Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Prof. Ram B. Bhagat

Adjunct Professor
Mumbai Campus School of Development Studies

Qualification

MA in Geography (JNU);

PhD in Demography (University of Bombay).

Contact

ram.bhagat[at]tiss[dot]ac[dot]in

Prof. Ram B.Bhagat is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Human Development, New Delhi.

Earlier, Prof Bhagat served as Professor and Head of the Department of Migration and Urban Studies at the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, India, until his superannuation on 31st October 2022. He has also served as an Honorary Visiting Professor at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, and as a Visiting Professor at the School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has guided 23 PhD research scholars and 27 students for the M.Phil. degree.

Prof. Bhagat has co-edited books, namely ‘Climate change, vulnerability and migration’, published by Routledge in 2018; ‘Migration and Urban Transition: A Development Perspective’, Routledge, 2020; and ‘Migrants, Mobility and Citizenship in India’, Routledge, 2022. He has also authored a book on ‘Population and Political Imagination: Census, Register and Citizenship in India’, published by Routledge in 2022, and co-authored a textbook, ‘Researching Internal Migration’, by Routledge in 2023. ‘Urbanisation and Urban Policies in India’ is the latest publication by Springer (2025. He also served as Chief Editor of Demography India, an official Journal of the Indian Association for the Study of Population (IASP), during 2018-2022.

Prof. Bhagat’s contributions to demography, migration, and urbanization addressed several critical issues, such as seasonal, temporary, and circular migration, construction of social categories and demographic data, migration and citizenship, gender, and right to the city. Over the last two decades, through his writings and lectures, more than a dozen of which appeared in Economic and Political Weekly alone, Prof. Bhagat has continued to shape the discourse on how India navigates its demographic and urban futures. He has published 10 books and about 200 research papers in national and international journals of repute (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/R-Bhagat).

Currently, he is IUSSP Panel chair on ‘Climate Change, Gender, and Migration ', and also the chair of the Scientific Group on ‘Climate Mobilities, Migrant and Health’, commissioned by the Asian Population Association (APA), Bangkok.

Migration and urbanization, environment and sustainable development, demography, ethnicity, and politics.

SELECTED BOOKS (AUTHOR/EDITOR)

• Urbanisation and Urban Policies in India (co-authored with M.I. Hassan), Springer, 2025

• Researching Internal Migration (co-authored with S. Irudaya Rajan), Routledge, 2023

• Population and Political Imagination: Census, Register and Citizenship in India, Routledge, 2022

• Migrants, Mobility and Citizenship in India (co-edited with Ashwini Kumar), Routledge, 2022

• Migration and Urban Transition: A Development Perspective (co-edited), Routledge, 2020

• Climate Change, Vulnerability and Migration (co-edited with S. Irudaya Rajan), Routledge, 2018

SELECTED JOURNAL ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS

• Bhagat, R.B. (2026). Nature of migration and its contribution to India's Urbanisation. In Internal Migration in Contemporary India. Routledge.

• Bhagat, R.B. (2025). Migration, Social Structure and Citizenship. Demography India, 54(1):1-11.

• Ahamad, V. & Bhagat, R.B. (2025). Measuring migration of older persons in India: pattern, characteristics, and determinants. Journal of Population Research, 42 (44): 1-21.

• Bhagat, R.B. (2024). Census, politics and the construction of identities in India. In The Global Politics of Census Taking. Routledge.

• Bhagat, R.B. (2024). Pandemic, People and Place: Looking through a Geographical Epistemology, Transactions of the Institute of Indian Geographers, 46 (2):185-192.

• Karmakar, R., Reddy, U.S. & Bhagat, R.B. (2024). Understanding patients' mobility for treatment-seeking in India. Scientific Reports, 14, 1887.

• Rajan, S.I. & Bhagat, R.B. (2022). Internal Migration and the COVID-19 Pandemic in India. In Migration and Pandemics. Springer.

• Sulaiman, K.M. & Bhagat, R.B. (2022). Youth and Migration Aspiration in Kerala. Migration Letters, 19(3), 2022, 357–365

• Bhagat, R.B. & Ali, I. (2021). Migration and Impact of Remittances on Health. In Muslims in Telangana, Springer.

