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Odisha Migration, Brain Drain, and Diaspora: Comprehensive Research Compendium

Compiled: 2026-03-24 Purpose: Reference material for SeeUtkal content on migration, brain drain, and the feedback loops of outmigration from Odisha.

1. ACADEMIC PAPERS

1.1 The Landmark: Odisha Migration Survey 2023

S. Irudaya Rajan and Amrita Datta. “Odisha Migration Survey 2023.” Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 60, Issue No. 36, September 6, 2025.

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.71279/epw.v60i36.40538
  • URL: https://www.epw.in/journal/2025/36/insight/odisha-migration-survey-2023.html
  • Methodology: Primary survey of 15,000 representative households across Odisha
  • Key findings:
    • Estimates 1.7 million inter-state migrants originated from Odisha
    • In 2014, Odisha’s state government identified 11 of 30 districts as migration-prone
    • Official statistics (Census, NSSO) systematically underestimate migration by missing short-term and circular movement
    • Ganjam has highest concentration of international migrants, followed by Kendrapara
    • Ganjam receives highest remittances in Odisha: nearly Rs 120 crore per month
    • Examines migration corridors, destinations, and remittance patterns disaggregated by region and social group
  • Authors: S. Irudaya Rajan (Chair, IIMAD — International Institute for Migration and Development) and Amrita Datta (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Liberal Arts, IIT Hyderabad)
  • Funded by: CGIAR Gender Platform; led by IIT Hyderabad in collaboration with IIMAD

1.2 Distress Migration and Indigenous Communities

Ruchira Bhattamishra. “Distress migration and employment in indigenous Odisha, India: Evidence from migrant-sending households.” World Development, Vol. 136, 2020.

  • DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105047
  • PMID: 32834383
  • PMC: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7409767/
  • Methodology: Interviews during May 2020 lockdown with migrant-sending households across five districts (Rayagada, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Balangir, Kandhamal) in western Odisha, with assistance from NGO Agragamee
  • Key findings:
    • Majority of migrants are Scheduled Tribes (indigenous populations); over 9 million STs reside in Odisha
    • Most households hold Below Poverty Line (BPL) status
    • Average daily wages: INR 275 (~USD 3.60)
    • Migrants engage in seasonal, temporary work in dangerous, informal, low-skilled jobs
    • Primary driver: “Lack of local employment alternatives”
    • Proposes strengthening NREGA to provide local employment while building health facilities, irrigation, rainwater harvesting, and childcare

1.3 Seasonal Migration and Unfree Labour

Deepak K. Mishra. “Seasonal Migration and Unfree Labour in Globalising India: Insights from Field Surveys in Odisha.” The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Vol. 63, pp. 1087-1106, 2020.

  • DOI: 10.1007/s41027-020-00277-8
  • URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41027-020-00277-8
  • Examines historical processes of marginalisation and dispossession in interior Odisha
  • Conditions under which marginal cultivators and labourers are incorporated into circular migration streams through middlemen and labour contractors
  • Migration creates scope for escape from poverty, but large sections work under exploitative conditions with varying degrees of unfreedom and bondage

1.4 Caste-Based Dadan Labour Migration

Arun Kumar Acharya. “Caste-based migration and exposure to abuse and exploitation: Dadan labour migration in India.” Contemporary Social Science, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 371-383, May 2021.

  • DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1855467
  • URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21582041.2020.1855467
  • Analyzes interview and questionnaire data from Scheduled Caste Dadan migrants
  • Reports high levels of abuse, injury, and disability
  • Concludes that efforts to regulate employment conditions and implement caste reforms have failed to protect workers

1.5 Constrained Subjectivity: Bonded Labour Narratives

“Constrained Subjectivity: Narratives from Migrant Bonded Labourers in Bolangir, Odisha.” Journal of Migration Affairs (bi-annual).

  • URL: https://migrationaffairs.com/constrained-subjectivity/
  • Addresses a gap in bonded labour scholarship by examining subjective experiences and perceptions of bonded labourers
  • Based on empirical evidence from interviews with brick-kiln workers in Bolangir district
  • Introduces concept of “constrained subjectivity” — a contradictory state both limited by material conditions while articulating narratives not completely determined by those conditions
  • Bolangir is part of the KBK region (Koraput-Bolangir-Kalahandi), considered one of the poorest regions in the world

1.6 Distress Seasonal Migration in the KBK Region

“Impact of Distress Seasonal Migration from a Socio-economic Perspective: A Case Study of Nuapada District in Kalahandi Balangir Koraput Region of Odisha.” The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Vol. 62, No. 4, 2019.

