Push and Pull Factors Influencing Migration among Tribal Agricultural Labourers : A Critical Gender Analysis

Abstract

The present study has been done on the basis of qualitative and quantitative data collected from primary sources and explored the pattern of migration among tribal agricultural labourers, the push and pull factors associated with migration and the infl uence of social discrimination and land alienation leading to migration of tribal labourers. About 55 per cent of the country’s tribal population now resides outside their traditional habitats. While men were generally daily and seasonal migrants, women migrated permanently after marriage. Migration is associated with many economic, social, physical and political factors. While considering the male agricultural labourers, the major push factors forcing them to migrate were low wages, unemployment due to seasonality of jobs and growing indebtedness and the pull factors included better opportunity for higher wages, better employment opportunities and job security. In the case of female agricultural labourers, decline of natural resources, indebtedness, natural calamities and unemployment were the major push factors for migration and pull factor was dependency movement. While social discrimination, land alienation and substance use had a positive and signifi cant eff ect on migration, self-confi dence, health and nutrition, access to common property resources, political orientation and awareness about the about the developmental programmes and their rights had a negative and signifi cant eff ect on migration.