General Studies Mains-2014 Paper-4 (Ethics and Integrity) Answer : Q-14

In our country, the migration of rural people to towns and cities is increasing drastically. This is causing serious problems both in the rural as well as in the urban areas. In fact, things are becoming really unmanageable. Can you analyze this problem in detail and indicate not only the socio-economic but also the emotional and attitudinal factors responsible for this problem? Also, distinctly bring out why – (a) educated youth are trying to shift to urban areas (b) landless poor people are migrating to urban slums (c) even some farmers are selling off the, land and trying to settle in urban areas taking petty jobs.

What feasible steps can you suggest which will be effective in controlling this serious problem of our country? (250 words) 

The lure of the benefits offered by urban centres of development attracts people in rural areas to the urban areas. Also, lack of employment opportunities and social mobility in the rural areas pulls people in the lower strata of society to the urban areas. There is widely prevalent belief that people can make it big in the large cities that pulls people in rural areas. Also, landless persons in villages and even persons with land living in almost deserted village have nothing to stay back for. Agriculture is no longer associated with prosperity, and the cities appear to offer multiple avenues for employment.

There is a severe lack of infrastructure and development in rural areas, thus, educated youth shift to urban areas looking for suitable employment opportunities. Poor landless people who have no land of their own to till back in the villages move to urban slums where they incur no costs on housing, water etc, so that they may try their luck working in jobs that cities have to offer. Farmers with land, on the other hand, are unable to even recover their basic costs with agriculture and are burdened by debt. The petty jobs in urban areas at least ensure regular wages with which some of their debt may be repaid.

Development of infrastructure in rural areas, promotion/encouragement of businesses and enterprises in rural areas, provision of incentives to big industries to open their factories in rural areas could help limit migration to urban areas.