“Amongst us, those who are a bit educated get jobs, so they leave the village and go. What about the others?” asks Dhan Singh Rana, headman of Lata in Uttarakhand. The village is in Chamoli district, which shares the international border with China. It comes under the Pauri constituency. The State shares a 350-km border with China and a 275-km border with Nepal. Five out of the 13 are border districts.
The Annual Plan for 2013-14 states migration from hill districts to districts in the plain is creating a ‘demographic vacuum,’ which renders the border areas vulnerable.
Out of the 150 families at Lata, 85 families have permanently migrated from the village, says Mr. Rana.
“We were shepherds. We did wool business. But, with increased Forest Department restrictions, we cannot feed our sheep. Agriculture too has become difficult due to a lack of resources,” says the headman.
Almost all youth have left the village for better education and job opportunities.
Uma Devi, 83, talks about her grandchildren with pride. “My granddaughter is a doctor and my grandson is applying for a job. All of them live in Dehradun [the State capital].”
Her husband Bal Singh, said, “Our son and his family don’t visit the village much. We speak on the phone sometimes.” But as the village has no telephone tower, he travels 10 km or more to get mobile phone connectivity.
According to the 2011 Census data, between 2001 and 2011, the hill districts of Almora and Pauri showed a negative population growth of – 1.73 and – 1.51 per cent respectively.
State Economics and Statistics officer A.S. Bisht said, “The hill districts either show a very low population growth or a negative growth. However, the plain districts of Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar and Hardwar show a very high population growth of 32.48 per cent, 33.40 and 33.16 per cent respectively.”
Considering this population growth trend in the State, its 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017) document says: ‘This [migration] reflects the absence of livelihood opportunities in the hills and yearning for a better quality of life. Dissatisfaction with jobs/lack of opportunities [is] creating demographic substitution in hill region.’
Addressing the media in March this year, Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who is from the Congress, mentioned migration as an issue that needed instant attention.
“Our cities are changing to slums, and people living in higher regions are vacating their villages. Demographic imbalance will be the result if the government does not take any step,” he said.
Mohan Lal Kothiyal, a BJP leader from the Pauri constituency, which includes international border areas from Chamoli district, said, “People residing near the border areas act like a second line of defence. We need to stop migration from these areas.”
Mr. Rana said, “BJP and Congress leaders come to us but they never talk about the issues of our land. They talk about the shortcomings of the other party leaders.”
“They [the politicians] will keep pointing the finger at each other; what will happen to us is never on their agenda.”
