An Analysis of Emerging cohorts at cities with Education and Employment led internal migration in India

The Census 2001 shows that the internal migration in India has gained impetus and is intensifying rapidly. This study primarily focuses on youth migration, comprising the education and employment led migrants from the eight Northeastern peripheral states which are essentially backward than the rest of India, to the four major destinations, which comprises of Delhi, a Union Territory and Capital of India; and three states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and West-Bengal. The main thrust of the paper is two-fold; firstly, exploring the capability level of migrants (educational attainments) originating from the North-eastern regions, and secondly, examining the patterns of the migration cohort groups at the destinations. Examining the first objective, it is found that, the skill levels of North-eastern migrants are very low in comparison to the rest of India due to backward higher educational infrastructure. Secondly, analyzing the pattern of cohort groups it is found that Manipur is emerging as a major migratory state from the North-east. This can be attributed to the socio-political unrest, insurgencies and disorder which the state has been suffering for quite some time.