Delhi has highest share of inter-state migrants
Among all states, however, Delhi has the highest share of inter-state migrants in its total population, an indicator of the attraction it holds for outsiders.
Delhi has the second highest population of inter-state migrants in India, according to 2011 census data on migration released recently,which shows that marriage and work or business drive the influx.The city-state only trails Maharashtra, a much larger and more populous state.
Among all states, however, Delhi has the highest share of inter-state migrants in its total population, an indicator of the attraction it holds for outsiders.
Every third Haryanvi who has migrated to Delhi has done so because of marriage. For people from the north-eastern states, education is the main reason for moving to the national capital. And for those from Kerala, it is mainly work (or business) which brings them to Delhi.
The southern parts of Delhi have the highest share of migrants in their population. The three districts of South-West Delhi, South Delhi and New Delhi have a more than 40% share of inter-state migrants in the total population. This figure is the lowest, just 17%, for the Central district, which includes the walled city, among the oldest habitations of the city-state.
In the 10 years between 2001 and 2011, Delhi’s inter-state migrant population has actually seen a decline in the share of people who migrated for work. This is because the number of male inter-state migrants who came to Delhi for work or business actually came down marginally, even as the total number of inter-state migrants increased by a million.
Almost half of the migrants in Delhi in 2011 were from Uttar Pradesh. The share of migrants in Delhi from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand increased consistently between 1991 and 2011. More than two-thirds of Delhi’s migrant population came from these states in 2011.
To be sure, a better way to measure a state’s share in the total inter-state migrant population in Delhi is to adjust its share by its share in the total population of India. For instance, Uttar Pradesh is home to 17% of India’s population, but nearly half of Delhi’s migrant population is from the state. Similarly, the share of migrants from states such as Bihar and Haryana in Delhi is more than the share of these states in India’s total population.
When it comes to where the migrants choose to live in Delhi, there is a pattern too. For example, almost half of Punjabi migrants live in one of the two Western districts, North-West or West. These two districts also host almost 40% of the migrants from Bihar. South and South-West districts host almost 60% of migrants from Odisha.