well as secondary source of data that has been taken from various journals, research papers, magazins and websites. The paper is discussed on both qualitative and quantitative data is included.

Analysis:
The Northeast India is the easternmost region that represents both a geographic and political administrative division of India. It comprises of eight states viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The total population of Northeast India is 46 million with 68 percent of that living in Assam. Assam also has a higher population density of 397 persons per km2 then the national average of 382 persons per km2. As per 2011 census, Meghalaya recorded the highest population growth of 27.8 percent among all the states of the region, higher than the national average at 17.64 percent; while Nagaland recorded the lowest in the entire country with a negative 0.5 percent. The present paper alongside showing the migration pattern of these north eastern states also seeks to discuss the types of migration( in general) and the causes of migration (especially in the north eastern states).

Types of Migration:
Before discussing the causes and migration pattern of the north eastern states it is important to know the various types of migration. Thus, migration can be generally of the following types: 1. Immigration and Emigration: When people from one country move permanently to another country, for example, if people from India move to America than for America, it is termed as Immigration, whereas for India it would be termes as Emigration. 2. In-migration and Out -migration: In-migration means migration that occure within a particular area only, while out-migration means migrating out of that area. Both types of migration are called internal migration occurring within the country. For example, migration from Bihar to Bengal is in-migration for Bengal, while it is outmigration for Bihar. 3. Gross and Net Migration: The total number of person coming in the country and the total number of people going out of the country for residing during any time period is called gross migration. The difference between the total number of persons coming to reside in a country as well as going out of the country for residing during any time period is termed as net migration. 4. Internal Migration and External Migration: Internal migration is the movement of people in different states and regions within the country national border. On the other hand, external or international migration refers to the movement of people from one country to another for permanent settlement.

Causes of Migration in the North-Eastern states:
1. One of the most important factors for migration from time immemorial were both geographical and economical. People from unproductive land would migrate to more favourable place where productivity of the land is high. We can thus say that the density of population is directly linked to the productivity of the land. The Mizos for example constantly moving from one place to another in the past in search of Jhum land for agricultural activities. The Mizos were living a life of semi nomadic life in the past. The life of these nomads were characterized by constant movement in a search of better land for cultivation purposes. 2. In Assam, most of the immigrants are from Bangladesh. People from Bangladesh enter and live in Assam illegally as they own very little or no assets in their home country. Due to severe population pressure in Bangladesh, it is hard to acquire land and other properties. In Assam, however, it is relatively easier to acquire land and maintain a decent living. There are vast public lands available in Assam which are either abandoned or have no owner. Especially, the river banks along the river Brahmaputra and are mostly uninhabitated. Also, a large part of the state is covered by forest. Obviously, Bangladesh being a border country finds Assam a suitable place to live in and hence illegally emigrate from their home country. 3. Most of the Immigration are generally unskilled and semi-skilled laborers. In Manipur, there was a large inflow of workers from the mainland helping to meet the demand for jobs that required semi-skilled labourers,such as builders and plumbers. This semi-skilled workers who are fighting for their livelihood is ready to take up any kind of unskilled labour jobs or blue-collar jobs or manual labour jobs which the indigenous peoples do not prefer to do. The indigeneous peoples consider themselves dignified and think that such kind of jobs are meant to be done by lower class people and would refuse to work even if they have zero income. Such kind of 124 mentality makes it easier for immigrant workers to earn income and livelihood in Manipur. As a result, in due course of time, they become far better off than the unemployed and voluntary unemployed indigenous people. 4. In the North Eastern states , political motives and socio-emotional ties generally overlook the economic aspects of migration. After India"s independence in 1947, all the migrated Bengali Muslims till that point are considered as legal citizens of India. Since then occurrence of illegal immigration took a great momentum. The Centre, despite repeated promises, failed to send them back to their home countries and delayed to take more stringent measures to prevent the illegal entry of new ones. Because they are more concerned about the vote -bank in politics and both national and state political parties encourage the infiltration of Bangladesh for Muslim votes. 5. The North Eastern states of India touches international boundaries of countries like China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Hence, these countries are always keeping an eye on the natural bountries found in the North Eastern states and attracted to it. Also, they find it easier to access the North Eastern states in the context of communication and hence most of the immigrants are from these border countries especially from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal. 6. Migration can be both in the context of "in" and "out" migration. Now, the North Eastern states are no less in emigrating from their states to the rest of the states in states. Since, the education and job opportunities in the North Eastern states have not fully bloomed; people especially the youngsters generally tend to move out of their states to the other mega cities of India. Delhi, the capital city of India is an example to which several students tend to migrate for higher studies or in search of employment opportunities and settle there either temporarily or permanently.

