Unemployment and Migration among the People from Manipur

Reimeingam Marchang

Published: 10^th Feb.2009, Imphal Free Press

Migration has rapidly increased ever since the economic liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (LPG) particularly among the young and educated people for economic reason among other reasons. Generally, people migrate for employment, education, marriage, security, fear-psychosis, etc. Over the years migration is increasing from all the streams such as rural to rural, rural to urban, urban to rural and also urban to urban areas in order to maximise their economic and social well-being. Employment opportunities are booming in specific regions due to the pouring in of capital markets as the economy becomes stronger and stabilises. In the process the tendency to migrate or transfer labour from the less developed regions such as Manipur increases. LPG benefits for all persons irrespective of the type of labour supply such as skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled.

According to the census of India in 1981 as many as little less than 11 thousand people migrated from Manipur to the ‘rest of the country (excluding seven North Eastern States)’ for various reasons; which has increased to more than two folds at close to 24 thousand in 2001. Here migrants refer to all-duration of residence by place of last residence. Of these 24 thousand people about 51 percent were males and the remaining share of them was females. About 30 percent of the males migrated for employment, a similar size of them was for education, and the rest 40 percent migrated for other reasons.  In case of female migrants from Manipur to the rest of the country about only 4 percent were for employment, 15 percent were for education, and the rest 81 percent migrated for other reasons.

The rural people tend to migrate towards urban areas as the quality of education and its infrastructure, and the job opportunities is much greater in urban areas. And the opening up of new employment opportunities in selected cities particularly in big cities act as the pull factor for migration on other hand. The concentration of the availability of job in such areas helps to benefit mostly to the educated and to those who can afford to reach the destination. In such case, the ability to access such opportunities become void for the countryside and rural labour among the poor. However, in recent years, it is clearly evident that migration is rapidly growing from the remote NE to (for example) Delhi. It seems somehow easy to get a job as most of the NE people learn their education in english medium. Nevertheless, general NE people’s nature of hospitality or the english accent helps in getting job easily in hotel/shop or in customer care service. It is not surprising that many people from NE including from Manipur are venturing into various types of businesses and self-employed besides creating numerous employment in recent time in the migration destination.

In such situation majority of the people still aspire for the so called government job. A traditional mindset of recognising government job as a real and only job which gives economic security apart from gaining social status persist. The dependence and rely on government to provide a job should be kept only as an alternative in present real world because in the post LPG the private sector grows rapidly while generation of government employment dwindles at fast rate. As a result contractual and casual work increases without excepting the government sector. In fact, it is not that the government does not create job but the rate of its employment created or available is far less than the tremendously increasing supply of labour. Usually the private sector employees are more efficient and productive than the government counterparts. The government sector employees are a ‘slack’ particularly in Manipur. Because of this the state is developing at snail pace thereby employment generation is also slow which rendered people to be unemployed and induces to migrate from the state to search suitable employment corresponding to their educational qualifications. It is ironic that majority of the organised sector jobs are provided by the government. It is due to the existing political problem where organised private market players investment is hardly visible. The long term security of the investors and stability of their establishment is the risk factor for moving in by the big and well organised private sector.

On the aspect of education of the state, the rate of literacy has increased from about 72 percent in 1991 to about 78 percent in the latter decade for males. For females it has increased from 48 to 60 percent in the same period. According to the report of NSS 2004-05, little more than 18 percent of the rural people had completed secondary and above educational level. In urban areas, about 36 percent of the people had completed secondary and above. This shows that majority of the people particularly in rural areas are not educated. This led to a problem of unemployment where ‘employability’ is a question. The general unemployment rate (usual principal status) was about 2 percent in rural areas and about 6 percent in urban areas. However, for the youth (15-29 years of age) it stood significantly higher at about 4 percent in rural areas and slightly more than 19 percent in urban areas. Normally, the unemployment rate is higher in urban than rural areas due to higher educational level. Moreover, the rates use to be higher for the youths than the general unemployment rates. It is because that the youth age are at the entry point in the job markets whereas older people than the youths are mostly settled down and raise a family with economic responsibility so most of the older people are workers. Further, the above explanation indicates that with the rising level of education the problem of unemployment increases due to a higher and better job aspiration particularly in urban areas and among the youth. This acted as the push factor for migration.

Concisely, migration from Manipur is rapidly increasing in search of better education and for job in particular in the post LPG where jobs are growing in some selected regions. Migration from the state is due to a high unemployment rate particularly for the youths and in urban areas which is a result of slow employment generation by the government and low participation in job creation by the private sector amidst growing educational level. 
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For citation: Marchang Reimeingam, Unemployment and Migration among the People from Manipur, Imphal Free Press, Imphal, 10^th Feb.2009.