Nagaland students travel less to school, but those who do pay more

•     Only 46.7% undertake trips of at least 1 km to educational institutions•    Rural students record highest monthly travel expenditure in IndiaMoa Jamir  Dimapur | October 18Fewer students in Nagaland undertake trips of at least 1 km to their educational institutions than anywhere else in the country, but those who do travel face a relatively high financial burden, particularly in rural areas.Those were some of the key highlights concerning Nagaland in the = first-ever National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) 2025-26 released by MoSPI last week. Among others, the NHTS informed that only 46.7% of students aged six and above in Nagaland travelled at least 1 km to educational institutions, the lowest share among States and UTs against the national average of 66.4%.However, travel remains relatively expensive for the smaller proportion of students undertaking the activity. Students in Nagaland spent an average of Rs 864 per month on travel to educational institutions, substantially above the national average of Rs 570. It was third highest in India after Mizoram (928) and Chandigarh (1070).However, the burden was acute for students in rural areas, who were shown to be shelling out monthly travel expenditure of Rs 919, the highest recorded among rural students across the country. The national average was just Rs 361.In urban area, Nagaland’s monthly expense of Rs 804 was eighth in India, while the national average stood at Rs 617. For the NHTS, trips specifically refer to students undertaking a journey of more than 1 km to educational institution of basic course, for persons of age 6 years and above with travel reference period of last 90 travel-days prior to the date of surveyWalking most common mode Among Nagaland students who undertook journeys of at least 1 km to their educational institutions, walking was the most common mode, accounting for 52.8% of trips.Buses were the next most-used mode at 23.4%, while 14.8% travelled by car. The latter was the second-highest share among States and UTs, after Sikkim.Two-wheelers accounted for only 1.6% of student journeys in Nagaland, compared with the national average of 8.8%, the lowest proportion among all States and UTs.Students in Nagaland who travelled to educational institutions took an average of 23 minutes to reach them, matching the national average. A total of 85.8% reached their institutions within 30 minutes.Workers  spend longest travelling to workThe NHTS also presents a striking picture of workplace mobility in Nagaland with as many as 71.9% of workers in the State walk to their fixed workplaces, the highest proportion among all States and UTs, and more than twice the national figure of 28.3%.For those not walking, car remained the preferred mode at 19.7%, the fight  highest in India after Arunachal Pradesh (22.9%), Meghalaya (20%), Ladakh (31.4%) and Sikkim (44.6). The national average was 3%.  Further, two-wheelers account for only 5.7% of work journeys in Nagaland, the lowest share nationally. Auto-rickshaws account for 2.4% while usage of buses and bicycle were negligible.  The survey separately found that workers in Nagaland take an average of 37 minutes to reach a fixed workplace, the longest average travel time among States and UTs, compared with 25 minutes nationally.Only 45.3% of workers reach their workplace within 30 minutes, while 48.2% take between 30 and 60 minutes, the highest proportion nationally.The return journey also takes longer on average: workers in Nagaland spend 39 minutes travelling from their fixed workplace to their destination, again the highest among States and UTs.Nearly 58% of workers with a fixed workplace usually leave home between 6 am and 8 am, while another 38% leave between 8 am and 10 am.Meanwhile, unlike commute to schools, the NHTS highlighted that workers aged 15 years and above in Nagaland who reported commuting to and from a fixed workplace spent an average of Rs 541 per month, among the lowest in India and below the national average of Rs 785. This lower overall figure is largely driven by rural workers, whose average monthly commuting expenditure was Rs 350, the third-lowest in the country, compared with the national rural average of Rs 612.In contrast, urban workers in Nagaland spent Rs 1,255 per month, the 12th-highest among States and Union Territories, exceeding the national urban average of Rs 1,044. As reported earlier, social and religious gatherings remain the most common reason for overnight travel in Nagaland, the State's travel patterns are significantly more anchored in livelihoods and household services, with employment, job-seeking, and unpaid activities accounting for unusually high shares.What is the NHTS?The NHTS is the first dedicated all-India household travel survey conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). It was carried out from July 2025 to June 2026 as part of the 80th Round of the National Sample Survey.The survey covered 4,92,023 households and 20,34,371 persons, spread across 14,274 villages and 10,377 urban blocks. It seeks to capture how people travel within the country, including the purpose of trips, modes of transport, frequency of travel, travel duration and distance.In Nagaland, the survey covered 4,009 households 1,913 in rural areas and 1,780 in urban areas and 7,067 persons.