1.7 Circular Migration in Odisha’s Underdeveloped Districts

Manoj K. Dash. “Causes and Consequences of Circular Migration in Odisha: Evidence from a Study of Four Underdeveloped Districts.” In: Development Outlook of Education and Migration (Demographic Transformation and Socio-Economic Development, Vol. 14), Springer, 2023.

1.8 COVID-19 Reverse Migration in Odisha

Minaketan Behera, Sibanarayan Mishra, and Alok Ranjan Behera. “The COVID-19-Led Reverse Migration on Labour Supply in Rural Economy: Challenges, Opportunities and Road Ahead in Odisha.” The Indian Economic Journal, Vol. 69, No. 3, pp. 392-409, May 2021.

  • DOI: 10.1177/00194662211013216
  • URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00194662211013216
  • Key findings:
    • 582,684 Odia people returned to Odisha by June 29, 2020
    • 358,401 returned by train by July 7, 2020; 36% from Gujarat (130,537)
    • Job loss was the biggest problem followed by income loss
    • 59% faced lack of jobs as most important challenge at home
    • 19% reported getting lower wages at home compared to destination
    • Income of migrants, household income, and nature of work had significant impact on vulnerability
    • Recommends strengthening MSME sector to absorb returned labour

1.9 Crisis of Seasonal Migrants During COVID-19

“Crisis of Seasonal Migrants in Odisha during Covid-19 Pandemic.” ResearchGate, 2021.

1.10 Internal Migration and Development in India

Amrita Datta and S. Irudaya Rajan. “Internal Migration and Development in India.” 2024.

“A Study on the Legal Aspects of the Inter-State Migration of Labour (Dadan) with Special Reference to Balangir District, Odisha.” Academia.edu, 2021.

1.12 Migration from Western Odisha to Brick Kilns in Telangana

“A Survey of Migration from Western Odisha to Brick Kilns in Telangana.” Academia.edu, 2021.

1.13 Production, Social Reproduction, and Seasonal Migrant Labour

“Migration and the Invisible Economies of Care: Production, Social Reproduction and Seasonal Migrant Labour in India.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 2020.

  • DOI: 10.1111/tran.12401
  • URL: https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tran.12401
  • Demonstrates how invisible economies of care spanning spatiotemporally divided households are crucial to exploitation of migrant labour
  • Focuses on low-caste and tribal people who seasonally migrate within India
  • References Deshingkar’s estimate of 100 million seasonal migrants in India

1.14 Distress Labour Migration from Western Odisha: Overview

“Distress Labour Migration from Western Odisha: An Overview.” IJFMR, 2024.

1.15 Conceptualizing Dadan Migration

“Conceptualizing Dadan Migration: A Perennial Problem.” IJSSHR, Vol. 8, Issue 6, 2025.

  • URL: https://ijsshr.in/v8i6/Doc/3.pdf
  • Historical etymology: “Dadan” traces to Persian “dadni” meaning “to give” or “an advance payment”
  • Became a prevailing system of trade/commerce in the textile sector under the East India Company in the 17th-18th centuries

2. PhD THESES

2.1 Household Aspirations and Migration Decision-Making

Kundan Mishra. “Distress, Dilemma, and Decisions: Household Aspirations and Migration Decision-Making in Rural India.” PhD Dissertation, University of Massachusetts Boston, 2022.

  • URL: https://scholarworks.umb.edu/doctoral_dissertations/744/
  • Mixed-methods approach: group discussions, literature review, personal interviews; quantitative analysis of 507 household surveys
  • Case study of migrant households in rural Odisha
  • Extends the capabilities approach to understand agency of rural migrant households under economic distress
  • Compares 27 different aspirations of rural households
  • Finds migrant and non-migrant households are distinct in their capacity

2.2 Amrita Datta’s Bihar-Odisha Migration Research

Amrita Datta. PhD in Development Studies, International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University Rotterdam.

  • Published as book: “Migration and Development in India: The Bihar Experience” (Routledge, 2022, 2024)
  • Longitudinal study on social and economic change in rural Bihar and labour migration
  • Currently working on a book based on the Odisha Migration Study 2023
  • Published “A Snapshot of Distress Migration in Odisha” with S.I. Rajan in The Hindu, November 2024

3. THINK TANK AND INSTITUTIONAL REPORTS

3.1 Odisha State Migration Profile Report (Human Dignity Foundation / Aajeevika Bureau)

Centre for Migration and Labour Solutions (CMLS), Aajeevika Bureau. “Odisha State Migration Profile Report.” Human Dignity Foundation, 2018.

