BHUBANESWAR: Contrary to the belief that western region accounts for the highest out-migration, the first Odisha Migration Study (OMS) conducted by IIT Hyderabad and International Institute of Migration and Development with Aide et Action, Bhubaneswar, has revealed that coastal districts like Ganjam, Cuttack, Balasore and Bhadrak record some of the most intense migration trends.
The large-scale survey, funded by the International Rice Research Institute and covering 15,000 households across 500 rural and urban localities post the pandemic, marked the first empirical mapping of migration across all 30 districts.
The districtwise samples showed that coastal districts were ahead of western Odisha in terms of migration intensity. The OMS estimated that there are 28.16 lakh current migrants and 7.4 lakh return migrants from the state and the total remittance is around Rs 772.47 crore, with an average monthly remittance of Rs 5,100.
As per the estimation, Ganjam, historically known for migration links to Surat and other industrial hubs, remains a hotspot with an estimated 4.2 lakh migrants, followed by 2.71 lakh from Cuttack, 2.57 lakh from Balasore, 2.18 lakh from Bhadrak, 1.61 lakh from Balangir, 1.55 lakh from Dhenkanal and 1.07 lakh from Nayagarh.
The study led by principal investigator Amrita Datta found that migration in the coastal districts is not distress-driven as that of western Odisha districts. Instead, the pattern in the coastal belt reflects a growing aspiration among youth for better income prospects in urban and industrial centres outside the state.
The OMS revealed strong migration outflows from several central districts with Mayurbhanj recording 1.37 lakh current migrants and 49,480 return migrants, while Jajpur has 1.75 lakh current and 2,322 return migrants. Keonjhar reported 1.19 lakh current migrants and 5,734 returnees, underscoring significant out-migration from mining and industrial belts. The number of returning migrants from Ganjam, Cuttack, Balasore and Bhadrak were 72,643, 93,483, 35,216 and 6,854, respectively.
In terms of incidence of household-level migration, Bhadrak district tops the list with 40.6 per cent households having a migrant, followed by 34.2 per cent in Dhenkanal, 32.2 per cent in Nayagarh, 29.2 per cent each in Ganjam and Jajpur, 28.2 per cent in Balasore, 27.9 per cent in Nuapada and 26.4 per cent in Cuttack. Bhadrak district is an outlier as nobody expected that so many households are affected by migration, the study pointed out. In western Odisha, barring Balangir, the estimated migrants in all other districts was below one lakh. Bargarh recorded 24,002 current migrants while Sundargarh showed 46,090 current migrants and 7,380 return migrants and Sambalpur has 27,482 current migrants and about 1,774 returnees. Nuapara recorded 49,331 current and 57,997 return migrants.
Co-principal investigator of the study S Irudaya Rajan said the survey suggested that while western districts continue to experience both poverty-induced and seasonal migration, they are no longer the singular migration epicentre. “The study will be released in January,” he told TNIE.