Migration is an age old phenomenon, historically people used to migrate due to wars, famines and epidemics. Migration consequently was an occasional phenomenon. People were generally tied to their ancestral lands. During the British period migration emerged as a common phenomenon in the society. Due to industrialization, urbanization, growth of other economic opportunities, the out migration from the rural areas

The growth of urbanization as a manifestation of the linkages between society and modern technology resulted in the weakening of traditional bonds of society. Equally significant was the creation of new opportunities in non-farm occupations in urban areas. Due to rural –urban developmental disparity, many traditional artisans , craftsmen and agricultural labourers either migrated to urban areas for improving their incomes, or shifted from their traditional occupations to non-farm employment. This process got intensified during the post independence period.

Besides rural-urban migration , in the post independence period, a trend towards rural-rural migration started with the success of green revolution in certain areas.

Impact of migration

Migration greatly influenced the agrarian social structure. Migration, further weakend the traditional ‘jajmani’ system and caste linkages of occupations. Due to the sharp increase in rural population, it is considered necessary to relieve agriculture from the pressure of excess labour. This would check decline in the land man ratios and thereby increase labour productivity in agriculture. It is also being realized that urban areas cannot absorb the growing migratory rural labour force due to the ever-growing number of job-seekers in both formal and informal sectors. This has led to urban congestion , emergence of slums and deprivation.