A sociological inquiry of elderly out migrant returnees to Kerala

Introduction
“A home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to” -John Ed Pierce
“We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time” -T S Eliot
Human civilization starts with the incessant flow of people moving from one place to another. Migrations of human populations have been a fundamental part in the history of mankind. Numerous studies show that the process of migration is influenced by social, cultural and economic factors and outcomes can be vastly different for men and women, for different groups and different locations (cf. De Haan and Rogaly, 2002).
Migration is a subject that calls for an interdisciplinary approach. Each discipline brings something to the table, theoretically and empirically.(Brettell and Hollifield,2002) Demographers have perhaps the best empirical grasp on te movement of people across boundaries, they have the theoretical and methodological tools to show us how such movements affect popultion dynamics in the sending and receiving societies. Anthropologist looks at networks and transnational communities. Historians portray migrant experience in al of its complexity, giving us a much greater empathetic understanding of the hopes and ambitions of migrants. Political scientist help us to understand the play of organized interests in the making of public policy, together with legal scholars they show us the impact of migration on institutions of sovereignty and citizenship, while sociologist and economist draw the attention towards the importance of social and human capital and the difficulties in settlement and incorporation involved in the migratory experience.
The most important question pertaining to the sociology of migration and migration research in general is why migration occurs and how it is sustained over time( Schmitter- Heister 2000).
In many parts of India, it is rare to find a family without at least a single migrant (Mosse et al 2002).
This research is a meeting ground between two well established academic ad applied fields: migration studies and social gerontology. The present research is firmly grounded in sociology , but strongly interdisciplinary in scope.
The study’s focus is on elderly out migrant returnees of Kerala i.e. individuals who migrated out of the state of Kerala , lived within India for a considerable period of time and returned back to Kerala in the later years of life, thus this topic dwells into the phenomenon of return migration which is a form of migration or can be considered as one of the stage in the cycle of migration.
Keralites in the past were homebound people as revealed in the Census reports showing the absence of any settlement of Keralites in other parts of India till the end of the 19th century (Joseph ,K V,2006). However, there is seen a transformation of the keralites towards the turn of the century who came out as a highly mobile class in India.
It has been noted that Malayalees , especially after the Indian independence have migrated to metropolitan centers of India ;Delhi,Mumbai,Kolkata and Chennai. Migratory movements have also been seen into cities like Hyderabad, Pune and states like Gujrat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. these migration within India have been termed as Out –Migration in the Indian census terminology. (Census of India Gov.)
Migration in the Census of India is of two types – Migration by Birthplace and Migration by place of last residence. When a person is enumerated in Census at a place, i.e., village or town, different from her/his place of birth, she/he would be considered a migrant by place of birth. A person would be considered a migrant by place of last residence, if she/he had last resided at a place other than her/his place of enumeration. The Census also captures the reasons for migration. The following reasons for migration from place of last residence are captured: work/employment, business, education, marriage, moved after birth, moved with household and any other.
The data on migration by last residence in India as per Census 2001 shows that the total number of migrants was 31.4 crore. In the decade 1991-2001, about 9.8 crore persons migrated to a new place from their place of last residence. Out of these migrants by last residence, 8.1 crore were intra-state migrants, 1.7 crore inter-state migrants and 7 lakh international migrants. Migration into large metropolises were significant in 1991-2001 with Greater Mumbai UA drawing about 24.9 lakh migrants, Delhi UA about 21.1 lakh migrants, Chennai UA about 4.3 lakh migrants to name the largest three urban destinations in the country.

Before the 1960’s the literature on migration made little or no reference to the phenomenon of return migration. If return migration was mentioned it was only to bewail that so little material existed on it.
Ravenstein, father figure of migration studies mentioned ‘counter streams’ in both of his seminar papers published one hundred years ago(Ravenstein,1885 p.187;1889 p.387), but there was some confusion over whether the counterflow were returnees or flows of migrants merely moving in the opposite direction to the dominant stream.
Return migration has always been one of the more shadowy features of the migration process, principally because of the difficulty of obtaining satisfactory data for the phenomenon.
Return migration is not just a form of reverse flow, ‘return’ is a highly emotive and contested notion. ‘Return’ is both emotional and political because it is regarded as at once an unquestionable right and an uncontestable duty and is by definition bound to such primordial notions as ‘ home’ , ‘roots’ and ‘belonging’.
At the individual level return constitutes a defining moment in a migrant’s life cycle and social relations. Return as an important life experience provides a powerful lens for analyzing how individuals interact with local societies particularly in terms of social stratification, gender relations, family ideologies and identity within the regional context.
Return migration in old age is often the culmination of careful consideration of a number of factors , rather than have a single issue :
Economic issues: lower cost of living, retirement from productive work
Family issues: domestic care, proximity to family, loss of spouse, for children
Life cycle issues: wish to be buried ‘at home’ or enforced unemployment.
Regional issues: regional appeal, a desire to return to one’s roots/homeland.

Elements of migration and ageing dimensions (India and Kerala scenario)
Migration is a fascinating aspect in understanding human behavior both at the individual level and at the societal plane. However, migration is a difficult concept to define because it occurs under different conditions i.e. people move for different reasons across different spaces. Thus given the variation possible in the migration process, all migrants cannot be analyzed with the same theoretical framework. However, although heterogeneous factors make a universal definition impossible, in general, migration is a process which an individual or a group shifts their residence from one place to another which implies the change in social, cultural and economic life and other patterns. A migrant thereby breaks off the activities and associations at one place and reorganizes patterns of daily life at another place. Most demographers argue that migration must involve an essentially permanent territorial shift in residence to be distinguished from mobility.
BOYD (1989: 642) states: “migration should be understood as a contingency of historically generated social, political and economic structure in host and destination countries channeled through social relationships which impact on individuals and groups.”
Information on migration in India is acquired through three main sources, the national census, the population registers and sample surveys. Since 1971 , census provides data on migrants based on place of birth (POB) and place of last residence (POLR). If the place of birth or place of last residence is different from the place of enumeration, a person is defined as a migrant. On the other hand, if the place of birth and place of enumeration is the same, the person is a non-migrant (Bhagat, 2005).
Thus, details about out migration from the state is available from the census reports such as the linguistic tables and migration tables. however, data on return of out migrants is not available from census reports. This data is available from Sample surveys and migration surveys.
For any demographic study on migration the two basic types of migration are:
1.Internal migration: this refers to a change of residence within national boundaries, such as within states, between states, cities, towns, etc. an internal migrant moves to a different administrative boundary.
2. International migration: this refers to a change of residence over national boundaries. An international migrant moves to a different country.

