Migration: A dream or a nightmare?

India has witnessed internal migration for centuries. For instance, even in the 19th century, Marwaris from Rajasthan could be found as businessmen in the easternmost regions of the country, Marathas as warriors in its northwestern and southern parts, and Bengalis, Tamils, and Telugus spread across the nation as employees of the John Company and the subsequent British imperial government.

- ASHOK KUMAR LAHIRI

With economic development, the spread of education, and a bulge in the proportion of youth in the population, internal migration has accelerated in recent times. Its scale came into sharp focus during the Covid-19 lockdown. Special trains and buses had to be arranged to transport migrant workers to their home states. In the initial confusion, there were heartbreaking scenes of hundreds of migrant workers trudging along roads on foot, carrying their kids in their arms and baggage on their heads. It was a stark revelation—almost a nightmare.

Undeniably, lurking somewhere in our psyche, there is a streak of "rural communitarianism", which is against laissez-faire and capitalistic industrialism. Many of us have a nostalgic vision of idyllic, unchanging rural life, as reflected in the young Mahatma's Hind Swaraj. Migration is antithetic to this vision.

Furthermore, we must acknowledge that migration has a profound emotional and psychological impact on individuals. This impact can be especially severe when the move is from a village to an unplanned and chaotic urban centre. There are initial problems of settling down and issues related to accommodation, water supply, proper sewerage and sanitation, as well as access to education and medical services, which can be quite severe. While we have to facilitate the lives of the migrants in their new place of residence and expedite planned urbanisation, we have to accept that internal migration has been a persistent trend of history, particularly with economic development. We should welcome it.