Socio-economic and Demographic Analysis of International Migration from Rural Punjab: A Case Study of Patiala District

Based on the primary data covering the period 1951-2019, the study highlights the problems of Brain Drain, Capital Drain, and Loss of Demographic Dividend. As many as 96.62 percent of the people migrated from the age group of 15 to 45 years. Most of the youngsters were migrating just after completing secondary level education. Unemployment, desire to earn more, better living conditions and good administration at the destination, and peer pressure were the main reasons for the migration of the people from rural Punjab. Two-thirds of the migrants sent no remittances to their families. Due to the high cost of migration and low remittances, two-thirds of the households were under debt.