Regional Planning: A hope to overcome Migration Challenges in India

Abstract

Balanced development at regional level is a prerequisite for the progress and growth of an economy as well as to attain the better quality of life of their residents. The balanced regional development can be achieved by ensuring the compatibility between forward and backward linkages among the urban and rural settlements. However, the shifting of the overall economic base from agrarian to industrial and presence of more opportunities in urban centres has triggered a continuous stream of population from the country sides to urban centres. On the other hand, access to social, economic and physical infrastructure is inadequate in rural areas that are acting as push factors for rural populations towards urban counterparts.

This paper highlights the lopsided urbanization scenario in India where 70.2 percent of the total urban population is accommodation in class-I towns. The inter-state migration accounts for 98.7 percent of the total migrants. Further the detailed analysis of the stream of migration reflects that 36.1 percent of the migration is occurring from rural to urban areas due to different reasons. The paper suggests that regional planning can act as a hope to check this situation and treat issues in a holistic manner to achieve the objective of balanced development through provision of appropriate infrastructure.