This story is from June 16, 2020

Gorakhpur division, Maharajganj district top Uttar Pradesh in influx of migrants

The Gorakhpur division, comprising the home turf of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, has received maximum number of migrants in over two and a half months of lockdown, according to state government records.
Gorakhpur division, Maharajganj district top Uttar Pradesh in influx of migrants
A special train carrying migrants left for Gorakhpur. (File photo)
LUCKNOW: The Gorakhpur division, comprising the home turf of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, has received maximum number of migrants in over two and a half months of lockdown, according to state government records.
More than 30 lakh migrants have returned to UP during lockdown.
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According to records (TOI has a copy of it), Maharajganj district in Gorakhpur division received the maximum 7.11 lakh migrants which is also the highest in the state.

Within Gorakhpur division, Maharajganj was followed by Kushinagar and Gorakhpur with 50,293 and 44,047 migrants, respectively.
The pattern suggests that socio-economically backward eastern UP saw most of the migrants returning to their native places. Out of top 10 divisions from where maximum migration was reported, seven were in east UP and Bundelkhand region.
These districts are Gorakhpur (8,38,313), Devipatan (2,72,905), Basti (2,65,392), Prayagraj (2,50,946), Ayodhya (2,45,403),
Azamgarh (2,25,112), Varanasi (1,40,208) and Chitrakoot (1,15,760).
After Maharajganj, the other districts which received maximum number of migrants included east UP’s Prayagraj (1,38,311), Sant Kabirnagar (99,941), Mau (97,073), Bahraich (91,956), Balrampur (88,522), Siddharthnagar (83,451) and Basti (82,000).
According to experts, the poor socio-economic situation in east UP region forced people to migrate to other parts of the country in search of jobs.
In contrast, least number of migrants were received in west UP and Rohilkhand. Out of 10 districts where influx of migrants was low, six were from west UP/Rohilkhand region. These districts are Bareilly (97,336), Aligarh (83,799), Moradabad (24,849), Meerut (22,688), Agra (22,642) and Saharanpur (7,707).
Ironically, despite receiving low number of migrants, west UP districts have high load of coronavirus infections. Gautam Buddh Nagar, which comprises of Noida and Greater Noida, had the highest viral load with 498 active cases. Ghaziabad and Meerut were the other two districts with 272 and 170 cases, respectively.
Agra had the highest number of coronavirus cases, of which 125 were active. Of the 19 districts in red zone, 14 were in west UP or Rohilkhand region. These districts are Agra, Aligarh, Amroha, Bareilly, Bijnor, Bulandshahr, Firozabad, GB Nagar, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Rampur and Saharanpur.
Experts say that migration will affect the demographic profile of the state which gears up for census due next year. “Migrants are unlikely to move out for next 2-3 years given the intensity of the crisis,” an expert said.
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