Avatar Posted by helo 1568 days ago (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Category: Society | Tags: outsiders bollywood sons of the soil
Mumbai is often called the city of dreams. The phrase refers not just to Bollywood, but also to the potential the city offers to people for jobs. But dreams can also give rise to delusions.

And, one of the delusions persistently kept alive by some political outfits in Mumbai is that it is being swamped by "outsiders", that is, people from other states. Migration figures clearly show this is a myth.

Mumbai is not being swamped by outsiders. In fact, the proportion of out-of-state migrants has considerably gone down over the decades. In the 1960s, when the "sons of the soil" slogan was first raised, the share of out-of-state migrants in Mumbai’s population was over 36%. In 2001, it had dropped to 26%.

In fact, within the state, migrants from other districts of Maharashtra too has gone down from 27% to 19% of the population. As a consequence, even by a strict definition, Mumbaikars now constitute over 57% of Mumbai's population compared to 34% in 1961. The migrants in Mumbai are now mostly from north Indian states, unlike in the past when Gujaratis and South Indian states made up the largest share.

This is attributed to the rise of Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai, as centres of employment and the high economic growth in Gujarat. This indicates that migration can be reduced if jobs are created nearer home.

Another feature of migration to Mumbai is that the new migrants are mostly settling down in Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan and Mira-Bhayander areas. They live in these areas, and if necessary, travel to the main city for work. Thus,
the perception that they are putting an unsustainable load on the civic infrastructure is not completely true.
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