Thursday, October 29, 2009

Migration is as good as globalization

Much have been written on migration after the new report by UNDP, but still there is more to ponder, have some more bites from directly a person who is actually involved in the analysis.

K. Seeta Prabhu who is a Senior Assistant Country Director, UNDP, says in an interview to The Hindu:

Your report says migration hugely benefits poor people. But we often see poor people from the rural areas shifting to urban slums and living on pavements. Does this really qualify as better life? Also, internally we continue to see opposition to migration.

An important fact pointed out by the report is that internal migration far exceeds international migration – an estimated 740 million move within countries as compared to 214 million who move between countries. In India, the estimated number of internal migrants moving from one State to the other is 42 million; those who reside at a place other than their place of birth is as high as 307 million. Studies in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh indicate that poverty rates fell by 50 per cent between 2001-02 and 2006-07 for households which had at least one migrant.

A review of the urbanisation experiences in Asia indicates that a number of governments continue to pursue policies aimed at discouraging in-migration to cities.

It would be useful if you remember what is seen and what is not seen out of the State’s action on the poor.

Read also

The ideal of migration in India

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