The present research is focused on the phenomenon of internal migration. Internal migration involves a change of residence within national borders (Dang 2005). Until 1951, district was the migration defining area (MDA), implying that a person was considered a migrant in India only if he or she has changed residence from the district of birth to another district or a state. hence, as per the place of last residence (or birth) and place of enumeration, internal migrants can be classified into three migration streams, which are roughly indicative of distance of migration:
Intradistrict migrants: person with last residence outside the place of enumeration but within the same district.
Inter-district migrants: person with last residence outside the district of enumeration but within the same state.
Interstate migrants: person with last residence in India but beyond the state of enumeration.
Migration can be measured either as events or transitions. The former are normally associated with population registers, which record individual moves while the latter generally derived from censuses compare place of residence at two points in time. A recent survey shows that census is the largest source of information on internal migration at the cross-country level (Bell, 2003).
In India, information on migration has been collected in a number of large scale and localized sample surveys. Yet the population census has remained the most important source of migration data.
Typologies of migration:
Typologies of migration are necessary with a view to classify various types of migration into a systematic scheme of presentation.
William Petersen (1958) published “ a general typology of migration” in the American Sociological Review very precisely notes that the value of typology is in its utility for the social scientists. He classifies two types of migrants: innovating migrants, who move in order to achieve the new, and conservative migrants , who move in response to a change in their circumstances, hoping by migrating to retain their way of life in another locus.
Petersen recognised five broad classes of migration,-primitive, forced, impelled, free and mass.
Kosinski (1975)based his classification of types of migration on Petersen’s typology. The major dimensions of his classification are: time(temporary/permanent);distance(long/short);boundaries crossed(internal/external/area units);decision making (voluntary/impelled/forced);member involved (individual/mass);social organization of migration (family/clan/individual);political organization of migration (sponsored/free);cause (economic/non-economic) and aims (conservative /innovative).
In past, migration movements were more straightforward because they often involved linear relations between place of origin and place of destination. migratory movements have now become increasingly complex as a result of economic expansion, widening economic disparities, greater availability of transportation and a fast paced information channel. Although economic motives are among the most important drivers of migration, other motives must not be underestimated. for countless men and women, migration is a window on the world that enables them to secure financial and personal independence.

Internal migration in India has four main streams (a) rural to rural, (b) rural to urban, (c) urban to urban, and (d) urban to rural. In India rural to urban migration is very significant. Sometimes there is migration from village to small town and later from small town to city.
India has seen massive rural to urban migration towards metropolitan cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai etc to seek employment and better their economic prospects. Majority of these migrants are illiterate or semi-literate and unskilled peasants and labourers who are compelled to leave their village home due to poverty and unemployment. Urban areas, in India, not only attract poor and illiterate class of people from villages but also provide opportunity to educated and elite class to better their economic lots and lead a more comfortable life. Many students from rural areas, who go to towns and cities for their higher education, get employment in urban areas and become part of city life.
Migratory channels were delayed if not absent from Kerala because of certain constraints like the existence of a kind of subsistence economic conditions, limited number of wants for the bulk of people, low level of population growth, rigid socio-economic structure, etc.(K V Joseph 2006). The migratory movements thus started to commence from different parts of Kerala since the turn of the century.
Instigation of migratory movements from Kerala can be explained in what Polly hill remarks ,that “ the expansive set of wants set in motion through education, travel, and contact with others of condition in other parts of the world”
K V Joseph’s (2006)study on Keralites on the move suggests that “the keralites became a fully mobile class by 1961”.
Chart 1 shows the percentage distribution of interstate migrants of India and Kerala

Even though the migratory movements started at the turn of the century, Keralites have shown a tendency to return back . This can be deduced from the census report of 1901 which observes that
“They cling to their families with persistence and so long as they can eke out an existence in the vicinity of their own houses , the desire to venture abroad rarely occurs to them”.

Ageing population
One of the great success of modern times in worldwide terms is that, more people are living longer, they are fewer early deaths and there is greater prosperity. Later life is worth studying for its own sake. A decline in strength and a changing physical appearance may be inevitable in old age, but the degree and meaning of change a re very variable. the actual impact of physiological changes depends on whether the environment is hostile to disabilities or supportive, as the disability lobby has so clearly shown(Morris,1993).the cross-cultural approach to the study of ageing shows that most of the attributes of old age are culturally determined.
India has the second largest number of elderly persons after China. In a number of countries, as well as in most international forum, an elderly is a person in the age group 65 years and above. However, in India elderly constitutes persons in the age group 60 years and above. There were about 43 million elderly, comprising 6.5 per cent of the population in 1981, 57 million or 6.7 per cent of population in 1991. The Technical Group on Population Projections, set-up by the Planning Commission, had projected the number of elderly to be around 113 million accounting for nearly 9 per cent of the population in 2016.
At State level, the proportion of elderly to total population is the highest in Kerala. In general, the share of elderly in the population is higher in the Southern States and relatively lower in the Eastern and North-Eastern region.
The ageing scenario of Kerala is unique among the states of India. the state of Kerala having 10.6 percent of the elderly population in 2001 is expected to have 18.3 percent with an absolute number of 6.8 million elderly by the year 2026.
The proportion of population aged 60+ increased from 5.9 per cent in 1961 to 8.8 per cent in 1991 and then to 10 per cent in 2001, which may be attributed to a decline in fertility. This particular section of the aged population is expected to reach 17 per cent by the year 2021. However, when we classify old age population into ‘young old’ (60-69), 'old old' (70-79) and ‘oldest old’ (80 and above), the picture is different; the increase is most likely to occur among the young old (60-69) population; around 55 per cent of the old age population belong to the category of ‘young old’ (60-69), 30-35 per cent belong to the category of ‘old old’ (70-79), and only 10-15 per cent belong to oldest old (80+) population (Chart ).