3.2 Gram Vikas / CMID Block Migration Profiles (2019-2021)

Gram Vikas and Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID). Block Migration Profiles of four Odisha blocks, 2019-2021.

Four detailed empirical studies:

  1. Jagannathprasad Block, Ganjam — URL: https://www.gramvikas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Jagannathprasad-Block-Migration-Profile-Final-Web-9-Sept-21.pdf
  2. Rayagada Block, Gajapati — URL: https://www.gramvikas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Rayagada-Block-Migration-Profile-GV-CMID-Web-Revised-14-Oct-21.pdf
  3. Baliguda Block, Kandhamal — URL: https://www.gramvikas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Baliguda-Block-Migration-Profile-GV-CMID-Final-Web-22-September-21.pdf
  4. Thuamul Rampur Block, Kalahandi — (referenced in programme documentation)

Key findings:

  • 18-31% of households in studied blocks had at least one migrant worker
  • Less than 20% engaged in seasonal migration (under 6 months); most stayed longer
  • At least 75,000 persons from these blocks working in other states
  • Monthly remittances: Rs 124 crore (Ganjam), Rs 37 crore (Kalahandi), Rs 16 crore (Kandhamal), Rs 15 crore (Gajapati)
  • In Thuamul Rampur (Kalahandi), migrant remittances of Rs 30 crore/year equal government spending under various rural development programmes
  • Predominantly Scheduled Tribe communities comprise majority of migrant households in Rayagada block

3.3 Caste Dynamics in Labour Migration (Aajeevika Bureau / CMID Working Paper)

“Caste Dynamics in Labour Migration: Study of Migration from Ganjam District, Odisha to Gujarat and Kerala.” Working Paper 01, Aajeevika Bureau / CMID, 2024.

  • URL: https://workfairandfree.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Working-Paper-01_Final.pdf
  • Outcome of a research fellowship jointly curated by Aajeevika Bureau, Udaipur and CMID, Kochi
  • Explores how caste is a structural force shaping migration
  • Documents the emergent Ganjam-Kerala corridor
  • Finding: Dalits, tribals, and Christian workers from Odisha prefer Kerala over Gujarat due to less caste discrimination

3.4 World Bank Research

World Bank. “Internal Borders and Migration in India.” 2017.

3.5 EAC-PM Report: “400 Million Dreams!”

Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. “400 Million Dreams! Examining Volume and Directions of Domestic Migration in India Using Novel High Frequency Data.” December 2024.

3.6 NITI Aayog Draft National Policy on Migrant Workers (2021)

3.7 Ministry of Housing Working Group on Migration (2017)

Report of the Working Group on Migration, January 2017.

3.8 ILO Reports on Bonded Labour and Brick Kilns

ILO. “Bonded Labour in India: Its Incidence and Pattern.”

  • URL: https://www.ilo.org/media/319696/download
  • Estimates ~10 million workers employed in brick manufacturing (some government estimates lower at 2.1 million)
  • 84% male workforce
  • ILO initiated collaboration between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh labour departments for tracking migrant brick kiln workers
  • 2012 MoU between Odisha and AP to track labourers from 11 Odisha districts migrating to brick kilns

3.9 NCDS Working Paper on COVID and Migrant Workers

“COVID-19 and Migrant Workers.” NCDS Working Paper No. 79.

3.10 IOM Return Migration Governance During COVID-19

“Return Migration Governance in India during COVID-19.” IOM Migration Research Series No. 79, 2023.

3.11 BAIF Report on Reverse Migration in Odisha

“Journey Without a Choice: A Report on Reverse Migration in Odisha.” BAIF, 2021.

3.12 CBGA Analysis: Can Reverse Migration Revive Rural Economy?

“COVID-19: Can Reverse Migration Help Revive Rural Economy of Odisha?” Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), 2020.

