Two-thirds of India’s population still lives in villages. But for the rural youth migrating to cities for livelihood and a better life, the process of migration is extracting a huge price, the Economic Survey 2025-26 has noted.
Not just this, the migration of rural youth to urban areas is leaving the elderly alone. To stop this exodus, the rural economy has to be revived, the Survey, tabled in Parliament on January 29, 2026, stated.
“Urban India and peri-urban areas attract migrants seeking better education, health, livelihoods, services, entertainment, and perceived well-being, viewing living in the city as a success. However, cities may be reaching capacity limits, and continuous migration is unsustainable, with approximately 65 per cent of the population still residing in rural areas. This rural-urban shift has side effects: as youth seek work in cities, support for older people diminishes, impacting their physical and mental health,” the document read.
Dhirendra Pal Singh, chancellor of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai, told Down To Earth (DTE), “It is true that there is pressure on cities due to rural migration. But it is impossible to stop the process. There is a severe lack of basic infrastructure in villages. It is difficult to fill that gap so quickly. Moreover, the means of livelihood in villages, especially agriculture, are now dying. It is also difficult to make a living through farming. The income levels of the city and the village are also completely different. There is an expectation of better income in cities, which is difficult to find in villages. Therefore, the migration from the villages to the cities will not stop.”
The Economic Survey called for inclusive development to revive the rural economy and strengthen local institutions to address distressed urban migration, improve access to education and health, promote entrepreneurship and innovation, preserve shared resources, and reinforce cultural knowledge and community pride.
The Centre has relied on schemes like Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana — National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) to reduce poverty. Under this, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) is a skill development and placement initiative. It is a state-made scheme, which is being implemented in Public-Private Partnership mode and is based on a demand-driven target approval process. The program is different from other skill training schemes as it focuses on economically weaker rural youth and places special emphasis on post-placement tracking, retention rate of employees and career progression to ensure sustainable employment.
The Survey also called for creation of dedicated skill infrastructure in each district of the country under the Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETIs) programme to skill and equip rural youth, especially those from Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Antyodaya Yojana families, for entrepreneurship development.
According to the government, 629 RSETIs are currently operational in 616 districts of 33 States/UTs, supported by 25 financial institutions and forming a pan-India network that is being run through skill development and livelihood promotion centres.
Singh pointed out that even though governments talk about skill development in villages, the truth is that most skill centres are located in cities. The main reasons for migration such as education and hospitals are present in all cities.
Interestingly, the government has named BPL families in the Economic Survey even though there has been no count of those living below the poverty line for decades. Nor has there been any survey. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) conducted the poverty survey (NSSO 68th round) in 2009-10 and again in 2011-12 to estimate the poverty line and poverty ratio. Such surveys are normally conducted every five years. The summary results of this survey were released on June 20, 2013.
The NSSO had tabulated the expenditure of 120,000 families. Since these households have different number of members, for the purpose of comparison, the NSSO divides the expenditure of each household by the number of members, so as to determine the Monthly Consumption Expenditure Per Capita (MPCE). The survey was conducted in 2011-12 in accordance with the Tendulkar methodology.
According to the survey, the national poverty line was estimated at Rs 816 per person per month and Rs 1,000 per person per month in urban areas. On this basis, if there are five people in a family, the poverty line for that family was fixed at Rs 4,080 per month in rural areas and Rs 5,000 per month in urban areas. The survey concluded that about 270 million Indians are living BPL. Of these, 216 million (approximately) are in rural and 53 million are present in urban areas.
This figure is decades old and no new government data exists.
The latest Economic Survey talks about empowering rural women and strengthening self-help groups. But this may not be the solution to total employment. According to the Survey, employment in rural areas is a major cause of rural migration. But merely creating local livelihood opportunities is not enough to create a self-sufficient village.