E-Paper
Rural Punjab witnesses steady rise in emigration: PAU study
The study which has been documented from 1990 to September, 2022, reveals that after Canada, 16% people favoured Dubai, 10% Australia, 6% Italy and less than 3% each preferred UK and USA to emigrate
: Punjab has witnessed a steady rise in emigration from its rural areas in the last over three decades with 42% of its residents opting for Canada as a favoured destination to settle down followed by Dubai and Australia, according to a study by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) released on Friday.
The study which has been documented from 1990 to September, 2022, reveals that after Canada, 16% people favoured Dubai, 10% Australia, 6% Italy and less than 3% each preferred UK and USA to emigrate.
The study, measuring the trends, causes and the consequences of migration from the rural Punjab, has been carried out by professor Shalini Sharma, professor Manjeet Kaur and assistant professor Amit Guleria from the department of economics and sociology, PAU.
Based on the primary data covering 44 villages of 22 districts with 9,492 households, a total of 640 migrants and 660 non-migrant households were interviewed. It was found that migration witnessed a stark increase since 2016 i.e. 74% of total emigration.
According to the study, Punjab which is India’s agricultural powerhouse and home to a significant portion of its overseas diaspora, has seen a rise in emigration with approximately 13.34% of rural households having at least one member migrated to another country.
Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Ferozepur districts have more than 30% extent of migration, according to the study. These findings have significant implications for the state’s socio-economic landscape.
The reasons for the migration were lack of employment opportunities/underemployment, corrupt system, and low income as reported by about three fourth of migrant households. Systemic disorder (62%) and prevalence of drugs (53%) came out as other non-economic factors.
The study also revealed that males, landless, minimally educated and SCs from Doaba emigrated to UAE on work visa, while Canada and Australia were the dream destinations for the young as well as Jat/Sikhs from all farm size categories from Majha and Malwa on study visa.
Being able to secure required IELTS band, females (65%) outnumbered males (35%) on study visas.
The majority of low-caste, low-income, landless, and laborers migrant households sold houses and gold ornaments to meet expenses for migration. About 56% of households borrowed money for sending their wards abroad.
Besides finances, migration carried a huge social cost in the form of loneliness (52%), neglect of elderly (41%), indebtedness (38%), abandoned agriculture and parental occupation (30%), and sale of landholdings and assets (26%).
The study emphasized on the need for employment generation and investment in human capital through skill development, entrepreneurship and vocational training. Unviable and economically sluggish agricultural sector needed to be revamped which was not possible without government intervention and support. The study observed that addressing socio-economic and systemic issues concerning migration was crucial to ensure Punjab’s long-term prosperity.