An increase in life expectancy means that the living conditions of people have improved and that the present generation is healthier. Also, it is important to note that most old people, particularly in the category of ‘young old’ are not dependent and most of them do work. It may be true that the morbidity pattern has changed to more of chronic diseases as revealed by the 52nd Round of the NSSO. However, such change is unlikely to have any major effect on health care spending, provided planning and allocation are done in an efficient manner. In fact, the health care cost would merely be shifted from the young and adults to the older age groups as the health of the young and adult population has improved. Ageing is a 'problem' only in the sense that it is an inevitable concomitant of improved levels of human development and must, therefore, be seen by society as a contingency that can and must be dealt with humanely.(Human Development Report ,Kerala 2005)
Model of social care
A model of social care envisaged by Canter (1979) recognized support components of family, community, social agencies and government. It has also emphasized the ever-changing interactive nature of the system. Envisioning an older person at the center of a series of concentric circles this model contains supports ranging from informal at the center to formal at the periphery. Older persons interact with each of these circles and sub-systems at varying times and for varying types of assistance. At times these separate networks interact with each other and overlap.
In the outermost circle is the political entity such as the national, state and local legislatures that determines the basic social policy and entitlement of older people. Somewhat closer, though still far from playing a central role in daily life, are the governmental and voluntary social agencies that carry out mandatory economic and social policies and services determined by community. All organizations in these two outer rings are clearly the formal part of the support system.
Still closer to the older person and standing somewhere between formal organizations and informal networks, are the non-service formal organizations and the quasi-formal service organizations (or their representatives). Closest to the daily life of an older person are kin (primary), friends and neighbors (secondary) - the two innermost circles. This informal care system provides a broad base of social care throughout the world and it is this informal care system that older people depend frequently. Whenever members of the informal system are unavailable or no longer absorb the burden to provide assistance, older people and their families turn to formal organizations.
Figure 1

