Migration from North-East India since the 1990s: Ethnopolitical Issues and Economic Development Perspectives

Abstract

Eight North East (NE) Indian states manifest rich biodiversity and distinct ethnocultural identities. Meanwhile, the states exhibit common problems, such as ethnic conflict and insurgency, drug trafficking, poor transportation and communication, and immigration issues. The prolonged ethnopolitical unrest left imprints on the migration from this region. The present study examines the level, trend, and pattern of interstate migration from the NE during 1991–2011 and associates it with ethnopolitical turmoil, unemployment, and economic growth. NE migrants in mainland India declined to 0.27 million from 0.29 million, with a rate of—6.0 per cent during 2001–11. A changing pattern of migration flow is observed—while NE migrants to the North and East Indian states declined during 2001–11, Southern states have accounted for increasing the same. Employment elasticity suggests that income growth in NE states lacks inclusiveness and fails to sensitize employment opportunities, inducing interstate labor migration. Considerably large student migration exhibits the weakness of the educational system. The decades-long ethnopolitical unrest and AFSPA of 1958 severely affected economic development and social well-being, resulting in a mass movement in the 1990s and 2000s. State governments’ utmost care for economic growth, job opportunities, quality education, and a comprehensive solution for ethnic conflict and AFSPA is the need of the hour.