The number of tribals, especially from Naxal-affected states who are migrating either inside or outside the state, have reduced, indicates a government survey released on Tuesday.
National Sample Survey Organisation’s study on Migration in India also noted that the number of households from where migration takes place among tribals has also fallen — from about three per cent in 1993 to 2.2 per cent in 2008.
This has been due to the decline in migration from rural tribal areas, where majority of the tribals reside. However, their migration to in urban areas has almost doubled between 1993 and 2008.
The survey categorises as a migrant a person who has shifted from his or her place of residence during the survey period (July 2007 to June 2008).
The survey also reveals that the migration of tribals is very low from rural areas of Naxal-affected states such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa as compared to non-Naxal-affected tribal states.
The migration-prone households in Chhattisgarh are 1.9 per cent, in Jharkhand 0.8 percent and 1.3 per cent in Orissa.
In comparison, the number of such households in tribal-dominated states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Manipur was 4 per cent, 3.8 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.
However, the survey does not give reasons for fall in migration in tribal areas especially. “It is for the researchers to find out,” said an NSSO official. “We have come up with out findings.”
Unlike tribals, the other social groups, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes, have witnessed an increase in migration.
The survey says the number of households, where migration takes place, has increased by a percentage point, meaning more people coming to cities than before.