The traditional norms and values of Indian society laid stress on showing respect and providing care for the elderly. Consequently, the older members of the family were normally taken care of in the family itself. The family, commonly the joint family type, and social networks provided an appropriate environment in which the elderly spent their lives. The advent of modernization, industrialization, urbanization, occupational differentiation, education, and growth of individual philosophy have eroded the traditional values that vested authority with elderly. These have led to defiance and decline of respect for elders among members of younger generation. Although family support and care of the elderly are unlikely to disappear in the near future, family care of the elderly seems likely to decrease as the nation develop economically -and modernize in other respects. For a developing country like India, the rapid growth in the number of older population presents issues, barely perceived as yet, that must be addressed if social and economic development is to proceed effectively.
As the interrelation of health and economic status continues throughout one’s life, it is of special importance among the elderly whose livelihood depends on their physical ability and who do not have any provision for economic security. Social security pensions, though meager in amount, create a sense of financial security for the elderly, who benefit through schemes such as old age pension, widow’s pension, agricultural pension and pension for informal sector workers. . The rural poor, who mostly work in the informal or unorganised sector face insecure employment, insufficient income, and lack access to any form of social security and good quality and affordable health care. Generally, they have to pay a large percentage of their income for even basic healthcare services.
However, the proportion of elderly who benefit from these schemes has to be improved significantly. Due to industrialization and urbanization and the changing trends in society, it is the urban elderly who are more likely to face the consequences of this transition as the infrastructure often cannot meet their needs. Lack of suitable housing forces the poor to live in slums which are characterized by poor physical conditions, low income levels, high proportion of rural migrants, high rates of unemployment and underemployment, rising personal and social problems such as crime, alcoholism, mental illness, etc. along with total or partial lack of public and community facilities such as drinking water, sanitation, planned streets, drainage systems and access to affordable healthcare services. With the increasing prevalence of slum dwellers who come to urban areas in search of better opportunities, a significant proportion of them would be elderly. While rural India continues to provide family support in old age, the forces of globalisation have touched many a life leading to migration of children to cities or abroad.
A country as large and complex as India needs to work out an extensive plan for the care and well-being of the elderly as necessary according to differences in levels of urbanization as well as in cultural and familial systems
Out migration and return migration to the place of origin
It may be pointed out that migration in the Indian sub-continent has been historically low.Researchers like Kingsley Davis have attributed this to the prevalence of caste system, joint families, traditional values, diversity of language and culture, lack of education and predominance of agriculture and semi-feudal land relations (Davis 1951). But the rapid transformation of Indian economy, improvement in the levels of education and that of transport and communication facilities, shift of workforce from agriculture to industry and tertiary activities etc. are the new impetus influencing mobility pattern of Indian people in recent times.
India has been characterized by some (Davis 1951) as a relatively immobile society. Yet, even by conservative estimates, three out of every ten Indians are2internal migrants. And, as we discuss in this paper, there are many more who are uncounted and invisible.
Structurally, in the last two decades or so, capital has become hugely more mobile than earlier. The verdict on whether labour too has become more mobile is still not out, although many would argue that population and workers have also become somewhat more mobile than before, both nationally and internationally.
Migration is a form of mobility in which people change their residential location across defined administrative boundaries for a variety of reasons, which may be involuntary or voluntary, or a mixture of both. The decisions on whether to move, how, and where are complex and could involve a variety of actors in different ways.
In recent years, several changes in India are likely to have impacted on the pattern and pace of migration. The pattern of growth in the last two decades has steadily widened the gap between agriculture and non-agriculture and between rural and urban areas, and it has steadily concentrated in a few areas and a few states. The growing spatial inequalities in economic opportunities must have necessarily also impacted on the pace and pattern of migration. Uneven growth and a growing differential between agriculture and industry is a necessary concomitant of the pattern of development. Migration has historically played a role in reducing the gap in living standards between sectors and areas and in fuelling growth in the more dynamic sectors. The crucial question is whether, and to what extent, migration has been able to play this role in the Indian context.
Since migration is diverse, attention has generally been focused on different groups of internal migrants, and a great deal of analysis has focused on the poorest segments, for whom both the costs and benefits could potentially be the highest.
India has seen an upsurge in economic growth since 1991. The 2001 census shows that internal migration has picked up rapidly during the 1990s. Compared to intra-state (short distance) movement, inter-state (long distance) migration has grown faster. The states with higher per capita income and larger dominance of non-agricultural sector show not only high in-migration but also high out-migration rates.
It can be assumed that return migration is driven by the same mechanisms as out migration decisions. From a qualitative point of view, numerous empirical inquiries have been carried out to better illustrate the multifarious factors that have made return migration a multifaceted and heterogeneous phenomenon. Although return migration has long been subject to various interpretations, our understanding of it remains hazy. Not so much because it has been neglected by migration scholars – analyses of return migration have in fact been legion since the 1960s – but rather because its magnitude and configuration are scarcely measurable and comparable, owing to the lack of reliable large-scale quantitative data.
Return is often accompanied by considerable ambivalence (King 2000). On one side, returning migrants are back in their own culture — they no longer need to worry about language, about being a foreigner, about being treated as an inferior. They enjoy seeing old friends and re-identifying with the local way of life. Yet they begin to realize that they have ‘been away’, that they are viewed differently, that certain things are expected of them, that there can be no return to the status quo ante. King cites several anthropological studies that explore the ways returnees must display their ‘success’, such as the Chinese restaurant workers who are expected to throw lavish banquets and make generous donations to community projects when they return to their Hong Kong villages. He notes that while such extravagant behaviour may appear to be economically irrational, it has an important effect in legitimizing the individual returnee’s new social position. He also notes that returnees’ own attitudes and actions may contribute to their difficulties on return, especially when, having ‘seen the world’, they seem arrogant and superior. Citing a 1973 study by Dahya, for example, King describes the way Pakistani factory workers returning from Britain wore suits, carried briefcases and displayed expensive watches and fountain pens, affectations which had little or no practical meaning — but great symbolic meaning. Numerous studies, including more recent ones, have noted that the most outwardly visible signs of returnee status are the new houses that appear in villages deeply affected by emigration, in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, India, Pakistan, China, Thailand, Mexico and numerous other countries throughout the world (King 2000).
Based on a thorough review of the existing literature on return migration, King (2000) has defined several ways of classifying return. Each helps shed some light on this complex phenomenon. delimiting the literature to cover the implications of elderly return migration , the following points can be reviewed:
1. Seeing return migration by level of development:
• From developed industrial places to less-developed home (for example Metropolitan cities like Delhi , Bombay migrants returning to Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh , );
• Between places of broadly equal economic status (for example British returning from Australia, Canadians from the United States, or people moving amongst cities of Pune to Hyderabad, Bangalore, etc). 2. Seeing return migration by length of time spent back in the home country:
• Occasional returns, when migrants make short-term, perhaps periodic, visits to see relatives, stay for a holiday, or 
participate in a family event such as a wedding or a funeral;
• Seasonal returns dictated by the nature of the work (for example agricultural, family business,etc);
• Temporary returns when the migrant returns, but intends to re-emigrate ;
• Permanent returns when the migrant resettles in the home country for good.
3. Distinguishing between intention and the eventual migration outcome:
• migration with the intention of returning, return in fact: the migrant goes with a specific aim in mind (for example to accumulate a certain sum of money, or obtain an educational qualification) and returns home when the target is reached;
• migration intended to be temporary, but return continuously postponed until it never happens: students who stay to work are an example — the typical ‘brain-drain’ phenomenon — or labour migrants who decide to stay and settle rather than to return;
• Intended permanent migration in fact followed by return: the change may be due to external factors, or to homesickness or other personal factors, or may take place because of an improvement in the economic, social or political conditions in the place of origin;
• Intended permanent migration without return: even here the idea of return might be surprisingly important as it might some day lead to permanent return.
4. Seeing return migration by the evolution of the migration process and of acculturation (Cerase 1970, cited in King2000):
• Return of retirement: at end of migrants’ working lives(retirement);
• Return of failure: when migrants fail to adapt to the host society and return quickly to their homeland. Integration was never really started, so the returnees are easily reabsorbed into their home society. When it is voluntary, this type of return involves a certain amount of courage: some who have failed do not dare to return, since they are afraid of the shame of not having succeeded in the place of destination (Agunias 2006);
• Return of conservatism: when migrants had always intended to return: return is the logical outcome of a calculated strategy, defined at the level of the migrant’s household, and resulting from the successful achievement of goals or targets (Cassarino 2004). Acculturation was fairly minimal, even if the migrant stayed several years. Remittances and savings were heavily channeled to the place of origin. Conservative returnees do not aim at changing the social context they had left before migrating: instead, they help to preserve it;
• Return of innovation: when migrants may have remained in the destination place beyond the target return, and may have largely adopted the host society’s cultural values, but later realize that their acculturation can never be complete and they return. When they do so they take back new ideas, values and ambitions. They view themselves as innovators, believing that the skills they have acquired at the place of destination, as well as their savings, will have turned them into ‘carriers of change’. 
 Authors writing in the 1970s noted that this is also the rarest type of return as “the migrants with the most drive and ambition, who succeed in the destination country, are those who are least likely to return” (Böhning 1975, cited in King 2000).
King finds in his review that pull factors generally have more influence in the decision to return than do push factors, and that non-economic factors generally weigh more heavily than do economic factors. This is in contrast to the original decision to migrate, which is often strongly determined by economic motives, at least at the micro level (on the other hand at the macro level several studies point to unfavourable economic conditions in the immigration country as the key to episodes of mass return; in case of a recession it is often the migrant workers who are made redundant because of their marginal and unprotected status). On the micro, or individual level, most studies show that economic arguments are contextual rather than paramount: migrants may return when economic conditions in the country of origin improve but — when they are asked in questionnaires and interviews — most report that their reasons for return are family ties, and the desire to rejoin family and old friends. Push factors occasionally emerge in such surveys, such as racial harassment or difficulty adapting to a different climate, but it is generally the positive attractions of the home society that are reported to dominate in the decision to return. Feelings of patriotism or nationalistic sentiments have been found to be important motivators of return in studies of both developing and developed countries. Homesickness, and desire to reconnect with the national culture, can play an important role here.

