India's Demographics and Population Distribution
India has a population of over 1.3 billion people, placing it second only to China in terms of population size. In India, half of the population is under the age of 25. According to a study, India's average life expectancy in 2020 will be 29 years. India has over 2000 ethnic groups, and Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity are the three main religions in the world (Brown & Foot, 2016).
Social Composition and Dependency Ratio
The social composition of India's population differs significantly, especially in terms of education and economic status. Because of the country's high unemployment rate, India's dependence ratio is approximately 0.4. Migration in India happens at both the local and international levels. There are various factors that cause movement of the population from one region to another within the country or migration to other countries. Most workers in India are employed in the informal sector which is characterized by lack of proper regulation of working conditions and wages. The disorganization in the informal sector makes the workers vulnerable and these conditions facilitate migration to other regions in search for better employment terms and conditions. Besides, there are no enough regulatory authorities to manage the migration of people from one region to another. The international migration to other countries such as the United Arab Emirates is fueled by the search for high wages and better working conditions (Koppel & Plünnecke, 2017). A considerable part of the Indian population migrates to other countries for purposes of education and technical training.
Impact of Migration on Population Distribution
The movement of groups of individuals affects the distribution and density of the overall population in India. According to the 2011 Census report, the southern states of India have recorded the highest growth in migrant population. 69 percent of the migrants in the southern states are women who have migrated due to marriage (Brown & Foot, 2016). The internal migration of the Indian people has led caused uneven distribution of the population in the country. In addition, the migration of workers from one region to another has caused more states to have high population density than others. At the international level, the immigration and emigration of the Indian people do not have a considerable effect on the population distribution and density since India has a very large population.
Factors Driving Internal Migration
The factors that majorly contribute to internal migration in India include low wages and poor working conditions. Most workers in local industries in the country work for long hours with little pay. Besides, the access to basic social amenities in the country is poor and hence people move to developed areas with the aim of living a better life. Other workers move from their region to search for employment opportunities offering higher wages and better working conditions. At the international level, skilled and educated workers migrate to other to seek employment opportunities with better wages and good working conditions. Also, other immigrants move from India due to reasons of marriage (Brown & Foot, 2016).
Impact of Migration on Local Economy
Large-scale internal migration has an effect on the region where the migrants settle. According to research, internal migration has a positive impact on the economic capacity of the local people since their incomes increase when they acquire employment with better wages. Availability of cheap labor from different parts of the Indian country has supported local investment and ensured continued improvement of industrial operations (Lucas, 2015). The southern states attract more investments since they have higher socio-economic development than the northern states. Another positive impact of immigration on India is the aspect of receiving remittances. According to 2015 World Bank report, more than 69 million dollars was received by Indian families as remittances sent by the migrants living in other countries around the world. Further, India has been a beneficiary of highest amounts of remittances in the world since 2008 (Ratha, Eigen-Zucchi, & Plaza, 2016). Immigration and emigration have affected India negatively through draining of talented and most educated workers.
International Immigration and Its Impact
The nation of India has been affected by international immigration of skilled and talented workers. Most young and highly educated Indians leave the country in search of better pay in other countries such as the United States and United Kingdom (Hooper & Groves, 2017). The skilled labor moves from India to participate in developing other nations other than their mother country. The immigration of upwardly mobile workers causes high dependency ratio in India hence most families struggle financially. India has not benefited from the draining away of surplus labor by other wealthy nations such as the U.S and U.K. If the surplus labor is to remain in India, they could contribute towards growing the economy of the country.
Effects on Local Resources and Social Structure
Immigration reduces the number of people in India does reduce the pressure on local resources in many parts of the country. The quality of life is not improved by immigration but the dependency ratio increases. However, the quality of life can be enhanced if the immigrants begin sending remittances to relative and friends back in India (Brown & Foot, 2016). Indian people have a very strong social structure and institutions which have not been adversely affected by immigration of people to other nations around the world.
References
Brown, J. M., & Foot, R. (Eds.). (2016). Migration: the Asian experience. Springer.
Hooper, K., & Groves, S. (2017). A comparative analysis of the migration and integration of Indian and Chinese immigrants in the United States. In Migrant Integration between Homeland and Host Society Volume 2 (pp. 211-231). Springer, Cham.
Koppel, O., & Plünnecke, A. (2017). Qualified immigration from India showing signs of success (No. 15.2017 e). IW-Kurzberichte.
Lucas, R. E. (2015). Internal migration in developing economies: An overview. KNOMAD working.
Ratha, D., Eigen-Zucchi, C., & Plaza, S. (2016). Migration and remittances Factbook 2016. World Bank Publications.
