What does MIS tell us about problems faced by migrants? | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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What does MIS tell us about problems faced by migrants?

By, New Delhi
Mar 13, 2023 06:21 PM IST

There was a controversy last week on alleged attacks on migrant workers from Bihar in Tamil Nadu

There was a controversy last week on alleged attacks on migrant workers from Bihar in Tamil Nadu. While it turned out to be a false alarm and police in Tamil Nadu and Bihar are acting against people who spread such fake news, the more important question of whether migrant workers face any problems or not can only be answered with data. The Multiple Indicator Survey (MIS) data released by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) offers some insights into the issue. An HT analysis of MIS data shows some interesting and counter-intuitive results.

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Few migrants report problems, and economic concerns are bigger than sociocultural problems

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The MIS report identifies migrants and questions them on problems they see as a result of migration. The report shows that only 2.6% of migrants in India reported facing any problem. To be sure, the share of migrants reporting problems increases with the distance of migration. The MIS offers information on three categories of domestic migrants: intra-district, interdistrict but intrastate, and interstate. The report shows 87% of migration is within the same state. Among migrants who do report problems, economic problems seem to dominate over sociocultural issues. A counter-intuitive data point from the data shows interstate migrants reported sociocultural problems to be less of a problem.

See Chart 1:

Migrants from rural areas are more likely to report sociocultural problems

With the caveat that only a small share of migrants report sociocultural problems, it can be said that migrants who move from rural areas are more likely to report sociocultural issues than those who move to another place from cities. This is irrespective of whether migration is intra-district, intrastate or interstate. Further analysis shows that migrants who move from rural areas are more likely to report sociocultural problems, whether their destination is a village or a city. Interstate migrants from northeastern, eastern and central Indian states reported sociocultural problems more than other regions of India. However, taking the state-level ranking at face value might be problematic because of the small sample of those who have reported any problems at all.

See Chart 2

Scale of sociocultural problems might be related to how incomes change after migration

Another reason why the scale of sociocultural problems suggested by the MIS must be read with caution is because it does not allow reporting multiple problems at once. This means that people for whom migration has not led to monetary benefits are likely to cite their bread and butter concerns as a problem even if they are facing sociocultural problems. For example, the survey asked earning migrants how their income changed after migration. Urban to rural migrants report a net decrease in income after migration. Among urban to rural migrants who reported any problem due to migration, sociocultural problems were reported the least. On the other hand, rural to urban migrants reported a net increase in income after migration the most. Sociocultural problems were the biggest concern among those who reported any problems among rural to urban migrants.

See Chart 3

Almost half the migrants do not transfer identity documents

Another aspect of migration that the MIS has shed light on is the transfer of documents such movement entails. MIS data shows almost half the migrants do not transfer any documents at all to their new residence. This practice was more prevalent among interstate migrants rather than intrastate ones, which suggests that long-distance migration is largely a temporary income strategy and short-term in nature.

Gender-wise breakup also shows people are less likely to transfer any documents when they are migrating temporarily. A relatively smaller proportion of women (38%) do not transfer any documents at all compared to over two-thirds (68%) of men. Women’s migration is more likely to be permanent because 87% of them migrated because of marriage compared to just 6% of men.

Chart 4

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Abhishek Jha is a data journalist. He analyses public data for finding news, with a focus on the environment, Indian politics and economy, and Covid-19.

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