Return migration at the later years of life
Return migration among the elderly can be assessed by analysing the reasons that instigate their return . the place of origin rears a very innate meaningful connection in the life of an individual
The migration of older people to their place of origin are issues of growing significance. they have implications for policies on care and support services.
Janis and Mann,1997 maintain that it is impossible to predict accurately whether or not any individual will return to their place of origin. The return decision is always complex. It is often made on the basis of multiple factors that are hard to disentangle even for the person making the decision. It can depend on individual experiences and propensities that are virtually impossible to measure. It can also be ‘irrational’, or better highly personal.
Influences on the decision to return come in the form of both information about options and inputs that structure how these options are viewed. Concerning the former, the decision to return as long as it is voluntary is typically made after comparing information about conditions and prospects in the place of destination with those in the place of origin (Koser, 1998; Faist, 1999; Muus and Muller, 1999; King, 2000) as well as information about policy interventions in the form of extra incentives or disincentives to stay or return (Arb, 2001; Bloch and Atfield, 2002). However, nobody is a perfectly ‘rational’ decision-maker, and different people come to different conclusions even on the basis of the same evidence (Malmberg, 1997; Fisher and Martin, 1999). One reason relates to individual attributes such as age and gender (King, 2000; Reichnert, 2002). Another relates to the broader context of social relations. These are reflected in the model as ‘inputs’ to the return decision.
Figure 1 Factors determining the decision to return Structural

Individual

One of the fundamental characteristics of migration is the change of existing social ties. Migrants are required to establish new social ties and networks in their new communities even if they retain some of their ties from the past. Establishing new social ties and networks is not always a simple matter. A migrants life at the later years of life ensambles a good amount of social networks at the place of destination, the return to the place of origin will significantly affect the social ties estavblished and there needs to be an effort on the part of the returnee to rebuild the old social network.(Choldin,1973)

Return migration of the aged poses a conceptual channlenge for the redefinition of notions of self and belonging.implications on how inclusive and exclusive spaces (belongingness and alienation )emerge when an out migrant returns at late adulthood to relcate and settle in their homeland which may result in competing discourses of cultural disruption and ruptures in identification patterns on one hand or a smooth integration with their childhood culture and people on the other.

5 The Problem
The purpose of the present study is to undertake a sociological inquiry of elderly out migrant returnees to Kerala.

Statement of the problem
Migration is a process , not an event. Unlike birth and death which happen once and are bounded in space and time, migration involves atleast two points in each dimension. Except on the margins, the definitions of life and death are self evident and widely shared. However, the definition of a move relies on ambiguous concepts of settlement, residence and place that are socially constructed and culturally variant. The situation is further complicated because moves may occur more than once and may encompass a variety of locations. Any movement involves a place of origin and a place of destination . these facts create serious measurement problems for the study of migration. most of the studies are based on the impact of migrations on these two spots i.e; place of origin and place of destination.
Historically migration literature relies on the old assumption that migration is a single, uni-directional and permanent process. David Ley (2010) describes antiquated notion of migration as a “ linear narrative of immigrant departure from homeland, followed by the serial processes of arrival, settlement, citizenship and assimilation”.
Nonetheless, the phenomenon of return migration has been studied and researched upon in many countries of the world. Returning to the place of origin /homeland is an expression which is no longer a myth but an accepted reality which is faced by many countries with both internal and international migration.
Kerala is one of the most dynamic states of India , with high level of human development index compared to other states of the subcontinent.
While Kerala has experienced significant socio-economic changes through agrarian reforms, collective bargaining, growth of infrastructure and social capital, it is migration that stands out as a major change-agent in recent decades.
While reviewing the literature, the most predominant studies in the context of Kerala have been on gulf migration and remittance and its effects on both the individual and the state and the aspect of mobility in the social as well the physical context. Literature on return migration of the out migrants has just been in figures, the social and psychological aspects have not been studied in the past researches. Hence, the context of the study is a new area as the migrants’ destination places are within India, so there is an interaction between sub cultures and the effects it has both on the migrants and the receiving community. Most importantly the aspect of remittance, as the migrants reside within India, hence the currency is the same and so whether or not they are able to save or invest is a matter subject to investigation. Again on return the attitudes and life style of the migrant is changed and the problems they face to reintegrate into their previous community will be worth addressing on. Lastly, the question arises whether these individuals who have returned back after a considerable period outside the state, carrying valuable knowledge and skill can be benefited for the state’s development and are they given opportunities to do so.
The present study explores the return of the out migrants to Kerala in the later years of their life. This research mainly focuses on return out migrants who are 60 years and above. As the research was done during 2011-2012 ,the researcher assuming that respondents of the study may have out migrated in the years 1960’s ,70’s and 1980’s to other states of India.
Table is a matrix showing the Kerala out migrants with males and females to other Indian states and union territories in 1971 and 1981
Migrated from Kerala to: 1971
Male 1971
Female 1981
Male 1981
Female
Andhra Pradesh 24,886 11,410 26,056 15,910
Assam 3,590 1,030 - -
Bihar 6,550 4,460 6,706 5,879
Gujrat 1,31,114 1,40,459 20,497 11,648
Haryana 1,880 2,265 2,846 1,412
Himachal Pradesh 813 870 633 401
Jammu and Kashmir 558 568 667 611
Punjab 805 1,165 1,595 807
Rajasthan 3,932 4,083 6,471 7,541
Sikkim 138 5 381 168
Tamil Nadu 2,16,548 1,64,805 2,08,899 2,00,413
Tripura 222 53 52 28
Uttar Pradesh 53,389 1,84,376 6,753 6,036
West Bengal 15,378 10,625 6,901 4,432
Andaman & Nicobar Isls 1,471 283 5,690 3,511
Karnataka 1,15,978 64,786 1,37,755 1,02,444
Madhya Pradesh 24,062 14,865 28,948 21,908
Maharashtra 1,17,451 53,720 1,37,346 78,591
Manipur 321 99 335 160
Meghalaya 69 49 829 500
Nagaland 250 49 1,581 775
Orissa 27,225 45,404 6,335 3,999
Arunachal Pradesh 1,547 146 1,552 685
Chandigarh 524 421 939 1,053
Dadra and Nagar haveli 9 9 185 78
Delhi 11,578 7,808 17,771 13,865
Goa ,Daman and Diu 4,137 1,239 5,224 2,997
Lakshwadweep 1,066 524 1,116 774
Pondicherry 3,328 3,903 4,457 5,555
Total 5,86,314 3,56,325 6,39,309 4,92,289

