Migration in Northeast India: Inflows, Outflows and Reverse Flows during Pandemic

Migration is a significant factor in the organization of regional and urban space in India. In India, migration has been dominated by people from Eastern and Central regions moving to western and northwestern regions. On the other hand, Northeast has been known for in-migration and the conflicts arising from influx of migrants, but studies are lacking on the out-migration from the region. This study makes an attempt to study both inflow and outflow from the region and covers both internal and international migration. In this study, the Northeast India consists of the seven states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Each state of the region shares an international boundary. The paper uses data from Census 2011 and has tried to study the magnitude of inflows to the region as well as the outflows from the region at the state level and also the reasons for migration. The state of Manipur is unique in the entire Northeast as outflow is three times higher than the inflow in the state. Assam is losing population due to internal migration to other states of India but compensated by international migration. The state of Assam presents a balanced ratio of inflow and outflow as stands in 2011 contrary to the popular perception that the state is gaining population inundated by immigration. The rest of the states of Northeast are gaining population predominantly due to internal migration, whereas Tripura gained population more from international compared to internal migration. The paper throws light on the combined impact of internal and international migration in the Northeast region which is generally lacking in migration studies on Northeast relevant for economic policy and political decision making. It also makes an assessment of reverse flows during the pandemic and lockdown.