[Urbanstudy] Circular migration is holding back India’s urbanization

Tue Nov 22 05:36:02 CST 2016

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/p9l9OfhAoycxqPq9wShSmI/Circular-migration-is-holding-back-Indias-urbanization.html

*Circular migration is holding back India’s urbanization*

Many urban workers go back to their villages instead of settling in cities
with their families, a study shows

------------------------------
Dipti Jain <http://www.livemint.com/Search/Link/Author/Dipti%20Jain>
<http://www.livemint.com/Politics/p9l9OfhAoycxqPq9wShSmI/Circular-migration-is-holding-back-Indias-urbanization.html?facet=print>
[image: Between 2001 and 2011 census, India’s urbanization went up from
27.8% to 31.1%. Photo: iStockphoto]
Between 2001 and 2011 census, India’s urbanization went up from 27.8% to
31.1%. Photo: iStockphoto

One of the biggest announcements after Narendra Modi assumed office was the
announcement of the smart cities project, which involves overhauling of
urban infrastructure in 100 Indian cities.

In April, Niti Aayog chairman Arvind Panagariya predicted India’s
urbanization rate to increase to over 60% in the next 30 years, assuming a
7-9% rate of economic growth.

These policies and statements underline the importance of urbanization in
the Indian growth story in the days to come.

Analyzing India’s urbanization performance, so far, could be a useful tool
to get an idea about how realistic such claims are. The numbers are not
very encouraging.

Between 2001 and 2011 census, India’s urbanization went up from 27.8% to
31.1%. Not only is the number far from impressive, it also makes
Panagariya’s predictions way too optimistic. What explains this tepid
growth in urbanisation in India?

A recent paper titled *Urbanisation, Demographic Transition and the Growth
of Cities in India
<http://www.theigc.org/project/the-growth-of-cities-in-india-1870-2020/>*,
<http://www.theigc.org/project/the-growth-of-cities-in-india-1870-2020/>
1870-2020
<http://www.theigc.org/project/the-growth-of-cities-in-india-1870-2020/>
<http://www.theigc.org/project/the-growth-of-cities-in-india-1870-2020/>
<http://www.theigc.org/project/the-growth-of-cities-in-india-1870-2020/>,
authored by Chinmay Tumbe, an assistant professor of economics at
IIM-Ahmedabad, gives some useful insights on this issue.

Tumbe argues that India’s urbanization has been both low and slow
irrespective of which definition is applied to measure its pace. The 2011
census defines urban areas as settlements with a local urban body and with
a population of at least 5,000 people, density of at least 400 people per
square km, and at least 75% of the male main working population engaged in
non-agricultural activities.

But even if the definition of urban areas were to be relaxed to include all
rural areas with a population of more than 10,000, the change in
urbanization would remain the same, although the level would increase to
37% for 2011, the paper says.

If the definition were to be further expanded to include all rural areas
with population over 5,000, India’s urbanization level would increase to
47% in 2011, but the pace of growth would still be around three percentage
points.

In fact, analysis of historical figures from 1870 onwards shows that
India’s urbanization pace has slowed down in the recent period.

An international comparison with some major economies shows that not only
is India’s urbanization score among the lowest, it also lags behind global
average and major developing economies from 1971 to 2015.

Tumbe lists a counter-intuitive reason, which is responsible for holding
back India’s urbanization speed. It is the freedom to keep on migrating
from villages to cities and then back to villages which is acting as a
fetter on speed of urbanization in India, his paper says.

In countries such as China, the government regulates rural-urban migration
through permits and entitlement to welfare schemes.

That a part of the rural-urban migration is seasonal in nature and
concentrated in sectors such as construction is well known. An earlier
Plainfacts
column
<http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/BXWly51H8BqCsaKT5P4uLO/Why-India-needs-IMD-to-be-right-about-a-good-monsoon.html>
had
shown construction to be the single largest source of employment for
migrant workers in India.

<http://www.livemint.com/r/LiveMint/Period2/2016/11/23/Photos/Processed/w-plainfacts-urbanisation.jpg>
Click here for enlarge
<http://www.livemint.com/r/LiveMint/Period2/2016/11/23/Photos/Processed/w-plainfacts-urbanisation.jpg>

The lacklustre environment in India’s construction sector might already
have had an adverse effect on employment opportunities for India’s migrant
workforce, as was pointed out in another Plainfacts column
<http://www.livemint.com/Politics/xwxM6w3JYAuBPCQlkabU1N/Indias-rural-transformation-A-myth-or-reality.html>
published
last month.

Tumbe’s paper goes beyond the issue of seasonal employment in urban areas
limiting India’s rural transformation. He argues that migration from
India’s rural areas has always had a gender bias and male workers leave
their families in rural areas to look for employment opportunities in urban
areas.

As time passes, older cohorts go back to the villages to live with their
families only to be replaced by younger ones. The process is facilitated by
the important role of kinship ties in getting such jobs. Given the fact
that there is neither any restriction on rural-urban movement of labour,
nor is there adequate infrastructure for women migrant workers in cities,
the net effect is a slowing down of India’s urbanization pace, the paper
says.

*This is the first part of a two part data-journalism series looking at
India’s urbanization challenge. The final part would look at the causes of
state-wise differences in urbanization.*
<dipti.j at livemint.com?subject=Circular%20migration%20is%20holding%20back%20India%E2%80%99s%20urbanization>Dipti
Jain <http://www.livemint.com/Search/Link/Author/Dipti%20Jain>

TOPICS: URBANISATION
<http://www.livemint.com/Search/Link/Keyword/Urbanisation>MIGRATION
<http://www.livemint.com/Search/Link/Keyword/Migration>URBAN WORKERS
<http://www.livemint.com/Search/Link/Keyword/Urban%20workers>SMART CITIES
PROJECT
<http://www.livemint.com/Search/Link/Keyword/Smart%20cities%20project>
INFRASTRUCUTRE <http://www.livemint.com/Search/Link/Keyword/Infrastrucutre>
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