Migration trends and pattern of the North Eastern states of India(states wise): Assam:
In Assam, migration has always been a serious and continuous issue. There is a huge lot of inter-state migration into Assam; migrants from Bihar have shown pre-dominance over migrants from other states of India. Besides the Bihari migrants, there are also migrants from West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan into Assam. Business and employment related aspects are the main inducing factors for migration and hence the Rajasthani Marwaris and Bangladeshi labourers from Bangladesh are mostly concentrated in the urban and industrial centers. On the other hand, migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are mostly unskilled and illiterate and hence are absorbed in the informal sector finding livelihood as washer-men, barbers, sweepers cobblers, porters, construction labourers etc. The service of these migrants are highly demanded across the towns and cities of Assam which are experiencing rapid growth along with the urbanization and industrialization.

Meghalaya:
Meghalaya has an area of 22,429 sq km and is one of the smaller states of the India. It shares 423 km border with Bangladesh in the South and the west, and is surrounded by Assam on the northeastern side. The population of the state was 1.775 million according to 1991 census, which became 2.306 million in 2001. As against decadal growth 125 rate of 21.34 at the national level, the population of the state has grown by 29.94% over the period 1991-2001. A new dimension of migration was added to the already growing complex scenario of Meghalaya. The beautiful location of the state within Northeast India, the relative low population and abundance of economic opportunities are the reasons that the state is made viable to undocumented immigration from across land and the long river borders. It is seen from the various eports and analysis that the majority of the immigrations are from Nepal and Bangladesh. People tend to migrate illegally due to various "push and pull factors" such as political unrest, famine, poverty, fear of death, environmental degradation, hope for living a better life else where etc.
Another possible reason of migration in Meghalaya is their traditional practice of men being moving into their wives home after marriage. Men in Meghalaya have always been traders and warriors and women have stayed at home.As men were gone away for long periods of time the property of the ancestors have passed down through the female line from mother to daughter.

Nagaland:
In Nagaland, migration is an important factor in changing the size and structure of the population. The migration process affects the areas to which migrants can moved in and areas from which they moved out. The migrants in Nagaland may be basically classified into following categories: Indigenous or local migrants who migrate to nearby towns from their native villages in the state in search of better livelihoods or for other personal reasons. And, migrants from outside that whose reasons for leaving their native village to come to Nagaland may or may not be same as the local migrants, but they also come for the same avenues as the indigenous migrants. In Nagaland, on the basis of the data on migration in the 1991 census, it can be inferred that the reasons of migration including education, employment, marriage, natural calamities like drought, floods etc have contributed much towards out migration from rural to urban as well as from other states. The intensity of migration from outside the state is fairly high. According to census, there are migrants from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Madhaya Pradesh, Sikkim, Lakshadeep into Nagaland. Besides this inter state population movement, there is also a good number of foreign migrants from other countries outside India, totaling around 4503. There has been a tremendous increase in the influx of Bangladeshi migrants into Nagaland, particularly in commercial hubs like Kohima and Dimapur.

Mizoram:
The migration pattern of Mizos are dealt with the movement of different tribes in time and space. These people migrated to their present areas between the period of 1400 A.D. and 1950 A.D. One important thing is to be noted that their present settlement of different tribes are as old as 100 years. However some of the oldest villages are as old as 60 years. Thus, it proved that in search of better jhum field for their livelihood and also the fear of their dominant tribes, internal migration was taking place.

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From the census data of the year 1991, 2001, 2011 it can be said that the total number of migrants are increasing decade after decade. The total migrants of all ages and all duration and by taking the last residence of both the urban and rural sector is 1991,2001 and 2011 are 1054,268932.3799968 respectively. In 2011, 68519 people have  migrated for work and employment related activities, 18360 people have migrated for education purpose, 39673  people as a result of marriage have migrated from one place to another, 135519 people have moved along with rheir  household and for some other reasons 91830 people have migrated. Let us consider table 5,for better understand:

Tripura:
Tripura is the third-smallest state in the country, it covers 10,491 km2 and is bordered by Bangladesh to the north, south, west and the Indian states of Assam and Mizoram to the east. In, 2011 the state had 3,671,032 residents, constituting 0.3% of the country"s population. In Tripura, there exists a divergence in the basic identity between the tribal way of life and the non tribal way of life. Post 1971, the Bangladesh immigrants started migrating into the land of Tripura. Almost everything has been snatched from their hands, even political power. India is making a huge blunder by giving citizenship to illegal migrants in a spontaneous manner in almost all the North Eastern states.