
Exclusive: Karnataka’s migrant base is the most educated, youngest in India

Summary
As the Congress government in Karnataka mulls a locals-only jobs quota, promising data on the state's migrants could cause it to think twice.Karnataka’s migrant base is younger and more educated than that of any other state in India, a Mint analysis of granular data from a 2020-21 National Sample Survey shows. A quarter of people who have moved to Karnataka from outside the state are graduates or above. The median age of those who have migrated to the state for employment-related reasons is 30, the lowest of any state.
These are significant in the backdrop of a controversial bill floated by the Karnataka government earlier this week that aims to legislate stringent quotas for locals in the workforce, including in the private sector.
While only 4.6% of Karnataka’s urban population is from outside the state (lower than the national average of 7.4%), the quality of this workforce earns it large economic dividends. In Bengaluru, the country’s Silicon Valley, employers and employees alike erupted in protest over the idea of such a quota, forcing the government to halt the legislation pending consultations with industry.
Also read | Karnataka: One step too far with local-only quota
The analysis is based on a representative government survey conducted during the covid-19 lockdown, so the actual number of migrants could be different. However, there's no other large-scale, recent and reliable data available on migration in India. The state-wise comparisons include only 21 major states and Union territories with a sufficient sample size (but national figures include all states and Union territories.)
The survey defined a migrant as an individual who had spent at least six straight months in a village, town or country different from their current place of residence – that is, where they were surveyed.
Overall, 22.3% of Karnataka’s population comprised such people, but as is the case across the country, most of them migrants from other parts of the state. Just 2.2% of the state's population had come from another state or country. Around 76% of all male migrants from outside Karnataka said they came there for employment and 5.2% said they were there for studies. Among female migrants, 51% had come to the state after marriage, 16.8% for a job-related reason, and 3.3% for studies.
Nearly one-sixth (16.3%) of all male migrants who moved to Karnataka for a job were from Andhra Pradesh, the biggest source state, followed by Maharashtra (12.4%), Bihar (11.8%) and Rajasthan (9.2%).
Also read: How Indians move within the country, in charts
However, Karnataka accounts for a tiny share of Indians who live in a state different from their own (3%). Maharashtra alone accounts for as many as 13.1% such Indians, followed by Uttar Pradesh (11.8%), West Bengal (8.5%) and Delhi (7%). Delhi has by far the highest share of external migrants in its population (21.3%)—no other state crosses into double digits.
However, for workers, Karnataka offers better prospects than several major states. Nationally, as many as 56% of earning migrants (including those who moved within their state) reported seeing an increase in income after moving, the data showed. In Karnataka, the share was 60%.