KC Zachariah,ET Mathew and S Irudaya Rajan’s book “dynamics of migration: dimensions, differentials and consequences: elaborates on the out migration and return migration occurrence in Kerala. There is a very significant observation made in their study about the age distribution of net migration in Kerala. During 1981-1991 there was a net loss to Kerala of 1,243,000 persons in the prime working age group of 20-59 years. At the same time there was a net gain of 7,42,000 persons in the retirement age of 60 years. The book emphasizes that there is a tendency of migrants to return home after working outside and is been noted as a persistent pattern of Kerala migration. This tendency disappeared even in the most recent decade , a large number of the elderly migrants consider , even today that Kerala is a better place to spend their old age than the other places where they spent much of their working years.
The reasons for returning home are as complex as the human mind.
Kerala Migration Survey , 2007 reports data on return migration. The number of return out migrant to Kerala(from outside the state but within India) in 2007 has been 10.5 lakh. They represent about 14 persons per 100 households. These members compare with 9.94 lakh return out migrants in 2003 and 9.59 lakh in 1998.per 100 households the numbers of return out migrants were 14.4 in 2003 and 15.1 in 1998. Return out migration increased by 3.7% during 1998-2003 and by 6.0% during 2003-2007. Thus while out migration decreased by 22 % , return out migration increased by 6 %.
However, the economic significance of the loss of workers and the gain of the dependent and retirees in unclear. The return of the elderly could be considered beneficial to the state is it could use their accumulated work experience and their lifetime savings and pensions for its development. But the elderly do need health care services from the state, which the government should be aware of and chart out policies and measures to solve the problems of the aged who have longed to be in their place of origin.
This study contributes to the ‘unwritten chapter’ in migration and gerentological studies, namely return migration of the elderly to , with specific reference to Kerala out migrants who have returned to live in Kerala with an intention to live permanently at the place of origin. The overall objective of the study is to analyze its characteristics
And to examine its consequences on the individual and the state. It is hoped that such an analysis would help formulation of policies for development and solution of problems caused by the phenomenon.
Therefore the present study intends to analyze the psychosocial adjustment situations the elderly face due to the migration back to Kerala. This research is an effort in a very small way to provide description on the present scenario of the elderly returned out migrants of Kerala, so that the policy makers can plan appropriate policies for the care, and welfare of the elderly returnees. Relevance and scope of the study
Return migration has progressively been attracting the attention of policy-makers and other stakeholders involved in migration issues both as migration trends move toward more temporary patterns and as governmental policy interest increasingly focuses on the need to ensure the protection of rights and dignity of individuals. However, return is rarely approached in a holistic manner or analysed in the broader context of migration management. Moreover, perspectives on return and even its definition differ from country to country, often depending on their migration histories. There is a need to explore the issue of return from a more comprehensive perspective, including in terms of its role in contemporary migration dynamics, patterns and policy; the reasons for and impediments to return; different circumstances under which return migration occurs and its diverse forms; the human rights of migrants; and the policy and programmatic actions stakeholders can take to facilitate safe dignified return migration, particularly in the context of a collaborative effort.
Return Migration studies undertaken in Kerala are marked by either exclusion of out migrant returnees who are over the age of 60 years or give inadequate coverage to the aged population, despite the underlying fact that Kerala has a growing ageing population thus the extent to which return to the place of origin after a long span of time has remained largely a matter of conjecture. The study also will reveal the remittance and savings pattern of the out migrant returnees which has not been reviewed in any of the internal return migration studies in Kerala, this will be crucial highlight as the remittance and savings from cross border migration are the only studies we find which have an affect on Kerala’s economic structure, mainly because the remittance and savings abroad are in a currency which are of higher value than the home currency and it is convenient for cross border migrants to save and remit and bigger amount than the internal migrants.
.as the study will bring new perspective on Out Migrant returnees who are at the phase of late adulthood have stayed within the country thus are a part of the place. However , differences in their place of origin and place of destination taking the indian scenario in terms of regional disparity, language differences, economic circumstances, political state of affairs, climatic conditions , social life, etc. may prompt the out migrants to re-migrate to their place of origin.
Many migrants dream of returning to their homeland, at least when they set out. The hope of eventual return engenders courage, ‘justifies’ difficulties and hardship, and is a crucial determinant in migrants’ lives in the host country (Wiest 1979). Today, as the migratory phenomenon evolves new characteristics and melds with the broader trends of societal transformation described under the general label of ‘globalisation’, the return of migrants continues to become an integral part of the ongoing migration process (King 2000). However, emigration is still considered a one-way trip, especially when it is happening and particularly from the point of view of the destination countries; return migration remains a plan, realistic or not, of the migrants themselves, and a xenophobic wish in some host societies. We regard return migration as the invisible side of a unified duality, often underestimated or neglected in policy making, academic analysis and public discourse in the host society.
In India, though percentage wise greying is not very rapid, but due to its mammoth size planning for the elderly is a huge challenge for the policy makers. It is to be remembered that sensitizing the issue and deliberate public action can dilute some of the adverse consequences of ageing Educating the mass with high investment in human resource development can overcome these problems up to a great extent. To develop requisite policy programmes for the elderly population, there is a need for a study of elderly persons on various aspects and initiate social, economic and health policy debate about ageing in India. But there is a serious dearth of datasets and analyses to identify the emerging areas of key concern and immediate intervention.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment put in place the National Policy on Older Persons in 1999 with a view to addressing issues relating to aging in a comprehensive manner. But the programme failed at the implementation level. The Ministry is now formulating a new policy that is expected to address the concerns of the elderly. The idea is to help them live a productive and dignified life. There is a scheme of grant-in-aid of the Integrated Programme for Older Persons, under which financial assistance is provided to voluntary organisations for running and maintaining projects. These include old-age homes, day-care centres and physiotherapy clinics. While the scheme, indeed the concept, is still alien to India, the Ministry is considering the revision of cost norms for these projects, keeping in view the rising cost of living.
The most recent intervention has been the introduction of the National Programme for Health Care for Elderly in 2010, with the basic aim to provide separate and specialised comprehensive health care to senior citizens. The major components of this programme are establishing geriatric departments in eight regional geriatric centres and strengthening health care facilities for the elderly at various levels in 100 districts. Though the scheme is proposed to be expanded during the Twelfth Five Year Plan, the regional geriatric centres are yet to take off because of lack of space in the identified institutions.
The enactment of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, was a legislative milestone. However, its implementation has been poor.

