India needs to encourage migration: World Bank

India needs to encourage migration: World Bank

New Delhi (PTI): The World Bank on Thursday advised India to encourage migration of the workforce through policy initiatives to improve the economic health of 60 per cent of its poor living in states which do not provide sufficient opportunities for growth.

"The process of migration should be welcomed and encouraged," said Indermit S Gill, chief economist of Europe and Central Asia, World Bank, while releasing the World Development Report (WDR) 2009 here.

Noting that more than 60 per cent of nation's poor live in lagging states, the 'WDR 2009: Reshaping Economic Geography,' calls for "policies that promote mobile people, products and ideas."

"Instead of worrying about the size of metropolises, cities and towns, the government should "worry about making sure that these places work well", said Mr. Gill.

The report said that "in the second half of 1990s, about three million people moved from lagging states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to leading states like Maharashtra and Punjab."

The report is significant as it comes in the backdrop of large-scale protest in country's financial capital Mumbai against influx of migrant workforce from Bihar and UP evoking sharp reaction from Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.