Migration of Rural Population to Cities; problems of migration of rural population are addressed through multi-dimensional course of action

Migration of workers in search of work from one place to another is a normal phenomenon. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), NSS 64th Round report, migration rates rural, for the period 1983 to 2007-08, from different NSS rounds are as under:

The problems of migration of rural population are sought to be addressed through multi-dimensional course of action such as provision of improved infrastructural facilities, equitable dispersal of resources to remove regional disparities, employment generation, imparting of skills, encouraging entrepreneurial activity, undertaking land reforms, enhancing literacy, and providing easy access to financial assistance & credit facilities etc.

So far as the Ministry of Rural Development is concerned, the Ministry is implementing various rural development schemes for creating employment opportunities and rural infrastructure. All these measures encourage people to stay in rural areas, earn their livelihood and raise their quality of life near their places of residence and hence act as a deterrent to distress migration of rural population to cities. Some of the schemes that have a positive impact on reducing migration are:

i.          Under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), guaranteed wage employment of 100 days in a financial year is provided to a rural household whose adult members are willing to take up manual work. Further, an additional 50 days of wage employment is provided over and above 100 days in the notified drought affected areas or natural calamity affected areas in the country on recommendation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

ii.         Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) is implemented with the objective of providing self-employment to the women members of the rural poor families by mobilizing them into Self Help Groups (SHGs).

iii.        Rural Self Employment and Training Institutes (RSETIs) provides for skill development programme for self-employment. This training with access to Bank loans helps in creating self-employment opportunities at local level

iv.        Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) is aimed at developing 300 rural growth clusters called ‘Rurban Clusters’ which have latent potential for growth, in all States and UTs. These clusters were conceptualized with the objective to bridge the rural-urban divide, reduce migration from rural to urban areas and eventually facilitate reverse migration.

v.         Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is aimed at providing connectivity by way of an all-weather road to eligible unconnected habitations in rural areas so that these habitations can have access to basic health services, education and markets for their produce.

This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.