  • URL: https://www.cbgaindia.org/blog/covid-19-can-reverse-migration-help-revive-rural-economy-odisha/
  • Government estimate: 7.5 lakh stranded workers; ~10 lakh registered on portal
  • 2.27 lakh beds in 7,200 isolation facilities across Gram Panchayats
  • Rs 2,000 incentive for quarantine completion
  • Rs 17,000 crore “Special Livelihood Intervention Plan” announced for June 2020 to March 2021
  • Authors note: crisis “could have been averted if the government would have strengthened the rural livelihood base”

4. THE ECONOMICS OF MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES

4.1 Remittance Data for Odisha

District-level remittance estimates (CMID/Gram Vikas, 2019-2021):

  • Ganjam: Rs 124 crore/month (~Rs 1,488 crore/year)
  • Kalahandi: Rs 37 crore/month
  • Kandhamal: Rs 16 crore/month
  • Gajapati: Rs 15 crore/month

Context: In Thuamul Rampur block of Kalahandi, migrant remittances of Rs 30 crore/year equal total government spending under various rural development programmes in the block. Migration was a factor in reducing multidimensional poverty in Ganjam from ~22% (2015-16) to 6% (2019-20).

4.2 Cost of Brain Drain (National Level)

National-level estimates (various sources):

  • Conservative: ~$160 billion annually in lost income tax, pension contributions, and return on public education investment
  • Alternative estimate: $35-50 billion/year in lost productivity, foregone growth, and education subsidies
  • Software engineer brain drain alone: ~$2 billion/year
  • Per-IIT-student loss: ~Rs 6 lakh per student who migrates abroad (Rs 8 lakh cost vs. Rs 2 lakh fees)
  • India has over 17 million citizens living overseas; 2+ million IT professionals have migrated since early 2000s
  • Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376202877

4.3 Multiplier Effects of Remittances

Key findings from research:

  • Remittance-receiving households spend on housing construction and consumer durables, generating employment for non-migrant households
  • Creates demand for local products and services (auto-rickshaws, rice mills, retail shops)
  • Digital banking adoption at destinations encourages UPI and internet banking, spurring bank expansion in migration-prone areas
  • Caveat: In Kerala, multiplier effects have “leaked out” to other regions rather than benefiting the local economy
  • Source: https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/endpovertyinsouthasia/remittance-multiplier-action

4.4 Comparative Remittance Flows by State

State-level international remittance shares:

  • Kerala: 40% of India’s international remittance receipts
  • Punjab: 12.7%
  • Tamil Nadu: 12.4%
  • Andhra Pradesh: 7.7%
  • Uttar Pradesh: 4.7%
  • Odisha: Not among top recipients (mostly internal, not international migration)

Kerala’s remittance contribution: 23.2% of state domestic product in 2023 (Rs 216,893 crore)

4.5 The Odisha Difference

Unlike Kerala, Gujarat, and Punjab where migration is international and produces high-value remittances, Odisha’s migration is predominantly:

  • Internal (inter-state), not international
  • Low-skill and low-wage (brick kilns, power looms, construction, plywood factories)
  • Seasonal and circular, not permanent
  • Average daily wages for migrants: INR 275 (~$3.60) — World Development paper
  • Workers in Surat power looms earn Rs 20,000-25,000/month but work 12-hour shifts
  • Workers in Kerala plywood factories earn Rs 10,000-16,000/month
  • Kerala daily agricultural wages: Rs 767; Odisha: Rs 239 (3.2x differential)

5. THE FEEDBACK LOOP: CUMULATIVE CAUSATION AND SELF-REINFORCING CYCLES

5.1 Cumulative Causation Theory (Gunnar Myrdal, 1957)

De Haas, Hein. “Migration and Development: A Theoretical Perspective.” International Migration Review, 2010.

  • PMC: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4744987/
  • Core thesis: Rather than equilibrium-seeking, migration deepens spatial inequality through self-reinforcing mechanisms
  • “Backwash effects” outweigh positive “spread effects”
  • Creates the “migrant syndrome” — a vicious circle where emigration perpetuates underdevelopment
  • Massey reintroduced Myrdal’s concept to explain migration continuation: “migration induces changes in social and economic structures” that perpetuate further migration
  • Networks create cumulative causation: greater stream size = stronger network = greater stream size

5.2 Does Outmigration Make Poor Regions Poorer?

Key evidence:

  • Poverty traps involve self-reinforcing mechanisms: “poverty begets poverty, so that current poverty is itself a direct cause of poverty in the future”
  • Evidence from rural Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa shows multiple equilibria in asset dynamics
  • Living in poor areas diminishes productivity of farmer’s investments
  • Internal and external economies of scale “perpetuate and deepen the pattern characterized by the vicious cycle of poverty in the periphery”
  • However: relationship is complex — poverty can both increase and prevent migration; migration can both reduce and increase poverty
  • Source: https://povertyevidence.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-role-of-migration-in-ending-extreme-poverty-Thematic-paper-1.pdf

