Of Mumbai and migrants....

More than north Indians, the city is being flooded by migrants from within Maharashtra. The Human Development Report 2009, prepared by the UNDP with the help of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, reveals that migration from various places in Maharashtra is much greater than from Uttar Pradesh, giving the lie to politicians’ campaigns. Some 45% of people in Mumbai are considered migrants. Results of a survey on people’s place of origin or birth indicate that the largest proportion—37.4%—of immigrants came to the city from within Maharashtra. The second biggest contributor was UP, and Gujarat came third. Maharashtra and UP together accounted for more than 60% of the people who migrated into the city. Four decades ago, too, Maharashtra was the largest contributor of migrants to Mumbai. In 1961, more than 41% of people who came to Mumbai were from Maharashtra, 17% were from Gujarat, and around 12% were from Uttar Pradesh. The survey notes that migrants now favour urban agglomerations like Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan, and Mira-Bhayander, which is a good indicator for Mumbai. Within Maharashtra, the highest number of migrants, despite the decline in numbers over the decades, are from Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts. Of the total number of migrants from within Maharashtra, more than 74% are from rural areas. Nearly 60% of intrastate migration into Mumbai is from four districts—Ratnagiri, Satara, Pune and Raigad (formerly known as Colaba district). Between 1961 and 2001, the percentage of migrants from Ratnagiri district declined from 44.5 to 31.5, while it grew for other districts, mainly in the Marathwada region, such as Latur, Nanded, Solapur, Parbhani, Jalna, Osmanabad and Beed. Of the total migrants into Mumbai, a whopping 68.47% come from rural areas. Most UP migrants are from areas like Azamgarh, Basti, Siddharth Nagar, Allahabad, Jaunpur and Varanasi. Reasons for migration include lack of employment, health facilities, education, and connectivity to different parts of the country. Around 15% of migrants said they moved after marriage. Most immigrants into Mumbai are engaged in productionrelated occupations. At least half of them contribute to the city’s economy by providing cheap, often unskilled, labour. On the other hand, half of those born in Mumbai but later enumerated in other Maharashtra districts were accounted for in Ratnagiri and Thane districts. The 2001 Census shows nearly two-thirds of out-migration (people who left Mumbai) is to Thane district.