Theoretical framework
Migration studies are hampered be serious inadequacies in theories about migration. Migration theory tends to be time bound, culture bound and discipline bound and migration cannot be understood without a comprehensive grasp of the interplay among demographic, economic ,social, psychological and other relevant factors that converge in the process of migration(Mangalam andSchwartzweller 1969:4). Given the relative absence of any theoretical underpinning for the study of return migration (King 2000), most attempts at generalisation propose a series of typologies, drawn from different cases of migration and return (Gmelch 1980; King 1986, 2000).

1. Neo Classical theory- one of the prominent migration theories is the one based on the neo classical approach.it assumes that individuals select the place of destination, which maximizes their well-being. It focuses exclusively on economic factors. People move in to destination regions in response to anticipated higher economic gains. The neo classical model of migration explains the migration decision at the individual level, in a cost benefit analysis framework, where potential risk –neutral migrants compare the expected net income at the destination with the expected net income at the origin. Similarly, in the neo classical framework a migrant’s return decision will be made if the lifetime utility of returning home exceeds that of staying in a different place.
2. The new economics of labour migration (NELM): this theory expands the neoclassical model and shifts the focus of migration theory from the individual to households. The duration of migration or the number of migration episodes of each migrant household member would be computed with respect to the needs of the household in terms of insurance, purchasing power and savings (Assarino, 2004). Once the target level of earnings/savings is attained a return decision may be made. Upon return, the migrants can invest their surplus capital in new business in their place of origin. Similarly, the return migrants may utilize the human capital that they have accumulated throughout their migration episodes which includes the acquired management or technical skills, ideas, social contacts and professional -entrepreneurial knowledge.

3 Gmelch (1980) has proposed a typology related to the contradiction between actual and intended migration duration, distinguishing between:
• migrants who intended to migrate temporarily and return after they had satisfied their initial aims;
• migrants who intended to return in the beginning, but for various reasons they settled abroad forever;
• migrants who intended to stay permanently abroad, but then decided to return back to their country; and
• migrants who left without any intention to return and actually stayed abroad forever.

4 Life course ecological model
The life-course approach (Elder 1995 ) highlights the dynamic processes of development and change over the life span. Life course approach considers both stability and change in lives as they unfold across time and generations and in historical, social, and cultural contexts. The life course perspective includes all stages of the life course recognizing that developmental growth continues through adulthood into old age. It therefore suggests a holistic approach promoting an ecological model, placing families and individuals in the context of historical, demographic, and social change, as well as a multidisciplinary focus.

5 Identity theory: the identity theory suggests that there exists a reciprocal relationship between self and society (Stryker, 1980). The self influences society thereby creating groups, organisations, networks and reciprocally society influences the self through its shared language and enable a person to take the role and engage in social interactions.in the migratory decisions one can find a causal relationship between an individual in the aged section of the population relating his/her identity to the place of origin and hence going through the process of migration in their life in an effort to regain his/her identity for self .

