Suraj wrote:
SRoy: Do you mind listing these cities for illustrative purposes with examples from the local demographhic movement ? Tier 1 is easy to identify; the difference between Tier 2 and 3 is not so clear. Understanding the dynamics of urban population movement would be very helpful.
I'll limit my random thoughts to the situation in North.
Lower class migrant workers to Delhi/NCR come from Eastern UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Northern Bengal, Orissa and Uttrakhand. Some amount of seasonal migration from Rajasthan is also noticed.
In the entire northern belt stretching upto NE, among the upper class and professionals, unless one heads south, Delhi / NCR is the only option. Kolkata has began to offer some alternative lately, but volume is low.
Tier 2 Cities: Have educational institutions, some govt. offices, sizeable population with disposable income, air link, small but established industrial presence. Jaipur, Chandigarh, Bhubaneshwar, Lucknow etc.
Tier 3 Cities: Differ from tier 2 by the following criteria. Industrial presence is non-existent or has been, non or token air link, consumer class is small/non-existent.
Tier 3 is actually a big heterogeneous list. A small town like Allahabad can boast of MNC presence like Alstom's. Kanpur is hub of assorted industries. A huge belt of industrial sites start from Dhanbad in Jarkhand extending all the way over Durgapur, Raniganj and Asansol in Bengal.
There are similar stretches extending from Delhi, one towards Jaipur comprising Manesar, Bhiwadi etc. The other side goes along the Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Meerut etc.
These are erstwhile industrial hubs either have closed shops or are failing. They still have the basic infra like extensive road and rail networks in place.
Policy makers need to pay attention to these places.