There is a standard misconception amongst the Goans that Goa gets more migrants from Karnataka and Maharashtra but that is not the fact anymore. A lot of people from Karnataka and Maharastra have indeed migrated to Goa and many of them have also settled down in the state for a long time but the fact is Uttar Pradesh is giving more migrants to Goa compared to the two major states situated in the neighborhood of Goa.
According to the report published in the Times of India by Gauree Malkarnekar, the quantum of migration to Goa from the neighboring state has touched to 1.35 Lakhs since 2011 clubbing all the states in India from where the people migrate to Goa.
Around 12,897 persons migrated from Uttar Pradesh to Goa. Bihar came fourth, which contributed 5,781 to Goa’s migrant population between 2001 and 2011, said the report.
As expected, Goa receives the most migrants from its neighboring states of Karnataka and Maharashtra, as per the recently released data on migration of the 2011 Census. But persons from Uttar Pradesh form the third-largest group from another state migrating into Goa, according to the data.
Giving the example of one Sudhir Tiwari working in Goa as Security Guard Gauree writes that Uttar Pradesh native Sudhir Tiwari landed in Goa in 2015, after spending most of the earlier five years unemployed in his home state.
“I have a Class XII certificate. But I passed the exam by copying. I was young and stupid. This made my qualifications useless. I used to get paid much less for the job of a security guard in my state. Goa was the best bet for me as my sister was already living here, who had come here with her husband,” said the now 27-year-old Tiwari.
According to Sudhir, Goa gives better opportunity and income compared to his hometown. According to him, he hardly earns 4 to 5 thousand per month in his hometown. “I do a 12-hour shift here as a security guard and if I work two jobs I can earn about Rs 15,000 to Rs 16,000 a month. But I would get paid only around Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 for the same kind of work in my home state,” said Tiwari, who intends going home to get married and plans to move with his wife to a rented place in Old Goa.
As per the census data of 2011 over 53000 thousand persons from Karnataka had shifted their residence to Goa while only 30,064 were from Maharastra. Most of the migrants who moved to Goa were in the highly productive age groups of 20 and 35, very much like Tiwari, possibly showing that employment was the reason for migration.
Now coming to next stage of migration and that is settling down in Goa as there are hundreds of thousands of people from Karnataka and Maharashtra have settled down in Goa during the time Now even the migrants from UP are moving towards the similar direction. According to Tiwari, just like his sister who had settled down in Taleigao, he is also planning to start his family here in Goa.
“I have several younger siblings that my parents have to support and there is nothing to go back to,” said Tiwari, who spent around five years doing odd jobs with his uncle in UP, before his sister called him over to Goa, and he instantly found a job as a security guard.
According to the report, it has been found that as far as the UP and Bihar is concerned the migrant people from rural areas are moving down to Goa for the better prospects while the case of Maharashtra and Karnataka is completely different. In the case of Maharashtra. Of the 30,000-odd people from the state that shifted to Goa, more than 20,000 were from urban regions of Maharashtra, while 10,000 came from rural areas.
Between 3,000 to 4,000 persons each also shifted to Goa from the states of Kerala, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan. However, Goa received a small number of migrants from the rest of the states and Union territories as well, making the tiny state a truly cosmopolitan place with persons from every part of India living here.
It is not that only people from the other states moved down to Goa but there is a huge migration of Goans to the other states and countries. There is a big-time migration of Goans to the UK and UAE in a search of better prospects.
According to the report, nearly 2.60 lakh Goans has moved their homes to another location within the state between 2001 and 2011, with residents of urban areas more likely to shift homes to another part of the state. A large part of those migrating within the state were women, showing that marriage and the compulsion for move out of their parents’ home after tying the knot were mainly driving this migration within Goa.
Those migrating to Goa from the north-east were a minuscule number between 2001 and 2011. “I wish I had studied sincerely till Class XII and could speak a little English, I would have earned better,” said Tiwari.
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