6 Social network theory: in the light of the return migration process, social network theory highlights the importance of networks in return migration. Once established, networks can lead to so called chain migration and thus stimulate and perpetuate the migration process. The network approach focuses on the rational actor who takes into consideration the existence of networks. This approach focuses solely on the impact of networks on the migration decision.
As with all networks, migration networks operate through the creation of social capital. James S Coleman (1990) describe the value of interpersonal ties and describes networks as an image of aggregated social capital. Compared to human or physical capital, which are embodied in material or individual forms, social capital is embedded in the relations between the actors. Hence, it is frangible and often non –transferable (tied to a certain place).
The rational actor uses social capital as a resource similar to material resources to pursue his aim of maximizing utility. Out migrants decision to return is an outcome of various factor, of which the networks the out-migrant has in his/her place of origin acts as a catalyst in motivating the return journey.
7 The cumulative causation theory: includes both economic variables and the social –cultural context in which migration decision is made. The actor is rational but makes his or her decisions in the context of a specific environment and has to cope with different social, economic and cultural determinants. The core of the cumulative causation theory is the influence of culture on migration and vice versa.
8 Continuity theory :
Continuity theory (e.g., Atchley 1989; Richardson and Kilty 1991) proposes that people tend to maintain earlier lifestyle patterns, self-esteem, and values, even as they exit their primary career jobs. Therefore, retirement need not lead to maladjustment and distress. Re-migrating to the place of origin redefines the old patterns of life.

9 Lee’s theory of Migration: Lee's law divides factors causing migrations into two groups of factors: Push and pull factors. Push factors are things that are unfavourable about the area that one lives in and pull factors are things that attract one to another area.
Push Factors: - Not enough jobs, Few opportunities, Primitive conditions, Desertification, Famine or drought, Political fear or persecution, Slavery or forced labour, Poor medical care, Loss of wealth, Natural disasters, Death threats, Lack of political or religious freedom, Pollution, Poor housing, Landlord/tenant issues, Bullying, Discrimination, War/Civil War
Pull Factors: - Job opportunities, Better living conditions, Political and/or religious freedom, Enjoyment, Education, Better medical care, Attractive climates, Security, Family links, Industry, Better chances of marrying
10 Ravenstein’s laws for Migration
Certain laws of social science have been proposed to describe human migration. The following was a standard list after Raven stein’s proposals during the time frame of 1834 to 1913. The laws are as follows:
1. Every migration flow generates a return or counter migration.
2. The majority of migrants move a short distance.
3. Migrants who move longer distances tend to choose big-city destinations
4. Urban residents are often less migratory than inhabitants of rural areas.
5. Families are less likely to make international moves than young adults
11 Petersen's Typology of Migration
Petersen’s typology divided migration into five classes: primitive, impelled, forced, free, and mass. Each class was subdivided into two types; conservative migration, in which the mover changes residence to maintain his present standard of living, and innovative migration where the move is made in order to improve the living standards.

12 Structuration theory: the theory of structuration proposed by Giddens (1979:1984) develops an alternative approach within the structural school. In Giddens model the human agent pays the principal part in a social system. Every individual behavior is based on the individuals’ knowledge and information about society and the empirical world. Humans as subjects are not only isolated singularities but also interpreters of the world in interacting social systems. With this, Giddens means that changes or social actions take place within a framework, a kind of empirical structural network. The most important element in the frame is place. Irrespective of whether a place refers to a town or a rural area or an industrialised complex the place always reflects as a consequence of human activity.

13 Socio emotional selectivity theory socio emotional selectivity theory developed by Stanford psychologist , Laura Carstensen is a life span theory of motivation. The theory maintains that as time horizon shrinks as they typically with age, people become increasingly selective, investing greater resources in emotionally meaningful goals and activities. According to the theory , motivational shifts also influence cognitive processing. Ageing is associated with a relative preference for positive over negative information in attention and memory. Because they place a high value on emotional satisfaction. Older adults often spend more time with familiar individuals with whom they have had rewarding relationship. This selective narrowing of social interaction maximizes positive emotional experiences and minimizes emotional risks on individuals becoming older. According to this theory , older adults systematically hone their social networks so that available social partners satisfy their emotional needs.

Limitations of the study
While such a research agenda is both stimulating and theoretically and empirically fruitful it also implies profound practical research challenges.
The study on return migration of elderly to the place of origin has been a topic of interest of sociologist and gerontologist especially in the western societies mainly because care for the aged is a concern of the government . The Indian society and its culture has a different approach towards the care of the aged. The elderly are taken care by the family members which has been the norm , the tradition of the Indian subcontinent . however growing industrialization and globalization has affected the Indian families . The young adults in order to build or better their future , are unable to take care of the aged members of the family. Migration has been an age old phenomenon which people have undertaken . This study draws a link between out migration , return migration and the aged population. Out migration takes place due to various “push –Pull” (Lee 1966) factors , but the return migration of the elderly to the place of origin may have very many factors to its reasoning.as there are no records that clearly indicate the inflows of the out migrants who are above the age of 60 yrs to the state, it was difficult to attain a sizeable data which can be said to be conclusive. Nonetheless , considering the expense , time constraint and individual effort to locate and collect the data on elderly return out-migrants , a sample size of 450 respondents was decided in order to support the quantitative measurement of a representative sample. As the research was conducted at one single point of time ,there is no follow up documentation on the ongoing sociological implications on the returned elderly migrants which can be observed in a longitudinal study.
The other limitation of this study was shortage of materials. In general as most studies of migration focus on internal migration of India and off late studies are numerous in international migrations and its effects. Moreover, there is no literature available regarding Kerala return migrants that would help understand the pattern. The data on statistics of Kerala return migrants was unattainable. Hence, as there is no other mechanism of tracking them, the statistics of returnees could not be obtained.
Lastly, Because of the small and less well balanced sample, this study doesn’t yield conclusions that could be considered valid for the whole population of returnees in Kerala. However, it is useful to highlight the kind of problems confronting returnees from other states and cities of India and their point of view on how to alleviate these problems.