The Migration Story—I

Based on results from the Odisha Migration Survey (OMS), this chapter estimates migration from Odisha and presents its key characteristics. It estimates 2.98 million current migrants and 0.77 million return migrants from Odisha. The chapter finds that 17.1% of households had at least one current migrant, and 4.5% of households had at least one return migrant. Migration was masculinized, and out-migration to other states within India was the dominant form of migration from Odisha. Ganjam and Baleshwar were the largest migrant-sending districts to other states, and the predominant migration corridors were Ganjam–Gujarat, Baleshwar–Tamil Nadu, Bhadrak–Karnataka, and Balangir–Andhra Pradesh/Telangana. The chapter finds that migration patterns varied significantly by region and social group. Rural–urban and urban-urban migration was predominant from the relatively prosperous central or coastal region, while the more precarious rural-rural migration stream was the highest among Scheduled Caste (Dalit) and Scheduled Tribe (Adivasi) community households compared to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and upper caste groups. The chapter suggests that the type of migration mattered; while well-off households with more educated members benefited more from migration, poor, and marginalized households with scarce resources used migration as a livelihood strategy for their survival.