PRINCIPAL MIGRANTS TO GREATER MUMBAI URBAN AGGLOMERATION (GMUA) AND THEIR SOCIAL LINKAGES

Migration to Mumbai city and its constituent units is different both in nature & context. A study of 9102 migrants to Greater Mumbai Urban Agglomeration (GMUA) indicated that the median age while migrating was 19.4 years & half of them were married. Most of the migrants had rural background. Such migrants were less in Mumbai city. More than half were from Maharashtra. Migrants from UP were in higher proportion. One fifth migrants migrated to GMUA after 1991 whose proportion was three times more compared to Mumbai city. More literates migrated to the constituent units. Though migration to Mumbai city had reduced it was still significant in the adjoining urban centres. Majority of migrants came to GMUA in search of employment. One third migrants had to wait for 6 to 12 months to get a job. One of every four migrants had changed their jobs at least once. The migrants maintained regular contact with the persons/kin in their native place and often sent remittances. There is a need to look at GMUA’s migration scenario in the context of micro level urbanization and regional disparities in Maharashtra and other less developed states from where people migrate to GMUA.