5.3 The New Economics of Labour Migration (NELM)

  • Reframes migration as a rational household strategy, not just individual economic calculation
  • Risk-spreading: households diversify labour across locations
  • Migration overcomes imperfect credit and insurance markets
  • More optimistic than cumulative causation: successful migration can fund investments, education, and local development

5.4 Conditions for Reversing Brain Drain

Comparative analysis (various sources):

South Korea:

China:

Greece (post-crisis recovery):

  • ~350,000 of 600,000 who left (2010-2021) have returned (Eurostat 2025)
  • 50% income tax cut for 7 years for repatriating professionals
  • Strong economic growth as enabling condition

India (IT sector):

  • 1960s-1980s: brain drain phase from IITs
  • Late 1990s-2000s: large-scale return as economic reforms improved prospects
  • Paradigm shift: “brain drain” (1960s-70s) to “brain bank” (1980s-90s) to “brain gain” (21st century)

Key principle: “The basic ingredient is opportunity. Talent flows naturally to countries that create an environment for economic growth, make life easy for enterprise, attract investment, and nurture a culture of achievement.”

5.5 Brain Circulation vs. Brain Drain

Singh and Krishna. “Trends in Brain Drain, Gain and Circulation: Indian Experience of Knowledge Workers.” Science, Technology and Society, 2015.

  • DOI: 10.1177/0971721815597132

Shin and Caywood. “Countering Brain Drain through Circulation and Linkage: Illustrations and Lessons from China and India.” International Migration Review, 2025.

  • DOI: 10.1177/01979183251371676
  • Proposes framework treating “circulation” and “linkage” as distinctive yet intertwined phenomena

AnnaLee Saxenian. “From Brain Drain to Brain Circulation: Transnational Communities and Regional Upgrading in India and China.” Studies in Comparative International Development, 2005.

6. COVID-19 REVERSE MIGRATION

6.1 Scale and Timeline

  • 582,684 Odia returned by June 29, 2020
  • 358,401 returned by train by July 7, 2020
  • 36% came from Gujarat (130,537)
  • Government portal registrations: ~10 lakh requesting return
  • Pre-COVID Census 2011 baseline: 13 lakh registered migrant workers from Odisha

6.2 What Happened to Returned Workers

  • 59% reported lack of jobs as primary challenge
  • 19% faced lower wages compared to destination
  • Most workers initially did not want to return to cities, but economic vulnerability and mounting debts left them confused
  • Government’s Rs 17,000 crore Special Livelihood Intervention Plan (June 2020-March 2021)
  • 2.27 lakh quarantine beds in 7,200 isolation facilities
  • Reports of migrants fleeing quarantine centers due to lack of basic facilities

6.3 Did COVID Change Migration Patterns Permanently?

Evidence suggests: mostly not.

  • Most migrants eventually returned to their destination cities
  • Rural economy could not absorb the sudden labour surplus
  • Odisha expanded NREGA wages to Rs 286 for 200 days in 4 districts (January 2020, pre-COVID)
  • Structural weaknesses that drive migration remain unchanged: lack of irrigation (only ~3% of agricultural land irrigated in Balangir), frequent droughts, limited local industry

6.4 Key COVID-Migration Studies

  1. Behera et al. (2021) — Indian Economic Journal (see Section 1.8 above)
  2. CBGA Blog (2020) — https://www.cbgaindia.org/blog/covid-19-can-reverse-migration-help-revive-rural-economy-odisha/
  3. BAIF (2021) — “Journey Without a Choice” — https://baif.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Migrant-report_Odisha.pdf
  4. Mongabay India (2020) — “Odisha’s coastal migrants return to where they started” — https://india.mongabay.com/2020/06/odishas-coastal-migrants-return-back-to-where-they-started/
  5. IOM (2023) — Return Migration Governance in India during COVID-19 — https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/pub2023-037-l-mrs-79-return-migration-governance-in-india-during-covid-19.pdf

7. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

7.1 Kerala’s Gulf Migration Model

Key sources:

  • Kerala Migration Surveys (KMS): conducted by Centre for Development Studies and IIMAD
  • KMS 2023: 2.2 million emigrants from Kerala (up from 2.1 million in 2018)
  • Remittances: Rs 216,893 crore in 2023 (154.9% increase from 2018), contributing 23.2% of GSDP
  • Student emigrants: 11.5% of total, increasing from 129,763 (2018) to 250,000 (2023)

