The issue of out-migration from the mountain districts of Uttarakhand has been repeatedly brought up. While it has been identified as a problem, for some years now, effective efforts to address the problem have been lacking.
The severity of the problem can be gauged by the existence of some villages in Pauri district in Garhwal region from where all the residents have migrated. These villages are called ‘Ghost Villages’. According to the census of 2011, out of Uttarakhand’s 16,793 villages, about 1,053 have no inhabitants.
Migration for better employment opportunities and education was always a feature of mountain districts. But what has changed over the last few decades is that the migration has become permanent.
Initially the Army used to be one of the main sources of employment in mountain districts. After completion of their service (retirement), the men would return to their villages/towns. The migration was not permanent. But with the diversification of employment opportunities in the plains and need for higher and specialised education the migration increased and over time became permanent in nature.
The hardships of village life such as poor transport connectivity, lack of water, inadequate medical facilities, poor educational facilities and inaccessible markets further accelerated the process of migration- especially of the youth.
The Interim Report (2018) of the State’s Rural Development and Migration Commission on the Status of Migration in Gram Panchayats has listed out the main reasons for migration (in percentage) :
(a)Unemployment : 50.06 per cent
(b)Lack of Health facilities :8.83 per cent
(c)Lack of educational facilities:15.21 per cent
(d)Infrastructure related issues (road,water,electricity) :3.74 per cent
(e)Low productivity of agriculture: 5:44 per cent
(f)Influence of relatives who have migrated : 2.52 per cent
(g)Menace of wild animals destroying crops :5:61 per cent
Remittances from members of the household working in the plains and agriculture have been the main sources of sustenance. The agriculture has been stagnant because of low productivity, lack of diversification and technical know-how. This has forced many to discontinue farming and search for some alternate source of income and of regular nature, even though small. The migration is not simply in anticipation of higher wages but to minimise uncertainties in incomes back in their villages.
There has been a lack of any major effort to improve the agriculture and its productivity through its diversification in favour of high value crops. The required support of agricultural extension services, development of irrigation channels, use of better seeds, improved inputs, technology and marketing remain major concern.
Like land, the availability of other assets like livestock, farm and non-farm assets is extremely limited. Livestock mainly consists of local breed of milch, draught and other animals like goats and sheep to support the crop production and augment the milk requirements of the households. As per a report of National Institute of Rural Development (2015) the number of such animals has drastically reduced over the years in the mountain districts.
Now rural households tend to retain proportionately lesser number of milch animals to augment their livelihoods. Moreover, the quality of milch animals is poor resulting in very low milk yields. Due to limited land, the shortage of fodder poses a serious problem for most of the households as they have to travel longer distances to collect fodder from reserve forests.
This also discourages households from maintaining a large number of milch animals.
The Industrial Policy of the State has almost remained ineffective in attracting investment to the mountainous districts. The policy needs to be re-looked in to and made more effective to ensure balanced industrial growth by attracting more capital to backward districts, particularly in the mountain areas.
The real policy challenge would be to create environment friendly micro and small enterprises in the mountainous region.
The huge potential of horticulture and eco-tourism needs to be developed on a wider scale in the mountain districts. Agriculture extension services need to be strengthened to improve their outreach and effectiveness.
Various forms of tourism as outlined in the Tourism Policy of the State need to be developed in letter and spirit in a given time frame. A thrust on ecotourism like home stays and adventure tourism activities like trekking, rafting, etc, may create better income avenues for locals and stop further migration from our villages.
This will create large number of employment opportunities for local youth and arrest their distress driven migration. Similarly, given the relatively higher educational levels of mountain population, expansion of communication network, better electricity and comparatively cheap land, there is a good scope for developing knowledge based information technology services in montain districts.
Hence, an integrated approach is required to check out-migration from mountain districts. If not, then we are looking at the spectre of more ‘Ghost villages’ in future.
(A civil servant, the writer is presently posted as Controller, Communications, Uttarakhand. He belongs to Jaiharikhal village in Pauri Garhwal)
