Dehradun: Heading towards the state election in Uttarakhand, every party is engaged in wooing its voters. But the migration figures in Uttarakhand tell a different story. After the formation of a separate state, about 60 percent of the population i.e. 32 lakh people have left their homes from Uttarakhand. The report of the Migration Commission says that in 2018, 1,700 villages of Uttarakhand have been entirely vacated, while there are about a thousand villages where less than 100 people are living.
The Migration Commission was constituted under the Rural Development Department to suggest the reasons for the migration and its prevention. The commission also conducted a survey wherein it was implied that education and employment are the main reasons for migration.
A youth from the rural area of Uttarakhand, who has now moved to Dehradun, said that the lack of education, health, and employment opportunities is the only reason for the hike in migration. "There are no hospitals in the village I come from. The nearest hospital is at a distance of over 35 km. If a woman is pregnant in the village, or if there's a medical emergency, there is no way we can reach the hospital in time. Why would anyone want to live in such villages?"
He further said that there are no employment opportunities in these villages and youth along with their families have to migrate for their livelihood.
On the other hand, senior journalist Bhagirath Sharma said that the government alone cannot solve this problem, people's cooperation is also key. "It's alarming to note that many villages have been deserted. I think the villagers should prefer farming more than they do. There are several possibilities that they can venture into including community farming, floriculture, horticulture, and the government may also fund them for such initiatives," he said.
Although the industrial development in the state has picked up pace in the last few years, it has been limited to the plain districts. Industries could not be established in the mountains due to challenges like infrastructure development, connectivity problem, and disaster.
At the time of formation of the state on 9 November 2000, only 14,163 small and micro and 46 big industries were established in Uttarakhand. Industrial development in the state has gained momentum after the special industrial incentive package in the year 2003. The word migration is not new for Uttarakhand, but political parties showcase this word in the public every 5 years with a new look and action plan.
However, BJP Cabinet Minister Subodh Unial claimed that the government has made ample efforts and introduced several schemes to overcome the problem of migration from the state. "We have made several reforms for the development of the agriculture sector in Uttarakhand and introduced many schemes too. After the first lockdown, we had decided that if we manage to make even 20% of the migrant workers stay back in the state, we would consider it an improvement in the migration scenario. We have managed to achieve more than our goal, which I believe is a considerable feat," he said.
In the year 2017, BJP released its manifesto in the form of Vision Document 2017, wherein the party had chiefly prioritized migration. But, the reports of the Exodus Commission are clearly contradictory to the promises in the manifesto.
Rajeev Maharshi, the media spokesperson of Uttarakhand Congress, said that the BJP government has stunted the industrial growth that the Congress had initiated in the state."Look at their statistics. Have they mentioned how many of the rural parts in the Kumaon and Garhwal lay vacant today? Do they have statistics for this? If you file an RTI, you will realise how many people have migrated since BJP came to power. We ensured so much progress while we were in power. Businessmen like Ratan Tata, Ambani, even Bill Gates visited the state twice. But all this development has been stunted because of BJP govt," he said.
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