What makes Kerala different from Odisha:

  1. International migration (Gulf countries, Europe, Americas) vs. Odisha’s inter-state migration
  2. Higher-skilled migration (nursing, engineering, IT) vs. Odisha’s manual/unskilled labour
  3. Massive remittance flows that boosted entire state economy
  4. Institutional survey infrastructure (Kerala Migration Survey since 1998)
  5. But: Kerala also faces “brain drain” crisis as student emigration accelerates to Europe/West

7.2 Gujarat Diaspora Model

Key sources:

Characteristics:

  • Gujaratis constitute ~33% of Indian diaspora worldwide, present in 129 of 190 UN-listed countries
  • Migration primarily for higher studies or joining family businesses abroad
  • Migrants often from relatively well-off families — lower remittance pressure
  • NRI deposits in Gujarat exceed US$ 40 billion (2006)
  • Madhapur village: among wealthiest in Asia due to NRI remittances
  • Trade networks: textiles (East Africa), diamonds (Antwerp), tech (Silicon Valley)

Contrast with Odisha: Gujarat’s diaspora is entrepreneurial and capital-rich; Odisha’s is labour-intensive and survival-driven.

7.3 Bihar’s Migration Patterns

Key sources:

  • Amrita Datta. “Migration and Development in India: The Bihar Experience.” Routledge, 2022/2024.
  • Census 2011: Bihar net outmigration of 4.8 million

Similarities with Odisha:

  • Both are major out-migrating states
  • Employment-related migration dominates
  • Likelihood of migrating for work more than double the all-India average
  • Agricultural crisis drives migration

Differences:

  • Bihar’s migration longer-established and more global (via Gulf, Southeast Asia)
  • Bihar’s migrants shifted from Punjab to Delhi and other destinations as agricultural crisis deepened
  • Bihar has more political visibility as a “migrant state” than Odisha

7.4 Punjab NRI Model

7.5 What Makes Some Diasporas Productive?

Key differentiators (from comparative literature):

  1. Skill level of migrants: High-skill diasporas (Kerala nurses, Gujarat entrepreneurs, Punjabi farmers in Canada) generate higher-value remittances and knowledge transfer
  2. Network strength: Gujaratis maintain trade networks across 129 countries; Odia networks remain informal and caste-mediated
  3. Institutional support: Kerala has migration surveys, Kerala government diaspora engagement; Odisha has minimal institutional infrastructure for diaspora
  4. Return pathways: Brain circulation requires economic dynamism at home; Odisha lacks the pull factors
  5. Migration type: International migration generates larger economic surplus than internal migration at similar skill levels

8. MIGRATION CORRIDORS AND GEOGRAPHY

8.1 Ganjam-Surat Corridor (80+ years)

8.2 Western Odisha-Brick Kilns Corridor

  • Over 60,000 families (~2 lakh individuals) from Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Boudh, Sonepur, Bargarh
  • 40,000-50,000 move to brick kilns near Cuttack and Bhubaneswar
  • ~3 lakh migrant labourers (including minors) move from interior Odisha to other states
  • Recruitment begins during Nuakhai festival (September-October) with advance payments
  • Workers: predominantly young (72% aged 16-29), 12-hour shifts, Rs 8,000-12,000/month
  • Only 1 in 5 have access to washrooms

8.3 Coastal Odisha-Kerala Corridor (since late 1990s)

  • Kendrapara district to Ernakulam (Perumbavoor) — 2,000 km bus route
  • ~8,000 persons from Kendrapara in plywood and garment factories in Kerala
  • Wage differential: Rs 767/day agricultural wage in Kerala vs. Rs 239 in Odisha (3.2x)
  • Climate migration dimension: 29% of Kendrapara could be submerged by 1-metre sea level rise
  • India’s first climate resettlement colony: 571 families from Satbhaya relocated to Bagapatia (2017-2018)
  • Source: https://scroll.in/article/1048724/from-odisha-to-kerala-a-bus-of-climate-migrants

8.4 Census 2011 Destination Data for Odisha Out-Migrants

DestinationShare
Gujarat18.09%
Andhra Pradesh13.89%
Chhattisgarh12.93%
Maharashtra11.43%
Karnataka8.29%

