An Analysis of Spatial Patterns of In-Migrants in North -Western India

Abstract

Migration has been acknowledged as a process of equalization of population settlements. It has been credited with being a significant determinant of population change observed in a given spatial system besides the two parameters of fertility and mortality. Migration has been attributed to be an essential factor in the organization of regional and urban spaces in India. In this research paper, an attempt has been made to study the volume of in-migration in North western India by residence that is Rural or Urban Centre residence in other regions (States and Union Territories of India). This study makes an attempt to study the inflow of population into a particular region in this case the rural or urban areas of the North Western region. Themain source of data is the Census 2001 and 2011 reports using the D-2 migration Tables ofthe States of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh Union Territory, Haryana, Rajasthan and NCR Delhi. The researcher has been examining how the resident in-migrants in North-western Indiahave come majorly from the States of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar especially in the urban and rural areas of North western India during the censal years of 2001 and 2011 and how their patterns of residence have shifted.

The study will examine the spatial inflows of migrants to the North-Western regions to determine the patterns of in-migration taking place especially from certain specific States. It will also examine the trends of actual influx of the in-migrants to specific locations whether urban or rural. There will be an effort to determine the focal reasons that drew these in-migrants to specifically those areas during particular time periods. Large number of in-migrants have reportedly come from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in 2001 and Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in 2011.