• Dhar, B. & Bhagat, R.B. (2021). Return migration in India: internal and international dimensions. Migration and Development, 10 (1): 107-121.

• Bhagat, R.B., Reshmi, R.S., Sahoo, H. et al. (2020). The COVID-19, Migration and Livelihood in India: Challenges and Policy Issues. Migration Letters, 17(5), 705-718.

• Lusome, R. & Bhagat, R.B. (2020). Migration in Northeast India: Inflows, Outflows and Reverse Flows during Pandemic. The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 63 (4,):1125-1141.

• Bhagat, R.B. & Keshri, K. (2020). Internal Migration in India. In Internal Migration in the Countries of Asia. Springer.

• Siddiqui, T., Bhagat, R.B., Banerjee, S. et al. (2019). Migration in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Drivers, Consequences, and Governance. In The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment. Springer.

• Yadav, A.K., Bhagat, R.B. & Yadav, V. (2019). Does coal mining affect household food security? An empirical study of Dhanbad, India. Agriculture & Food Security, 8(7): 1-12.

• Ali, I., Bhagat, R.B. & Shankar, G. (2017). Morbidity differential among emigrants' and non-emigrants' wives in Kerala, India. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 13(3): 346-359.

• Kumar, N. & Bhagat, R.B. (2017). Interaction between Migration and Development. Environment and Urbanization ASIA, 8 (1): 20-136.

• Bhagat, R.B. (2016). Changing Pattern of Internal Migration in India. In Contemporary Demographic Transformations in China, India and Indonesia. Springer.

• Bhagat, R.B., Keshri, K. & Ali, I. (2013). Emigration and flow of remittances in India. Migration and Development, 2 (1):93-105.

• Bhagat, R.B. (2013). Census enumeration, religious identity and communal polarization in India. Asian Ethnicity. 14(4): 434-448.

• Keshri, K. & Bhagat, R.B. (2013). Socioeconomic determinants of temporary labour migration in India. Asian Population Studies, 9 (2): 175-195.

• Bhagat, R.B. (2010). Internal Migration in India: Are the Underprivileged Migrating More? Asia Pacific Population Journal, 25 (1):31-49.

• Bhagat, R.B. (2012). A turnaround in India's urbanization. Asia-Pacific Population Journal, 27(2): 23-39.

• Bhagat, R.B. & Mohanty, S. (2009). Emerging pattern of urbanization and the contribution of migration in urban growth in India. Asian Population Studies, 5 (10): 5-20.

• Bhagat, R.B. (2008). Assessing the Measurement of Internal Migration in India. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 17 (1): 91-102.

• Bhagat, R.B. & Unisa, S. (2006). Ageing and Dependency in India. Asian Population Studies, 2 (2): 201-214.

• Bhagat, R.B., Guha, M. & Chattopadhyay, A. (2006). Mumbai after 26/7 Deluge: Issues and Concerns in Urban Planning. Population and Environment, 27: 337-349.

• Bhagat, R. B. (2006). Census and Caste Enumeration: British Legacy and Contemporary Practice. Genus, 62 (2): 119-134.

• Bhagat, R.B. (2005). Rural-Urban Classification and Municipal Governance in India. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 26(1):61-73.

• Unisa, S. & Bhagat, R.B. (2000). Social dimension of fertility in India: Insights from a regional study. International Journal of Anthropology,25 (1&2): 63-83.

• Chair, Scientific Group on Climate Mobilities, Migrants and Health, Asian Population Association, Bangkok, 2025 – 2027.

https://asianpa.org/scientific-groups-category/786-3-climate-mobilities-migrants-and-health.html#

• Chair, Scientific Panel on Climate Change, Gender and Migration, 2026-2029, International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), Paris, 2026-2029, https://iussp.org/en/climate-change-gender-and-migration

Teaching/Taught Courses:

Social Justice and City; Social Sector and Development; Electoral Statistics

Migrants, Elections and Citizenship in India.