9. CLIMATE AND MIGRATION

9.1 Coastal Erosion and Displacement

  • 28% of Odisha’s 550 km coastline experienced erosion between 1990-2016
  • Odisha lost 153.8 km (28%) of its 485 km coastline between 1999-2016 to seawater ingression
  • Kendrapara: 694 sq km under high erosion risk, affecting 348 villages
  • Port construction (Paradip, Dhamara, Gopalpur) aggravated erosion
  • India’s first managed retreat for climate migrants: Satbhaya to Bagapatia, Kendrapara (2017-18)

9.2 Cyclone History and Displacement

10.1 The Orissa Dadan Labour (Control and Regulation) Act, 1975

  • URL: https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/5943/1/orissa_dadan_labour.pdf
  • Presidential assent: October 8, 1975; published in Orissa Gazette October 29, 1975
  • First state in India to formulate law specifically for migrant worker protection (4 years before the central Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act of 1979)
  • Required registration of agents (sardars, khatadars, contractors)
  • Mandated wages not less than Minimum Wages Act, 1948 rates
  • Problem: Workers were made to sign blank papers by sardars; state had no power against out-of-state employers
  • Status: Now repealed, subsumed under central legislation

10.2 Odisha State Action Plan for Migrant Workers

10.3 Odisha Provides Odia-Medium Teachers at Destination

  • Government sends cadre of Odia teachers to accompany seasonal migrant households to Telangana and Tamil Nadu
  • Ensures children can continue education in mother tongue

11. JOURNALISTS, WRITERS, AND MEDIA

11.1 The Migration Story (Digital Newsroom)

  • URL: https://www.themigrationstory.com/
  • Founded by Anuradha and Roli
  • Reports, photo essays, podcasts, videos on migrant workforces and climate change
  • Major investigations: caste in Surat’s Odia communities, climate migration corridors, village-level economic changes
  • Contributors include Aishwarya Mohanty (Odisha-based journalist covering gender, human rights, climate)

11.2 IndiaSpend / IndiaSpend Weekly

“How Caste Identity Prevails Among Odia Migrant Workers in Surat.” IndiaSpend, 2024.

Prem Panicker. “Migration and the Caste Divide.” IndiaSpend Weekly.

“Odisha Migrant Workers Return To Gruelling Shifts, Poor Wages.” IndiaSpend.

11.3 Scroll.in

“In Surat’s grimy living quarters for Odia migrants, caste is the dividing line.” Scroll.in.

“From Odisha to Kerala: A bus of climate migrants.” Scroll.in.

11.4 IDR (India Development Review)

“How migration is changing villages in Odisha.” IDR, 2024.

“Ensuring safe and dignified migration for informal workers.” IDR.

11.5 Down to Earth

“Voting Without Voters in Odisha’s Plumber Capital.” Down to Earth.

“Coastal crisis: A race against time for Odisha’s coastal villages.” Down to Earth.

11.6 Mongabay India

“Odisha’s coastal migrants return to where they started.” Mongabay India, June 2020.

11.7 The Federal

“Chained by debt: How migrant workers’ distress shadows Nuakhai in Odisha.” The Federal, March 2024.

11.8 NewsClick

“Odisha: Is Task Force to Check Distress Migration in Bolangir a Gold Filling to Hide Decay?” NewsClick.

11.9 P. Sainath and PARI

P. Sainath — Founder, People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI)

  • URL: https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/
  • 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award winner; Amnesty International’s first Global Award for Human Rights Journalism (2000)
  • Has documented migration from Kalahandi to Raipur and Koraput to brick kilns in Vizianagaram, AP
  • PARI focuses on documenting rural communities facing economic challenges
  • Categories: Farming and its Crisis, Adivasis, Dalits, Women, Healthcare, The Rural in the Urban

11.10 Books

Chinmay Tumbe. “India Moving: A History of Migration.” Penguin Random House India, 2018.

  • URL: https://www.penguin.co.in/book/india-moving/
  • Author: Associate Professor, IIM Ahmedabad
  • First comprehensive history of migration in India
  • Covers slave trade, travelling business communities (Marwaris, Gujaratis, Chettiars), Partition, Bihar-Kerala migration roots
  • Discusses eastern UP and western Bihar as ancient migration source centers

Amrita Datta. “Migration and Development in India: The Bihar Experience.” Routledge, 2022/2024.

  • Longitudinal study on social and economic change in rural Bihar
  • Currently working on companion volume based on Odisha Migration Study 2023

11.11 Other Investigations and Commentary

Organiser. “Odisha Dadan Migration: Patterns and BJP govt response.” August 2025.

OdishaTV. “Governance Deficit Fuelling Migration Of Odisha Workers To Brick Kilns!” Opinion.

Newslaundry. “The reality of slavery and debt bondage in India.” 2018.

12. KEY RESEARCHERS AND INSTITUTIONS

12.1 S. Irudaya Rajan

  • Chair, International Institute for Migration and Development (IIMAD)
  • World Bank blog contributor
  • Led Kerala Migration Surveys and now Odisha Migration Survey 2023
  • URL: https://iimad.org/people/s-irudaya-rajan/

12.2 Amrita Datta

  • Assistant Professor, Dept. of Liberal Arts, IIT Hyderabad
  • PhD: ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam; M.Phil: University of Cambridge
  • Research: migration and mobilities, agrarian change, village studies, gender
  • Published in: Journal of Development Studies, EPW, Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Children’s Geographies
  • URL: https://sites.google.com/view/amritadatta/home

12.3 Deepak K. Mishra

  • Editor: “Internal Migration in Contemporary India” (Springer)
  • Author of key paper on seasonal migration and unfree labour in Odisha

12.4 Priya Deshingkar

12.5 Key Institutions

13. ODIA IDENTITY AND DIASPORA

13.1 The Odia Diaspora

  • ~50 million Odia speakers worldwide
  • Significant presence in Thailand, Indonesia, US, Canada, Australia, UK
  • In India: large communities in Gujarat (Surat), Kerala, AP/Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka
  • Cultural connection maintained through Rath Yatra, Odia Divas celebrations
  • Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odia_diaspora

13.2 Language and Identity Under Threat

  • “Odia Asmita” (pride) encompasses language, culture, history, spirituality, social values
  • Historical threat: British colonial period attempts to replace Odia with Bengali in schools (mid-19th century)
  • Odisha became first language-based state in India (1936)
  • Contemporary threats: globalization, migration, dominance of English and Hindi
  • Initiatives to digitize and promote Odia literature aim to address preservation concerns
  • Source: https://odisha.plus/2025/12/what-is-odia-asmita-meaning-history-culture/

14. DATA GAPS AND RESEARCH NEEDS

14.1 Known Gaps

  1. No comprehensive diaspora engagement policy for Odisha (unlike Kerala’s NORKA-ROOTS)
  2. Internal remittance data is severely under-documented compared to international remittance tracking
  3. Skilled migration from Odisha (IT professionals, engineers, doctors leaving Bhubaneswar) is almost entirely unresearched
  4. Cost-benefit analysis of migration for Odisha has not been conducted at state level
  5. Census 2021 was not conducted due to COVID, leaving a major data gap
  6. Long-term impact of COVID reverse migration — whether patterns changed permanently — lacks longitudinal follow-up
  7. Climate migration from coastal Odisha is only beginning to be documented
  8. Mental health of migrants and families left behind is largely unstudied

14.2 The Central Irony

Odisha was the first Indian state to enact legislation protecting migrant workers (1975), yet nearly 50 years later, the state’s own labour commission acknowledges that it cannot effectively track, protect, or support its millions of migrating citizens. The legal framework exists; the implementation does not.

SUMMARY STATISTICS AT A GLANCE

MetricValueSource
Inter-state migrants from Odisha1.7 million (OMS 2023); 12.7 lakh (Census 2011)EPW 2025; Census 2011
Annual migrating labourers~851,000 (PLFS 2020-21); ~3 lakh to brick kilnsOrganiser 2025
Ganjam migrants in Surat6-8 lakhMultiple sources
Monthly remittances to GanjamRs 120 croreCMID/Gram Vikas
COVID return migrants582,684 by June 29, 2020Behera et al. 2021
Daily wage of migrant from tribal OdishaRs 275 (~$3.60)Bhattamishra 2020
Wage differential (Kerala vs. Odisha)3.2x (Rs 767 vs. Rs 239)Scroll.in
Migration-prone districts14 (state action plan)Odisha Labour Dept.
Brick kiln migration from western Odisha60% of distress migrationVarious
Ganjam poverty reduction (migration factor)22% to 6% (2015-16 to 2019-20)CMID
Odisha coastline erosion28% of 550 km (1990-2016)Ministry of Earth Sciences
India’s total internal migrants450 million (Census 2011); 402 million (EAC-PM 2023)World Bank; EAC-PM

Cited in

The narrative series that build on this research.